Grace Leer's Wedding Ode to Her Best Friend Goes Viral: 'We Can't Believe This Is Happening' (Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

The spotlight has shone onGrace Leercountless times during her career. But on one special night last September, the spotlight felt different.

Because on this night, her best friend was getting married.

“I was nervous,” Leer, 32, tells PEOPLE in a recent interview of the surprise performance. “It was always in the program that I was giving a maid of honor speech. But only a few people knew that I had something else planned.”

The ‘something else’ was a performance of a heartfelt song that Leer wrote for her best friend Stephanie and Stephanie’s new husband Gus Horner, who were married in Denver on Sept. 2, 2023.

“I was nervous that they wouldn’t play the track at the right time,” remembers theAmerican Idolalum, who secured a spot in the Top 10 on Season 18 of the singing competition show back in 2020. “I was hoping that I would remember all the words. I was hoping I wouldn’t cry through the whole thing.”

Grace Leer and Stephanie Horner on Stephanie’s wedding day in September 2023.Rachel Franklin/Rachel J Photo

Rachel Franklin/Rachel J Photo

“It hit me that I could write a song that was from that best friend perspective and just how happy I am that she found her best friend and her partner,” explains the California native and former D1 soccer player at the University of California, Berkeley. “I guess that’s just the songwriter in me.”

Grace Leer and Stephanie Horner as children.Courtesy Kristi Leer

Courtesy Kristi Leer

Serving as the backbone of the special song is not only Leer’s love for her best friend, but the love she had at the same time for her best friend’s new husband.

“When I met him, I knew it,” raves Leer, who released her debut EPBrought a Girlback in February 2022. “From the very first time, I told Stephanie that I thought she was going to marry this guy. She was like, ‘Stop it, we’ll see where it goes.’ But I just knew in my gut, this was her person. This was her guy.”

Grace Leer with friends Gus and Stephanie Horner in September 2023.Rachel Franklin/Rachel J Photo

What Leer didn’t know was how “Best Friend for Life” would go on to affect millions.

“I had no plans to release the song,” explains Leer, who shared a snippet of the song on her TikTok in January. “I just remember waking up the next morning and checking my TikTok and being like, ‘How is this already at half a million views?’ And then that night it hit a million and now fast forward it’s over six million.”

Grace Leer.Sean O’Halloran

Sean O’Halloran

It’s a phenomenon that has Leer believing in the goodness of the internet again.

Leer tells PEOPLE that the coolest part of this whole experience has been being able to share it all with her best friend Stephanie.

“She’s been with me from the very beginning watching me and my dreams and just seriously being my No. 1,” Leer says. “We just kept calling each other and texting each other about all of this. We can’t believe this happening.”

source: people.com