Idol Chatter & Voice Views

His auditiion: Philmon Lee, 25, LeGrange, Ga., performed “When a Man Loves a Woman” by Michael Bolton: There’s a lot of character in Philmon’s voice. And he delivers the song with plenty of emotion. Carrie Underwood called his performance surprising because he entered the room so “chill.” Luke Bryan says he looks like he was born to sing and called his audition “pretty dang exciting.” He unanimously advanced to the next round.

Here’s more about Philmon:

* He’s a singer-songwriter with a wonderfully soulful voice from LaGrange, Ga. Now in his mid-20s, he’s already released lots of music.

* What’s more, he released that music via a contract with Epic Records, including a 2024 EP called “Home Drinker” and a 2021 EP called 706.” Check out the title track to his latest EP below.

* Along the way, he’s had some big-name collaborators — violinist Lindsey Stirling on a song called “No Saving Me” and Young Thug on a 2023 single called “Baby Don’t Cry.” “No Saving Me” has more than 2 million streams on Spotify; “Baby Don’t Cry” more than 800,000.

* All that said, Philmon told Idol the pandemic helped sideline his singing career. He’s now selling insurance and is hoping Idol provides a route back into the music industry.

* His interest in music started at a very young age, mostly because of his musician dad, who toured with a gospel group called The Georgia Melody Boys and a rock band called The Hired Guns.

* Philmon would often travel with his dad. Along the way, he learned piano, guitar and drums. By the time he was 10, he was being called up on stage to perform.

* Elvis Presley has been a major musical influence for Philmon, also influencing his hair style at one point.

* Other inspirations include Post Malone, Lewis Capaldi and Sam Smith, and music legends Elton John and Steven Tyler, Philmon says in his Spotify bio.

* In an interview with Paste Magazine, Philmon says he went through a dark period while attending Auburn University and studying business. He eventually dropped out to do music full time.

* Philmon has more than 100,000 followers on his TikTok, where his cover of Creedence Clearwater Revival’s “Have You Ever Seen the Rain” has more than 1.5 million views.

Philmon on social media:
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