To perform on the world stage, there are plenty of hardships that people have to overcome.
For some of us, we don’t always have enough money or support to fully fund our dreams and talents. For others, the battle is entirely internal—we think we’re not good enough, we doubt our own abilities or we simply don’t prioritize our time so that we can hone our craft. Although we all have our own unique stories, what’s true beyond a doubt is that a great talent is only enhanced by a great story as well.
And there was one recent performer on America’s Got Talent who has one of the best stories we’ve heard in years.
The performer we’re talking about is Kodi Lee, a 22-year-old singer and pianist.
As he comes out onstage, he walks out with his mom who holds the microphone for him.
After a quick and cheerful introduction, Kodi explains that he’s going to be singing and playing piano for the judges and the crowd. After a little bit more explanation, Kodi’s mom explains that Kodi is both blind and autistic. Regardless, Kodi found music at a very early age and it ended up being a very soothing and life-saving thing for him.
After all that experience, Kodi knew that he had to share his gifts with the whole world.
After a quick round of applause, Kodi tells the crowd that he’s ready and pulls up to the piano.
After sitting down, his mom soothes him for a moment and explains that there’s going to be a bunch of cameras filming him during the performance. Regardless, Kodi couldn’t be more excited!
After that, Kodi’s mom steps away and Kodi starts to play. From the very first piano notes, it’s clear that Kodi has a ton of musical talent. His touch and tone are so self-assured and expressive.
After Kodi opens his mouth, one of the delicate and beautiful voices the judges have ever heard comes out.
Hearing just how talented he is, all the judges’ jaws drop and the whole crowd is stunned.
The song that Kodi performs is “A Song For You,” originally written by Leon Russell in 1970 but made famous for being performed by The Carpenters, Willie Nelson, Aretha Franklin, The Temptations and Ray Charles.
Although all of their versions were powerful in their own ways, we’re not exaggerating when we say that Kodi’s performance of it may actually be the most powerful and moving that we’ve ever heard.
As the song continues, the crowd is too stunned to even applaud or react in any way.
After a few moments, Kodi hits a run of incredible high notes and the judges start to tear up.
Although the crowd wasn’t sure what to expect when Kodi came out onstage, his voice was absolutely pitch perfect and his delivery was more heartfelt than nearly any performance that has ever been on the show. When it’s all over, the judges all stand up and give him a standing ovation, many of them with tears in their eyes.
When it’s all over, Kodi’s mom helps him up and Kodi claps along with everybody!
At the end, Howie Mandel tells Kodi that his performance was so heartfelt and inspiring.
As they go down the line, all of the judges tell Kodi exactly just how powerful his performance was. At the end of it all, Simon thanks Kodi and his mom for trusting the show and the audience to share with them. By that point, Kodi’s mom is in tears. At the end of it all, Gabrielle Union has the final word—and that’s that Kodi will be getting the Golden Buzzer! Needless to say, he completely deserved it.
Congratulations to Kodi and his mom! Watch the whole performance in the link below:
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