‘American Idol’ finalist and Alabama native Triston Harper, 16, married with a baby on the way

Triston Harper, the Alabama teenager who became a fan favorite on the most recent season of "American Idol," has shared some big news: He's married and has a baby on the way.

Harper was 15 when he made the Top 5 of "Idol" earlier this year and is 16 now. He broke the first part of the news via a social media post : On Nov. 6 he shared that he married his girlfriend Paris Reed. Two days later his mother, Hattie Sullivan, shared a photo of the beaming young couple holding up a pregnancy test. "I'm bout to be a "G Ma'" she said in her Facebook post.

It took a few days, but on Tuesday the news spread across national entertainment publications, including People.com , E! Online and Us Weekly .

Harper didn't make the cut for "Idol's" Top 3 in late May but was a memorable competitor. A member of the MOWA Band of Choctaw Indians, he impressed the judges and fans alike with his hard-luck upbringing and a professional demeanor far beyond his years.

In June, his accomplishment was celebrated with a concert on tribal land. At the time, Harper and Sullivan said they were working on putting together a band, lining up some Nashville recording sessions and getting some concert dates on the calendar.

"I can't wait for me and my band to really get out there and really do what we do," Harper told AL.com in June. "The band is called the Dreamcatchers. It'll be Triston Harper and the Dreamcatchers. You know, I never just want to be strictly country so I want to do a lot of collaborations and different things and I can't wait to just see what happens.

"I mean, you know, I'm doing all this for fun," he said. "A lot of people do it strictly just for business, but I'm, I'm doing it for fun. I can't wait to see what happens."