Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Willie Spence of American Idol Season 19

Here’s more about Willie:

* He was discovered at age 18 when he decided to launch into a version of Rihanna’s “Diamonds” while sitting in a sports hall at Coffee High School in Douglas, Ga. A friend filmed the performance and it wound up on social media.

* That performance has now been viewed 11 million times on YouTube alone and gained the attention of Snoop Dog and R&B performer Tank.

* That was in late 2017. By the end of the next year, Willie was invited to the Steve Harvey show in Hollywood to perform “Diamonds” on national TV.

* The school performance hardly marked Willie’s first foray into music. He started singing at age 3 and says he was really discovered when he performed “Amazing Grace” at his grandmother’s church in Florida when he was just 6.

* During the interview portion of his appearance on Steve Harvey, Willie said his mother got pregnant with him at age 38. When his father cut the umbilical cord at the hospital, Willie stopped breathing, but doctors were able to save his life.

* Willie released a song in early 2020 called “Champion,” then followed up with a song he refers to as his debut single earlier this year.

* That song is called “So Gone,” about a guy head over heels in love with his lady. You can check it out below. The accompanying music video, released in mid-January, features Famous Ocean and Luh Kel as the young couple.

* In March of last year, Willie launched a Go Fund Me to help with the recording of his music. So far, he’s reached about one-fifth of his $5,000 goal.

* Willie has more than 350,000 followers on Instagram and more than 42 million views on his YouTube videos.

* In an interview published earlier this month, Willie told Bong Mines Entertainment this about his music: “I put my personality and all of my feelings into every song. It’s the one thing I’m very particular about. When you listen, I hope you feel the emotion. I want the audience to get the message you can live your dream if you work hard, stay focused, and keep pushing. I want to be an example (that) you can do anything.”

Willie on social media:
Instagram
Twitter
Facebook
YouTube