Brad Paisley Performs Incredible Duet With Teenage ‘American Idol’ Phenom During Finale

Featuring a win from contestant Hannah Harper, and performances from all Top 3 contestants, the Season 24 finale of American Idol was not one to miss. In addition, the finale featured other special performances, including contestant duets with Tori Kelly, Clay Aiken, and even country star Brad Paisley.

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Paisley performed a duet of his song “I’m Gonna Miss Her” with contestant Lucas Leon, who made it to the Top 9 in this year’s season. Leon, an 18-year-old from Gallatin, Tennessee, first met Paisley in Hawaii, where he acted as a mentor to Idol contestants.

Following their epic Idol performance together, the country star even gave Leon a special invite to join him at the Grand Ole Opry. “So, you were saying we need to hang out again, right?” Paisley started. “Can we hang out at the Grand Ole Opry? You wanna play there?”

Leon’s response to the invite? He told Seacrest, “I accept.”

It’s clear from their performance together onstage and Leon’s kind words earlier in the season that he and Paisley make the perfect country pair.

For one of his performances in Hawaii, Leon even sang Tim McGraw’s “Just to See You Smile”. The song is a country favorite for both him and Paisley.

“I’m a big fan of Brad just because his guitar playing, his singing, his songwriting, his stage presence, everything about him,” Leon said of Paisley.

On Instagram, Leon promoted his finale duet with Paisley using the popular “Hallelujah” trend that’s been circulating on social media. In the trend, fans use Justin Bieber’s song “Everything Hallelujah” and list things that they’re happy about or grateful for. In Leon’s version of the trend, he just had to list the iconic Idol duet.

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“So excited to sing with Brad tomorrow!” the young singer captioned the post.

Lucas Leon Receives High Praise From Luke Bryan

American Idol fans first became obsessed with Leon when he performed his own original song, “Fall In Love Someday”, for the judges during his Idol audition.

“I’m Lucas Leon, I’m 17 years old [and] I’m from Gallatin, Tennessee. I play a lot of music, write a lot of songs, do some fishing,” Leon said in his introduction.

After his performance, Leon successfully scored three “yeses” from the judges and a compliment from country star Luke Bryan, who seemed particularly impressed.

“Really great stuff you’re doing at the age of 17, and you have it all,” Bryan told the young singer. “So thank you for bringing your old butt down here to us. And yeah, it’s a big old yes for me.”

Throughout his time on Idol, Leon has performed songs like “Bennie And The Jets”, “Life Is A Highway”, and “The House That Built Me”. The teenager was eliminated after reaching the Top 9, alongside contestant Kyndal Inskeep.

Leon also just released a brand new single, called “The Crazy Kind”, following the conclusion of his Idol journey. Now that he’s going to be performing at the Grand Ole Opry, we can’t wait to see what’s next for this teenage talent.

Photo by: Scott Dudelson/Getty Images