Who is Tyler Allen? 'American Idol' Season 20 star pays HEARTBREAKING tribute to nephew
The much-awaited season 20 of 'American Idol' is finally here! After churning out wildly successful stars like Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood, Chris Daughtry, etc, the ABC show is back and is once again ready to discover the next huge singing sensation of America. This season, the audience will embark on a nationwide search across Nashville, Tennessee, Austin, Texas, and Los Angeles, California, where the show’s iconic judge auditions will surprise audiences and hopefuls alike with never-before-seen twists and a first-ever Platinum ticket winner.
Music industry legends and all-star judges Luke Bryan, Katy Perry, and Lionel Richie are back on the judges' panel, with Emmy-winning producer Ryan Seacrest donning the hat of the show's host. The premiere episode of the singing competition show featured Katy snorting and crying her eyes out. If you're wondering who evoked such a strong response from her, then you can blame contestant Tyler Allen and his gut-wrenching performance that paid tribute to his one-year-old nephew who passed away in an accident. Read on to know all about Tyler and his emotionally charged performance that tugged at everybody's heartstrings.
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Who is Tyler Allen?
Tyler Allen is a 24-year-old delivery driver from Mobile, Alabama. He graduated from the University of Mobile in 2021 with a degree in communications. Tyler became a viral sensation after he performed a cover of 'Wanna Be Happy' by Kirk Franklin. This earned him an Instagram follow from Drake, and catapulted him into a social-media star with over 12 million views on his cover, 71.3K followers on Instagram, and a whopping 7.6 million likes on TikTok! The 24-year-old is also an ordained elder in his church and has performed at various venues in Cuba and New York!
Tyler Allen on 'American Idol' Season 20
The Alabama resident stepped onto the 'American Idol' audition stage with the goal of putting a huge smile on everybody's face. Katy then asked him what prompted him to audition on the show, to which Tyler explained that he wanted to dedicate his performance to his one-year-old nephew Noah, who passed away in a tragic accident in April 2021. Tyler explained that his family went through a lot after his sister and nephew died on the spot when an 18 wheeler struck them.
He reminisced about his nephew, who he called the 'promised child', who was barely a year old and had just started to walk when the tragedy struck. Since then Tyler had been his family's rock and found comfort and solace in music during this difficult time. The judges were already moved on hearing the painful story, when Tyler added that he was going to perform the song that he sang as a lullaby for his nephew, Katy began weeping. "The song that I’m going to sing today is the song I used to sing to him all the time when I would rock him to sleep. It’s been hard for my family to get through, but singing is my way of healing. So when I got the chance to come, I said what better way to honour him than to sing the song by Whitney Houston,” he shared.
He then gave a soul-stirring performance to Whitney Houston's 'I Believe in You & Me'. By the end of Tyler's performance, Katy was a total wreck and bawling her eyes out. The judges praised his unique singing voice and recognized the strong emotions in his performance, which ended with Tyler getting the ticket to Hollywood! So we will get to see Tyler serenading us with his beautiful voice in the competition. In the meanwhile, several fans took to the show's YouTube clip rooting for Tyler and his impeccable performance.
A fan wrote, "Unique singer. The loss he suffered comes out in his singing. His singing was soft, smooth and honest. I am snottin' y'all. I hope he goes far on American Idol." Another fan commented, "It’s really touching, I hope you go far in not just this competition but in life as well." "Absolutely crying after that song you will hit the hearts of many fans. Keep up your amazing voice you will be in the finals," expressed a fan. Another fan shared, "WHAT A BEAUTIFUL BLESSING TO COME FROM AN INDESCRIBABLE TRAGEDY AND UNIMAGINABLE GRIEF THIS PRECIOUS YOUNG MAN IS DESTINED FOR GREATNESS AND HE HAS A VERY REAL GOD GIVEN TALENT."
You can watch Tyler's performance on 'American Idol' here:
'American Idol' Season 20 premieres on February 27, 2022, at 8/7c, only on ABC.