Who is Celeste Butler? Meet the 'American Idol' contestant who has sung alongside Diana Ross and Chaka Khan
Celeste Butler from South Carolina is a contestant from 'American Idol' Season 19 that everyone needs to keep their eyes peeled for. This 20-something graduate from the University of South Carolina has already shared the stage with huge musical geniuses such as Esperanza Spalding. Celeste has auditioned for the current season of 'American Idol' that premiered on Valentine's Day on ABC for the fourth year in a row.
Singers like Anilee List, Alex Miller, Benson Boone, DJ Johnson, 17-year-old "queen of soul" Nia Renee, Kellyanne Conway's daughter Claudia Conway, Grace Kinstler and Jason Warrior were a couple of singers who auditioned and made it out of the room with their golden tickets in hand for the premiere episode. Celeste is touted to make an appearance in the upcoming episode that will feature the rest of the auditions. Here is all you need to know about her.
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Celeste Butler's early days
Celeste Butler grew up in Oceanside, San Diego, in a Christian household that was big on music and came from a huge military background. She along with her two siblings who are also musicians were raised primarily by their mother Kathryn Butler who credited the environment at home with helping her children grow up as kind and caring personalities who loved and respected everyone.
Speaking about Celeste in particular to Daily Trojan, Kathryn said, "the love and the radiance that you see in her, that’s the type of atmosphere she grew up in. That’s the type of atmosphere she lives in now.”
Celeste was a part of the church choir, praise teams and ensembles. She credited her church and theater experiences that helped her realize the power of music as the foundation of her current musical career. “Although we’re having our individual moment with Christ through music, it’s something that we’re all partaking in," Celeste told the outlet.
How Chaka Khan changed Celeste Butler's life
Growing up, Celeste mostly engaged with gospel music but a chance rendezvous with Chaka Khan's song 'Ain't Nobody' at a birthday party is the moment that she says "literally" changed her life. Celeste recalled being offended at not being introduced to that song ever before and from there on, she dived into other genres.
How USC Thornton School of Music shaped her career
Celeste began her professional career as a musician at age 16 with a girl band with whom she also competed on 'X Factor'. A year later, she applied to USC Thornton, just that one school, and got accepted. Her mentors Ron McCurdy and Patrice Rushen are people she holds close to even after graduating.
Rushen is an award-winning musician and composer — the first woman musical director of the Grammy and Emmy awards and the chair of the popular music program at Thornton. Butler met Rushen while auditions for the pop music program where she managed to impress with her vocal abilities and became part of the limited program that only accepts 25-30 student each year.
Celeste met McCurdy in the class 'The Music of Black Americans' and while receiving her master's degree in 2019 in arts leadership at Thornton, he invited her to produce his multimedia stage show 'Harlem South: A View Through the Lens'. Butler credited her time at Thornton with helping her approach music holistically before she was just a performer.
However, all those years at the school helped her look beyond and explore how marketing, composing and musical directing too were part of the artistry.
Celeste Butler's work is imbued with social justice
Having performed alongside Diana Ross and Chaka Khan at the Hollywood Bowl and produced McCurdy's stage show that debuted at the Grammy Museum, Celeste has also acted in an award-winning short film and founded her own multi-branch entertainment company called Creation Against Barriers.
All her work is themed around social justice and love, for instance, a single she released last year following George Floyd's murder at the hands of the police. Celeste collaborated with recording artiste and producer Jacob Martin in this song where she repeats "No justice, no peace, no racist police". She wanted to create a song that resonated with the brutality of the situation, something that could be a constant reminder of recent times.
“I do talk a lot about social justice issues or community or identity. At the end of the day, I do want it to be a source of love, as opposed to something that I’m putting out to be divisive or add fuel to the fire. I’d rather it be something that opens the door for conversations to be had, to increase understanding," she told the outlet.
Celeste Butler's musical style
Celeste is ready to record her own music and she is more inclined towards a funk, disco, and soul "feel good" sound which she would like to keep "message-based", driven by purpose, advocacy and faith. You can keep up with her music via her YouTube channel as well as her Instagram page.
Catch new episodes of 'American Idol' on Sundays at 8 pm ET on ABC.
