Tear Jerker / Dancing with the Stars

• Jennifer Grey's emotional first dance that paid tribute to her late Dirty Dancing costar Patrick Swayze.
• The reaction of Hines Ward after he and Kym Johnson completed their Argentine Tango three days after Kym nearly broke her neck.
• JR Martinez's rumba to "If You're Reading This". The dance was dedicated to his fellow soldiers who didn't come home from Iraq and Afghanistan. There wasn't a dry eye in the house when the dance was done.
• Chris Jericho's Rumba dedicated to his late mother. For this performance, he was introduced by his birth name of Chris Irvine.
• Katherine Jenkins' waltz dedicated to her late father.
• Len Goodman's story on how he can no longer dance due to his knees... then joining in on Nastia Liukin and Derek's Viennese Waltz in his honor.
• Sadie Robertson's Viennese waltz to "Married Life" during Movie Week in season 19.
• Speaking of Most Memorable Year week, Lea Thompson's contemporary to "Dance with my Father".
• Nick Carter and Sharna Burgess' Foxtrot to "Comin' Home, Part II", dedicated to Sharna's father and grandmother, during Hometown Glory week.
• Nick & Sharna's week 8 contemporary dedicated to Nick's wife, who he calls his rock, especially since he grew up in a very dysfunctional family.
• Back to Hometown Glory week, Alexa PenaVega and Mark Ballas' rumba to the theme from Somewhere in Time, which was a tribute to Ballas' parents, the great professional Latin dancers Corky and Shirley Ballas.
• Bindi Irwin's contemporary to "Every Breath You Take" in Most Memorable Year Week. For that matter, the package beforehand counts as this too, being about her late father Steve Irwin's death when she was still a little girl. There probably wasn't a dry eye in the audience after the package and dance. Turned up to eleven after her freestyle to "Footprints in the Sand", when Derek surprised her by having a picture of young Bindi with her father displayed prominently on the wall at the end. Bindi took one look at it and crumpled into tears in Derek's arms.
• Most Memorable Year Week strikes again in Season 22, with Doug Flutie's tribute dance to his parents (who died literally within an hour of each other after being married for decades), set to "The Rainbow Connection".
• Two weeks later, during Switch-Up Week, it was Nyle DiMarco who turned on the waterworks as he and Sharna danced a Viennese Waltz to "I Get to Love You" and scored the first 10 of the season.
  • Not to mention Nyle's freestyle, set to Disturbed's version of "The Sound of Silence."
• Laurie Hernandez's foxtrot in the semi-finals of season 23. Her pre-performance package showed how her grandmother (whom she was very close with) had passed away that week. Her dance was so emotional - she even wiped away a tear in the middle of it - and as soon as it was done, she started crying. Tom, Carrie Ann, and Julianne were all visibly moved by her performance.
• James Hinchcliffe's freestyle in season 23, set to narration by James about his life-threatening accident.
• Florence Henderson attended the season 23 finale to meet up with Maureen McCormick, who played her daughter on The Brady Bunch. Florence would be hospitalized the day after the finale, and would die of heart failure the day after that.
• Simone Biles' Viennese waltz as a dedication to her grandparents for adopting her. She was in tears when she started dancing, and as soon as the song ended, she went and hugged them.
• Season 25's "Most Memorable Year" night got pretty emotional all around.
  • The dances Frankie, Nikki, and Victoria did were all uplifting, but it was hard to watch the packages beforehand as they talked about their struggles with memory loss (Frankie), near-paralysis (Nikki), and everything Victoria's had to go through pre-Paralympics.
  • Terrell's waltz for his late grandmother, who died in 2012 after spending years with dementia. And he burst into tears afterward.
  • Lindsey Stirling's waltz for her late father, which also had Mark wearing one of her dad's old hats and scarves, which also made it her last dance with her father. And she burst into tears afterward.
  • Similar to Simone Biles, Jordan's contemporary was dedicated to his grandparents, who became his adoptive parents after his mother was declared unfit to raise him. He burst into tears before the dance after watching his own package declaring how much he loves them, and immediately ran to them in the audience after finishing the number.
• Season 28, Week 6 had a lot of tears:
  • Lauren Alaina's Contemporary was danced to a song she wrote for her late stepfather, and that night happened to be the anniversary of his death. And she burst into tears afterward.
  • Sailor Brinkley-Cook's shocking elimination in Week 6 resulted in her breaking down into tears, and even Ally Brooke, who was also in the bottom two with her at the time, was in tears. Sailor's professional partner Val immediately hugs her and comforts her, with the judges even giving her encouragement that she should be proud of how far she's gone in the competition. Everyone went up to Sailor to comfort her.
• Season 28 Semifinals as well:
  • Kel Mitchell’s Contemporary to Whitney Houston’s cover of "I Will Always Love You". He dedicated it to his childhood friend Sam who was shot and killed at age 16 as well as to anyone who has ever been affected by gun violence. He not only got a perfect score, but Len, who is not overly fond of contemporary dance in the ballroom, gave him a wordless, standing ovation.
  • James Van Der Beek during the video package before his second dance sadly revealed that just two days earlier his wife Kimberly suffered a miscarriage. He wasn’t sure if he could dance for that night, but she encouraged him to go on and use it to help cope with his feelings. The result was an emotionally packed Foxtrot to Hozier’s "Take Me to Church" that ended with him and Emma tearfully holding each other, as well as all the other contestants and judges in tears.
  • And if that wasn’t enough, the bottom two that night were him and Ally Brooke, two of the higher scorers and fan favorites of the season. The judges didn’t want to eliminate either, but in the end chose to save Ally due to her higher scores throughout the season. Ally tearfully even tried to give up her spot to James, upset that he had to go home after all he had gone through, which not only did the rules prevent but James himself also turned her down, telling her she shouldn’t give up the opportunity after all her own hard work.
• Season 29:
  • Skai Jackson's Foxtrot to John Legend's "Ordinary People", which was dedicated to her late friend and Jessie co-star, Cameron Boyce. In the video package before the dance, she revealed that Cameron and his love of dancing was a large part of why she wanted to participate in the show. The dance itself ended up getting the first 10 of the season.
  • Chrishell Stause's Contemporary to "Stars" by Grace Potter & the Nocturnals. The dance was dedicated to the memory of her parents, both of whom she lost within a year of each other due to lung cancer.
• Season 31:
  • Selma Blair having to withdraw in Week 5 due to medical reasons (re: her multiple sclerosis made it hard to stay in the competition). Her farewell dance, a waltz to "What the World Needs Now", earned the first perfect score of the season.
  • Len's announcement during the semifinals that Season 31 would be his last season judging, as he would be leaving the series after the Season 31 finale. Many fans and dancers were shocked by the news, especially since several of the pro dancers were previously judged by Len in past competitions before the show's existence. Made worse when he passed away from bone cancer the following April, just days before he would have turned 79.
• Season 32:
  • Crosses over with Heartwarming. In honor of Len after his retirement and death, Most Memorable Year week featured the pros dancing a waltz to "Moon River." They also brought back several of the original pros to take part in the performance as well. The dance number ended with a spotlight light shone on Len's empty judge chair, with Carrie Ann and Bruno getting up to cry in each others' arms.