Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Hayley RaShel of American Idol Season 22

American Idol returns Sunday, Feb. 18, with Katy Perry, Lionel Richie and Luke Bryan once again serving as judges.

Here’s more about Hayley:

* She’s a 19-year-old singer, songwriter and actress from Ridgeland, Mississippi. She’ll turn 20 in late March.

* Her full name is Hayley RaShel Porter; she uses Hayley RaShel as her stage name.

* According to her website bio, she’s been writing songs since age 8 and using music as a means of “therapeutic expression” since her early teens.

* She’s released one song to streaming sites, the heartfelt “If I Would Have Known,” which dropped in early 2022. Hayley wrote the song following the death of an aunt in December 2021. Check out her impressive vocal below.

* “”I literally just sat at the piano and I thought, ‘What is something I would tell her if I could, one more time. What’s something I could say,'” Hayley explains in a radio interview, adding it was one of those instances when she expressed herself through music.

* Head to her social media, and you can find plenty of Hayley RaShel covers, including “Bust Your Windows” by Jazmine Sullivan and “My Mind” by Yebba.

* On her website, Hayley describes those two singers are her biggest inspirations.

* Besides music, Hayley’s other love is volleyball. She’s playing the sport while studying music at Tougaloo College in Mississippi, according to that website bio. She has also coached volleyball.

Hayley on social media:
Instagram
TikTok
Facebook
YouTube