As we gear up for a new and rejuvenated season of American Idol this week, we look back on what Season 10 alum Haley Reinhart had to say about her time on the show. While she was certain of her career in music long before she auditioned for the show, she explained that it was American Idol that helped carve her path.

“I have a lot of faith in my destiny and I’ve always really thought that this was in the cards for me and I wasn’t going to stop until I got here, living in a musical household like I did,” she told Radio.com last year at Lollapalooza. “Either way I would like to try whatever it took to get there but American Idol was such an amazing platform and outlet for me and I didn’t know if it would work.”

Haley said even if she never placed on American Idol she would still have tried her best to leave her mark on the music industry.

“At times I brought a lot of classic rock to the plate. The fact that I had a lot of listeners who were digging it is amazing!”

Though Steven Tyler is no longer a judge this year, Haley had only praises for the Aerosmith frontman.

“First of all, love Steven Tyler, he’s my man. Secondly, I was trying to do [Led] Zeppelin from the beginning. I was working my way, inching my way into it. They were like, ‘Nobody does Zeppelin. You know who did Zeppelin? Adam Lambert.’”

Haley said It wasn’t until she got up in the notches that they were going to try and see if it would work out.

“It was like I had to audition for it. I believe they sent out ‘House of the Rising Sun’ and I got their approval and they dug it so I was able to do one of their covers. I was very, very honored to do that.”

No doubt a memorable moment, Haley reflected on the experience.

“I couldn’t imagine anything cooler to happen on the show other then getting my dad to play it with me. That was cool too,” she said.

The Zeppelin camp weren’t the only ones on Haley’s side during Season 10.

“Me and [Lady] Gaga were really cool on the show. She had a lot of nice things to say to me when I was on the show and she was rooting for me a lot,” Haley recalled. “We got to do a duet to her song behind-the-scenes and work out ‘You and I.’ I’m looking forward to meeting her again and now I am a fellow labelmate. Hopefully we will cross paths when the time is right and I know it will feel great. She’s wonderful.”

The new season of American Idol airs January 16 on FOX.

-Annie Reuter with reporting by Jillian Mapes, Radio.com