Kodi Lee Is the Blind and Autistic ‘America’s Got Talent’ Contestant Blowing Everyone Away
Kodi Lee, a blind and autistic America's Got Talent contestant, received the coveted Golden Buzzer after blowing everyone away with his incredible performance.
The 22-year-old singer/pianist was accompanied onstage by his mom, Tina, who revealed that music saved his life. "His eyes just went huge [when he first heard the sound of music]," she said. "He started singing and that's when I was in tears because that's when I realized, 'Oh my gosh, he's an entertainer.'"
"Through music and performing he was able to withstand living in this world because when you're autistic it's really hard to do what everybody else does. It actually has saved his life, playing music," she added.
What happened next left everyone speechless: Lee performed an emotional piano rendition of Donny Hathaway's "A Song For You," leaving all four judges in tears and the audience on their feet to give him a standing ovation.
Simon Cowell called the performance "extraordinary," adding "I'm going to remember this moment for the rest of my life." Meanwhile, Gabrielle Union used her first-ever Golden Buzzer to send Lee straight through to the live shows.
Check out Kodi Lee's incredible performance on America's Got Talent, below:
Fans, including Ellen DeGeneres and Oprah Winfrey, all took to Twitter after his moving performance to praise his extraordinary talent.