A week after Oliver Steele shared emotional performances of The Beatles’ “In My Life” and Eric Clapton‘s 1996 hit “Change the World” in honor of his father who recently suffered a stroke, the 25-year-old singer and songwriter captivated the judges once again during the kick-off of Hollywood Week on American Idol on April 2 with his rendition of Chris Stapleton‘s 2017 hit “Broken Halos.”
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Mentored by season 11 American Idol winner Phillip Phillips, for a one-on-one songwriting session and rehearsal, the Mount Juliet, Tennessee native took on Stapleton’s soulful ballad. Phillips suggested Steele even take a moment without the guitar to let the vocals and lyrics ring out during his performance.
Prior to his performance, Steele talked about his father, Toby, who joined his son during his audition of “Change the World,” and has been severely impacted on the left side of his body since his stroke. Steele said he was thinking of his dad since he couldn’t make the trip out to Hollywood Week with him. “I’m thinking about my dad, who couldn’t come out here with me,” said Steele in his pre-performance interview with host Ryan Seacrest.
He added, “I’ve chosen to work on songwriting because I’m always striving to become a better writer.”
Following his performance, Steele received a standing ovation, and some teary eyes, from judges Lionel Richie, Katy Perry, and Luke Bryan.
‘I don’t remember the last time I played in front of people cheering for me like that,” said Steele following his performance. “So it was really fun. … I’m still kind of coming down from it.”
Steele recently released two of his own original songs in 2023, including “As It Was” and his most recent single “Too Soon,” which was recorded at Pitch Studios in Nashville.
“This song is the result of a year of hard work and discovering who I am,” said Steele of the latter track on his Instagram page.
Along with Phillips, several other former AI winners and runners-up joined the show to mentor contestants, including Clay Aiken (season 2 runner-up), David Archuleta (season 7 runner-up), Justin Guarini (season 1 runner-up), Jordin Sparks (season 6 winner) and season 16 contestant Catie Turner.
Photo: ABC/Eric McCandless
