Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Rylie O’Neill hugs Breanna Nix and Carrie Underwood after her head-to-head duet on American Idol. (ABC Photo)

American Idol featured Rylie O’Neill as the final artist cut by the judges as they picked their Top 24 on Sunday’s show.

But Rylie and fellow contestant Breanna Nix received praise from Idol judge Carrie Underwood for having the courage to share their faith through music.

And they received praise from Brandon Lake, the original artist on the song “Gratitude.” He called their performance the best cover of the song he’s heard.

“We got to usher people into the presence of God on national TV. And that was absolutely incredible,” Rylie says in a heartfelt social media post for her fans. “It was my favorite part of the who show that I got to do.”

In a separate post, she writes: “Being one of the last 25 left on this show was such an honor. I felt God call me to come on this show to glorify Him, and through all of my fear I took that step of faith.”

If you’re searching for Rylie on social media, you’ll want to search under her stage name, Iamknown.

In fact, she released an impressive Christian single, “Garden,” as Iamknown in November. It’s a song she wrote with Matthias Niedermayr.

And Idol wasn’t her first singing show experience. Like Drew Ryn, she’s an X Factor alum.

Back in 2013, at age 15, as Rylie Brown, she auditioned for the show with a celebrated performance of “Clarity” by Zedd.

She later released a cover of the song. It’s been streamed more then 2 million times on Spotify alone.

Lots has changed since then for the 27-year-old from Lee’s Summit, Missouri, who admits she struggled with drug addiction, anxiety and depression “from a very early age.”

“I found God in 2017 and he set me free from all those things,” she says in her recent social media post. “I’m seven years sober. He’s given me joy every morning.”

Rylie on social media:
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