Mor Ilderton channeled his tragedy into music. On the latest episode of American Idol, the 22-year-old gas utility worker shared his touching story with judges Luke Bryan, Lionel Richie, and Carrie Underwood.
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Ilderton revealed that he was raised by his grandma since he was two, when his dad ended his mom’s life. While he initially focused on sports like football and basketball, he eventually decided to teach himself guitar.
Ilderton also took up songwriting, even penning a song about his late mom called “Strong.” The West Virginia resident decided to sing that song for his audition.
“It’s about seeing my mom’s picture for the first time and not knowing her and just kind of looking at a stranger,” he explained. “[I was] just pouring out my emotions of that through a song.”
Though Ilderton stumbled a bit at the beginning of his performance, after some encouragement from the judges he found his groove.
“I don’t want to need you anymore / I don’t want to bleed you any more / Everything in me is hanging on / You’re the only reason that I’m strong,” he sang.
Mor Ilderton Gets a Huge Surprise from His Grandma
After his performance, all three judges jumped up to their feet.
“Very cool,” Richie praised. “… As unnerved as you may feel, I love your delivery. I love the timbre of your voice. More importantly, that writing was very cool. I mean that.”
“I feel like you went somewhere else when you were singing,” Underwood noted. “It’s like we weren’t here. In a good way.
Bryan, meanwhile, told Ilderton, “You’ve got all the tools. You’ve got the look… You’ve got the heart, the voice.”
Unbeknownst to Ilderton, his grandmother, Sandy, made the trip to support him at his audition, and had been hiding behind the stage throughout his performance.
Once prompted by Underwood, Ilderton’s grandma came out. He promptly hugged her and expressed awe at her appearance, given that she hadn’t been on a plane in 25 years.
Ilderton quickly earned three yeses from the judges. After he left to celebrate with his grandma, Richie remarked, “The tragedy of all that story, to have nana, Sandy, the family around him, he’s going to be alright.”
American Idol airs Mondays on ABC.
Photo by Disney/Eric McCandless
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