Kodi Lee — a pianist and singer who grew up in Utah and won “America’s Got Talent” in 2019 — returned to the “AGT” stage Wednesday night for a special performance.
Who did Kodi Lee sing with on ‘AGT’?
Lee — whose “AGT” audition is the most viewed audition in the show’s history — performed Journey’s hit song “Don’t Stop Believin’” with R&B/soul singer Teddy Swims and Journey guitarist Neal Schon during Wednesday night’s episode.
Schon recently reflected on the song and how he knew it was going to be a big hit.
“When the song was done and the mix was almost finalized, I turned to everybody in the room and said, ‘I think this song is going to be massive,’” the guitarist recently told Guitar World. “They released it as a single, and it wasn’t so massive — but then it ended up being massive. It just took a long time for everybody to catch up!”
Schon said the idea for the song stemmed from Journey member Jonathan Cain, whose father would often encourage him when he was trying to make his way in the music industry.
“His dad said, ‘Don’t give up, son,’” Schon told Guitar World. “It just kind of came out of that.”
Shortly before returning to “AGT” to perform “Don’t Stop Believin,” Lee released his first original single, “Miracle.”
“After many hours of hard work from Kodi and his camp, we are so proud to share his song with the world,” reads a message on Lee’s YouTube channel. “Thanks to everyone who made this happen and stay tuned everyone. ... There is a lot more to come!!”
Lee, who is blind and has autism, is currently performing in Las Vegas as part of the production “America’s Got Talent Live!”
“We found out that he loved music really early on. He listened and his eyes just went huge, and he started singing,” Lee’s mother, Tina Lee, said during the singer’s “AGT” audition, per the Deseret News. “That’s when I realized, ‘Oh my gosh, he’s an entertainer.’
“Through music and performing he was able to withstand living in this world, because when you’re autistic it’s really hard to do what everybody else does,” she continued. “It actually has saved his life.”
Who made it to the ‘AGT’ 2022 finale?
At the end of Wednesday’s episode, “AGT” revealed that 14-year-old singer Sara James and magician Nicolas Ribs were the two acts to advance to the finale, which airs Sept. 13 and 14, the Deseret News reported.
Per the Deseret News, the acts that have made it to the finale so far include:
- Avery Dixon.
- Drake Milligan.
- Chapel Hart.
- Yu Hojin.
- Sara James.
- Nicolas Ribs.
The next episode of “AGT” airs Sept. 6 on NBC.