Idol Chatter & Voice Views

His audition: Trew the Star, 24, of Montgomery, Ala., performed “Nothing Can Change This Love” by Sam Cooke: He said his first memory of music was watching Idol. And he delivered a splendid cover of this song. Carrie Underwood loved his voice and his delivery even more. Luke Bryan said the audition gave him full body chills for the first time in three days. Lionel Richie was so impressed he rewarded Trew with a hug.

Here’s more about Trew

* He’s a singer from the Montgomery, Ala., area, where he attended George Washington Carver High School.

* And he has music out, including an EP called “Long Overdue.” It dropped in June, features six songs and is a collaboration with That Boogie.

* Trew went viral on TikTok in the summer of 2023 when an employee of the Waffle House in Montgomery asked him to sing before she would give him his order.

* The resulting video was viewed nearly 8 million times. Trew now has more than 100,000 followers on the site.

* He’s continued singing at restaurants too. A mid-December social media post shows him serenading customers at Lorraine’s Bakeshop in Montgomery. Writes Trew: “If I can make one person smile today, that’s the real music.”

* In terms of musical inspiration, Trew writes on Apple Music that he lived with an aunt and uncle around age 6 or 7. They “played nothing but Motown music, songs the even today I listen to.”

* Other music inspirations, he writes, include R. Kelly, The Weeknd and Usher.

* On Instagram, Trew recently posted a video of himself performing with a choir in high school at a televised event. The previous year, he missed a note so badly during a solo and was teased about it so much that “honestly, I didn’t want to even sing anymore.”

* The next year, he redeemed himself with a rousing performance. His message: “Keep dreaming and reaching or your star. Never give up. All it takes is one moment to change your circumstance.”

Trew on social media:
Instagram
TikTok
Facebook
YouTube

@trewthestarr This Getting Out Of Hand 😂😂😂 Shawty Said She Ain’t Giving Me & DWill TheSinger Our Food Unless We Sing 🤦🏾‍♂️😂 I Just Wanted My Waffle House 🧇🧇🧇 #wafflehouse #charlene #anthonyhamilton #fyp ♬ original sound – Trew The Star ✨