It’s impossible to hear Reid Wilson’s voice without becoming completely awed by it. The young singer, hailing from Alabama, was one of the most pleasant surprises in the 19th season of “America’s Got Talent”.
Reid’s soulful voice and performance weren’t easily ignorable throughout his appearances in the show, gaining the approval of many people who didn’t stop rooting for him until the very end. Though Reid didn’t make it to the finale to snatch the $1 million prize, that didn’t stop him from stealing the hearts of many.
Seeing Reid’s potential to become a star wasn’t hard, but many people have wondered what’s up with him, how he became such a great singer, his financial situation, and whether he has any connections in the entertainment world.
Do you also want to know what secrets are behind the talented Reid Wilson? Keep with us to find out!
Who Is Reid Wilson?
Reid Wilson is the son of Kelley, a homeschool teacher, and Robert, Captain of Montgomery Fire Station, in Alabama. There’s also Ryley Tate, Reid’s older brother who took part in the 23rd season of “The Voice” in 2023. The pair of singers also have an older brother named Todd, and other younger siblings but whose names are unknown.
Reid was born on 3 August 2009 but not much is known about his early life, besides his love for singing. As Reid confessed in an interview on “The Jennifer Hudson Show”, he began singing at a very early age, but had no control over the power of his voice. It wasn’t until 2022 when his Ryley brother showed his videos to his vocal coach that the younger singer started receiving professional singing lessons.
The results of Reid’s hard work can be heard in the way he can sing powerful and vocally complex songs, and also convey strong feelings through the music. That was one of the many reasons that his performances in “America’s Got Talent” attracted so much attention, though it took Reid a while to get to that point.
Life Before “AGT”
A couple of years before setting foot on the stage of “America’s Got Talent” in 2024, Reid Wilson lived a normal life. Though his extraordinary talent made him quite the special kid, most people didn’t even know he had such a great talent, because he performed only for his family, friends, and the local church.
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Nonetheless, his interest in turning his hobby into something serious grew to the point that he started an Instagram account in July 2023, to share videos of his covers and vocal prowess. Though the first two posts in his accounts were tagged to him by his brother Ryley, the attention those videos got encouraged Reid to start sharing more videos.
The first was a cover of Morgan Wallen and Ernest’s song “Flower Shops”, getting over 120,000 likes and thousands of comments on it. The second cover was of Aretha Franklin’s classic “Ain’t No Way”, an ambitious rendition that caught the hearts of over 400,000 Instagram users who liked the video, and quickly spread the word about his talent.
That video was sent to Jennifer Hudson, who was so impressed by Reid’s talent that she invited him onto her show in November 2023 – that first show appearance was an important push forward in Reid’s career, as it allowed him to sing on TV for the first time, and also reveal his love for Hudson’s music to the singer herself.
Path In “AGT”
Reid Wilson debuted in “America’s Got Talent” in the 19th season’s sixth episode. Despite his evident nervousness, Reid was able to answer the judges’ questions before surprising everyone with a powerful rendition of Lesley Gore’s “You Don’t Own Me”, leaving the audience no option but to stand and applaud him. After the performance, Simon Cowell described Reid as ‘what a gutsy little kid’, and who received positive comments from the rest of the judges too.
As if the experience couldn’t get any better, Howie Mandel pressed the Golden Buzzer to send Reid directly to the next stage. Reid’s quarter-final appearance had him singing Ariana Grande’s “Almost Is Never Enough”, which once again caught the hearts of everyone who listened to his heartfelt rendition.
Later on, the news site AL.com asked Reid the reason he chose his songs for the show, to which he answered that performing songs he loved and could ‘do very well’ seemed a good idea to make it further into the competition. Also in that interview, Reid revealed not being as confident as he wanted, regarding the next elimination round, as he felt that the competition was ‘fierce’, and had him keeping his expectations toned down.
Aftermath
Unfortunately, Reid Wilson said goodbye to “America’s Got Talent” after the semi-final episode, though that doesn’t mean that his performance wasn’t impressive. Once he stepped ontp the show’s stage, everyone knew they were up to hear something great, as the initial notes of Whitney Houston’s “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” sounded.
Though Reid opted to sing a slightly different version of the original hit song, his vocal execution was charming and fitting to the style he’d been showing since his audition.
While Reid didn’t obtain enough votes to advance to the next stage, he received the audience’s standing ovation for the third time. In an interview with the news site Montgomery Advertiser, Reid described his experience in the show as ‘fun’, and thanked his supporters for voting for him during the competition.
Just weeks after his exit from “America’s Got Talent”, Reid achieved an important milestone in his career when the New York Giants Football Team invited him to sing the National Anthem in a game held in late October 2024.
What’s Next For Reid Wilson?
Reid Wilson might have not won “America’s Got Talent”’s 19th season but one thing for sure is that we’ll be hearing more from him. For a start, Reid released his first original song “Sad About You” in September 2024.
The release didn’t take his fans by surprise, as he revealed the news to AL.com several days before the song dropped. This was a good move for his career, as the song gained over 200,000 streams on Spotify in less than a month before its release. He also gained almost 100,000 listeners on the music platform with one song alone.
Regarding other plans of Reid besides making music, he revealed that he wants to pursue a career in culinary arts, as he’s been strongly interested in that field for years.
It’s still early to know whether Reid would choose to attend culinary school or dedicate completely to music, but there’s no denying that his hard-working habits and talent should take him to great places in life.
