[2] Blunt chose to donate all of the profit made from the song to Help for Heroes and British Legion charities.

So I have written a song called Monsters for him.In the same interview he made a plea for type O kidney donors to step forward.

[9] Monika Barton of Newshub wrote about the music video, "Go on, have a little watch and see if you have a heart, or merely just a sharp, pointy piece of flint where it should be".

[10] Minnie Wright of the Daily Express wrote, "Heartbreaking perspective illuminates the place from which Blunt has penned the deeply personal Once Upon A Mind with the arrival of Monster".

[11] Lauren Murphy of Entertainment.ie wrote, "Before you watch this video, be warned that it's pretty tough going if you're feeling in any way emotionally fragile, or have lost a parent".

Blunt said of the performance, "Breathe a last word/You can feel my hand on your own... That was the bit I sang on American Idol with Iam Tongi and he broke down in tears, thinking about his own father.

Tongi wrote on social media, "From covering it on TikTok 3 years ago to singing it in my audition on @americanidol, to performing it at the Idol finale with @jamesblunt , “Monsters” means so much to me.

Steele posted the performance on his Instagram account, drawing condolences and praise from Idol fans and alumni.