Country music had its moment to shine on the America’s Got Talent star-studded finale. Both Drake Milligan and Chapel Hart performed, along with country music superstars Jon Pardi and Darius Rucker .
Milligan took the stage first, joined by Pardi to sing Pardi’s recent No. 1 hit, “Last Night Lonely.” Chapel Hart then took the stage to perform the Bonnie Raitt hit, “Something to Talk About,” joined by Rucker, before Milligan and Pardi helped close out the song.
Both acts made it into the Top 5 on AGT, with The Mayyas ultimately being crowned the champion. But Milligan insists he already felt like a winner, even before he knew the results.
“I’m totally surprised,” Milligan told Everything Nash of the impact on his career, ahead of the America’s Got Talent finale. “I didn’t think it was gonna happen on the scale it’s happened. The shows being planned are crazy. People are showing up. They’re singing along to all the songs. It’s changed my career completely.”
Milligan’s debut Dallas/Fort Worth album is out now, released one day after the finale. The Texas native is now ready to move full-speed ahead into his music career, after his time on America’s Got Talent.
“I feel like I gained a lot of confidence with the last live show, on AGT,” Milligan said. “To be able to sing an original song on live television for millions of people, and to get a great response like that, just fills you with confidence. I feel like hopefully, I’ll walk away with even more of that confidence, since that’s the final round, and be able to take that into my career, and try to go a long ways.”
Chapel Hart also is ready to move forward with their music career, including a debut performance on the Grand Ole Opry this weekend. After the trio earned a golden buzzer with their original “You Can Have Him Jolene” song, they earned praise from both Dolly Parton and Loretta Lynn, along with an invitation to make their Grand Ole Opry debut.
“We’ve been trying to break into Nashville for the last couple of years and It’s been kind of hard when I think country music doesn’t always look like us,” Chapel Hart’s Danica Hart said after their first performance.
Find Milligan’s music and tour dates at DrakeMilligan.com, and keep track of Chapel Hart’s music and tour dates at ChapelHart.com.
