American Idol winner Iam Tongi has celebrated his Tongan heritage as he married longtime girlfriend Leah Solis in Hawaii, wearing traditional Tongan attire while cultural performances and a distinctive Vavaʻu kupesi featured prominently in the couple’s wedding celebrations.
Tongi, who made history in 2023 as the first Pacific Islander to win American Idol, married Solis in an outdoor ceremony in Hawaii on Friday, September 4, according to photos and videos shared by family and friends.
The wedding came just days after Tongi turned 22 and about three years after his emotional journey on the American television singing competition propelled the young Pacific artist to international recognition.
Footage from the ceremony showed Tongi wearing a tupenu, a traditional form of Tongan male attire, as he stood hand-in-hand with his bride during the ceremony.
His Tongan heritage was also prominent at the wedding reception, where relatives and friends performed traditional Tongan dances as part of the celebrations.
Tongan heritage carried into wedding rings
Perhaps one of the most distinctive expressions of Tongi’s connection to Tonga was incorporated permanently into his wedding ring.
Maui Divers Jewelry and Polynesian cultural artist Sam Mangakahia worked with the couple to design customised gold-and-diamond wedding bands incorporating elements representing their respective cultural heritages.
Tongi’s ring features the Tokelau Feletoa, a traditional Tongan kupesi associated with Feletoa in Vavaʻu.
According to the designers, the pattern depicts the cross-section of a tuna and represents chiefly status and courage, serving as a reminder for Tongi to act courageously while honouring his heritage.
Solis’ ring, meanwhile, incorporates a Maya temple motif reflecting her Mayan heritage and connections to spirituality, ancestors and the relationship between heaven and earth.
The wedding bands continue an established relationship between Tongi and Mangakahia, a Māori artist based in Hawaii who previously spent about 60 hours creating a customised guitar for the singer following his American Idol success.
That instrument also incorporated Polynesian designs representing Tongi’s Tongan heritage and family connections, including the name of his late father, Rodney, engraved at the top.
Tongan heritage on both sides of family
Tongi was born and raised in Kahuku on Oʻahu, Hawaii, but his family background has strong connections to Tonga.
His mother, Lillie Tuifua Tongi, is of Tongan and Irish heritage and originally comes from Tongatapu, while his late father, Rodney Tongi, was of Tongan and Samoan heritage.
Tongi himself previously explained his heritage after his American Idol victory, saying his mother’s maiden name was Tuifua and that she was Tongan and Irish, while his father was half Tongan and half Samoan.
He also revealed at the time that although he had never visited Tonga, he hoped to travel there and had extensive family connections in New Zealand and Australia.
Tongi has spoken publicly about the importance of his Pacific identity to his music. During a 2023 interview following his American Idol victory, he said he eventually hoped to produce a Polynesian album featuring songs in Tongan, Samoan, Hawaiian and Fijian.
Father shaped musical journey
Tongi was just 18 when he captured international attention with his American Idol audition.
His emotional performance of James Blunt’s “Monsters”, dedicated to his late father Rodney, moved the judges and became one of the defining moments of his journey through the competition.
Tongi has said his father, who was Tongan and Samoan, was instrumental in developing his love of music, encouraging him to progress from playing the ukulele to guitar and singing.
He eventually won American Idol in May 2023, becoming the first person from Hawaii and the first Pacific Islander to win the competition.
Three years later, Tongi’s wedding provided another public expression of the cultural heritage that has accompanied his rise to international prominence — from his tupenu and Tongan dancing at the celebration to the Feletoa kupesi he will now carry on his wedding ring.
