Country Teen Earns Ticket To Hollywood With Lynyrd Skynyrd Cover On ‘Idol’ Premiere

American Idol is back! After months of waiting, the beloved singing competition has returned to television for its 21st season.

Prior to the American Idol season premiere Sunday night (February 19), an audition video was released to YouTube to whet our appetite for what the season has to offer.

In the video, 18-year-old Colin Stough of Gattman, Mississippi, wowed returning judges, Luke Bryan, Katy Perry and Lionel Richie, with his smooth, soulful cover of Lynyrd Skynyrd‘s “Simple Man.”

Prior to his performance, Colin told cameras that he lives with his mom, stepdad and two dogs just 30 feet from his grandparents’ house. Other extended family members also live nearby, giving the teen deep roots in his hometown.

“My dad really ain’t never been there. He chose alcohol and drugs instead of me and mom,” Stough shared. ”Man, that would just kill a family you know, and this is where we had to go. It wasn’t nowhere else, this was it. I used to have a real bad problem about just holding on to everything and that’s what horses teach me, just to let go of it. It’s kind of like you can talk to ’em, but you don’t say nothing and neither do they. It’s a way to cope.”

After his mom signed him up for American Idol, Colin decided to go through with it because “nothin’ comes from around here, and I want to change that.

As Colin began to sing, the judges couldn’t help but smile at each other as they realized they were hearing something special.

“What American Idol is about…right there,” Luke Bryan said as Stough concluded his song.

Judge Katy Perry told the teen, “Colin, you have the magic in you. You go the stardust.”

Luke Bryan then invited Colin’s mom to join them in the audition room so she could witness her son being told that he earned a ticket to Hollywood.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Colin Stough (@colinstough)

Watch Colin Stough perform “Simple Man” in the video below.