Kodi Lee, singer who is blind and has autism, wins 'America's Got Talent'
Lee has been a fan favorite since his showstopping debut this past spring.
Sept. 19, 2019, 8:39 PM GMT+8 / Source: TODAY
By Drew Weisholtz
Kodi Lee’s long journey is now complete.
Lee, a 23-year-old singer who is blind and has autism, won the 14th season of “America’s Got Talent” on Wednesday night.
Lee joined the Detroit Youth Choir as one of the final two acts competing for the $1 million grand prize and the right to headline the “America’s Got Talent Live” show at the Paris Theater at Paris Las Vegas Hotel & Casino in November.
“I feel so amazing,” Lee, who was accompanied onstage by his mother, said after he learned of his victory. “Unbelievable.”
Kodi Lee celebrates with Simon Cowell, Julianne Hough, Gabrielle Union, Howie Mandel and host Terry Crews after being crowned champion of "America's Got Talent."Trae Patton/NBC
Lee has been a phenomenon since he first appeared on the show back in May, wowing the judges, live audiences and viewers when he played the piano and sang Leon Russell’s “A Song for You.”
The performance was so good that judge Gabrielle Union hit the Golden Buzzer, automatically advancing him to the Hollywood rounds.
"What just happened there was extraordinary," judge Simon Cowell said about the performance.
Lee was born with optic nerve hypoplasia, resulting in him going blind at a young age. He also has autism and Addison’s disease, a condition caused when the adrenal glands don’t produce enough of the hormone cortisol.
Lee, who hails from Lake Elsinore, California, proved he wasn’t a one-trick pony in August when he returned for the quarterfinals and belted out Simon and Garfunkel’s “Bridge Over Troubled Water.”
“You are genuinely one of most extraordinary people and talents we’ve had the great fortune to have on any show we’ve ever made. God bless you," Cowell told him.
During his run on the show, Lee also scored big with versions of Freya Ridings’ “Lost Without You” and the Leona Lewis-Calum Scott duet “You Are the Reason,” which he performed twice, once by himself and once with Lewis during the show’s finale.
