Prior to winning American Idol in 2018, Poppe released an independent album titled Songs from the Basement.

As a young girl, Poppe loved to sing for her family, but did not start performing until she was in middle school.

[7][8] The program aired on February 29, 2016 where she sang "Dog Days Are Over" from Florence and the Machine, but none of the judges (who were Adam Levine, Pharrell Williams, Christina Aguilera, and Blake Shelton) turned their chairs, thus being eliminated.

After singing her original song "Don't Ever Let Your Children Grow Up," Perry said Poppe reminded her of herself as they "write a little bit of the same style.

In her Top 14, Poppe sang "Homeward Bound" by Simon & Garfunkel, sparking Katy Perry to remark, "I closed my eyes and I thought I was listening to Joni Mitchell," while Luke Bryan labeled the interweaving of her modal voice and falsetto as "seasoned" and "big-time pro.

[11] During the finale, she performed her winners' single "Going Going Gone", which was originally written by Mitch Allan, Lindy Robbins and Julia Michaels.

[12] At the end of the show, after Poppe performed "Landslide" by Fleetwood Mac, Katy Perry revealed she would be voting for her.

[13] On the results show broadcast on May 21, Poppe was declared the winner, with Caleb Lee Hutchinson as runner-up and Gabby Barrett in third.

(from The Jungle Book) Caleb Lee Hutchinson, and Gabby Barrett featuring Florida Georgia Line What a Wonderful World" On May 17, 2019, Poppe released her first studio album, Whirlwind.

She appeared on the seventeenth season of American Idol on April 21 to advertise her new album; however, the show cut to commercial before she was able to mention it.