When Terry Crews is feeling it, you can bet everyone feels it.
That happened during Tuesday night’s (June 20) edition of America’s Got Talent, when a collective from Los Angeles, going by the name of Freedom Singers, told their story and shared their talents.
The singers have lived in the impoverished side of Los Angeles, known as “Skid Row,” rubbing shoulders with the homeless and destitute. Performing together is just one way to lift the spirits.
Its eight core members came together in the Arts and Culture department at the Los Angeles Community Action Network (LA CAN), an organization that exists to help the needy.
“Skid Row is in the heart of downtown Los Angeles where five people per day die on the streets, houseless people,” explained one of the male singers. “So, for us, Freedom Singing brings us close together; it is that medium that we’ve always used to come together as America.
And with that as the background, the singers launched into a gospel rendition of Red Hot Chili Peppers’ early ’90s hit “Under The Bridge,” an apt song from the California act about sleeping rough.
The performance inspired the entire audience, and all four judges, to stand and applaud. There were tears in the room, and on stage.
“You have a powerful voice, powerful message, it was beautiful, it gave me goosebumps, it made me emotional,” Heidi Klum enthused. “This was a great audition.”
Homelessness, noted Howie Mandel, “you have given it a voice, you have given us a purpose, and it’s a message. This was more than just a song, more than an audition, it was needed. Thank you for informing, entertaining and blowing the roof off this place.”
Sofia Vergara noted, “I think you guys are going to go very far in this competition.”
The performance, concluded Simon Cowell, “was brilliant, it was raw, it was real, I loved the vocals, I loved your chemistry, your friendship. This was a really special audition, I loved it.”
So too did AGT host Crews who, as he thanked the singers backstage, shed some tears.
For the record, the performance earned four yeses.
Watch below.
