Eighteen-year-old John Foster is becoming a household name now that he’s made it to the top 10 on season 23 of “American Idol.” But that name is is one of the many things Foster’s hometown supporters in Addis, Louisiana, want to shed some light on for fans.
The young country singer’s full name is John Foster Benoit, family and friends told The Adovcate on May 1, 2025, but he dropped his last name for his blossoming music career. During his audition, though, he represented the family name by bringing coolers full of Cajun delicacies from his family’s meat shop —Benoit’s Country Meat Block — to judges Luke Bryan, Lionel Richie, and Carrie Underwood.
One of the store’s longtime employees, family friend Rick Bourgoyne, told The Advocate, “ I was telling his daddy, I said, ‘I hope people don’t think that’s his last name because he is a Benoit, and this (store) is Benoit’s.’ His middle name is Foster, just like his daddy and his grandfather’s. He’s the third.”
That’s just one of the background details that the singer and those close to him want to let fans know as he attempts to advance on the next live episodes of “American Idol.”
