Not only did Matt Mauser wow the America’s Got Talent judges and audience with a heartwrenching performance, but he also wowed them with his incredible resilience.
You see, Mauser, 51, lost his wife, Christina, in January 2020.
She was one of the nine people who died in a helicopter crash with NBA star Kobe Bryant.
And despite his incredible loss, he got up on that AGT stage for the show’s 16th season to show his children and the world how one can muster the strength to carry on after tragedy.
“I would like to make sure that my children see that, in spite of the grief that we’ve been through this year and that– that grief is not going to define who we are as a family and that my children see that you have to find joy in life and you have to continue,” Mauser told judges. “If this can in any way help my children to chase their dreams then I’ll take it.”
Mauser and his wife met in 2004 while he was playing at a dive bar.
“Before January 26, me and Christina lived this kind of dreamy life,” Mauser said
Both Mauser and his wife retired from their jobs as school teachers so he could focus on his music career full-time.
She then got an opportunity to coach girls basketball with Kobe Bryant, which is how she ended up in the helicopter that fateful day.
“She was just this very humble, powerful, beautiful human being,” Mauser explained. “My mom said, ‘If you don’t marry that girl, you’re stupid.’ We spent 15 years together and have three beautiful children. It was filled with love”
The audience and judges were in near tears when he explained that the last thing his wife said to him was “I love you.”
“My focus immediately went to my children and I said she would want me to carry on,” he explained. “She would want our kids to have happy lives which I don’t know is possible, but I’m gonna try.”
Despite his family’s hardships, he mustered the courage to have his try on AGT with a performance of “Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)” by Phil Collins.
Every word Mauser sang was filled with emotion, and his final verse ended with him in tears.
The same could probably be said for the audience and the judges.
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His performance was so moving that Mauser was given a resounding yes from all 4 judges.
Mauser, who also performs with his band Tijuana Dogs, said he hoped that his performance made his wife proud.
Mauser wasn’t selected to enter the Top 36, but he was picked to be one of the five acts who competed for the Wild Card.
During the Wild Card competition, Mauser sang Michael Bublé’s “The Way You Look Tonight.”
Though Mauser didn’t make it to the Quarterfinals, he said it was an incredible experience.
“It’s been fun,” he told the L.A. Times. “It’s been overwhelming a little bit, but it’s been incredibly rewarding.
Check out his incredibly emotional performance in the video below!
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