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Music teacher got two standing ovations and a BGT Golden Buzzer with 'Natural Woman' cover

Goose. Bumps.

Britain's Got Talent/YouTube

Taryn Charles blew everyone away with her BGT audition.

For nearly two decades, people have been enjoying "Got Talent" competitions all over the world, inspired by the first "America's Got Talent" in 2006. And thanks to social media and YouTube, we can enjoy the most memorable auditions over and over again.

For instance, this one from Taryn Charles on the 2024 season of "Britain's Got Talent."

Charles is a music teacher who works with special needs kids. She even brought one of her students and her parent to be part of the audience during her audition. When the judges asked why she wanted to be on "Britain's Got Talent," Charles said, "I love to make people smile and I think my voice is alright."

Talk about an understatement.

As she stands waiting for the music to start, she shakes her hand by her side a few times, clearly getting some nerves out. But as soon as she starts to sing the first line, "Looking out on the morning rain, I used to feel so uninspired…" it's clear from her rich, raspy voice and easy stage presence that she's got something special.

And it only gets better from there. "(You Make Me Feel Like a) Natural Woman" was written by singer-songwriter Carole King, then famously covered by Aretha Franklin, which is a hard act to follow. But Charles knocked it out of the park, blowing away the audience and judges alike. In fact, the performance earned her not one but two standing ovations and inspired judge Bruno Tonioli to smash the Golden Buzzer button before the judges even began to offer their feedback.

Watch:

What makes this performance especially memorable is how humble and unassuming Charles is before and after her knock-out performance. If you didn't watch til the very end, you may have missed her hilariously real, "I think I've wet myself," which only makes her even more endearing.

"WOW I was blown away with her angelic and powerful voice," wrote one commenter. "And yet she is so humble and has a beautiful soul. Plus, I have never in my life seen a double standing ovation, she so deserves a golden buzzer, wishing her the best success."

"This is how you do an audition, stunning tone to her voice.....if anyone deserves a chance it's this lady......BOOM!!" wrote another.

"This was so inspirational. Taryn I am in tears," shared another. "I know what it feels like to struggle with self-worth. You are a mirror to show me that that those people are not always right. You are phenomenally gifted and you have an amazing career as a professional singer ahead of you! Blessings!"

Talent competition judges often warn contestants about the challenge of singing songs done by big vocal divas, and we've seen singers attempt to sing the likes of Whitney Houston or Mariah Carey and fall flat. It's not easy to sing an iconic song most people associate with Aretha Franklin—the Queen of Soul and Rolling Stone's #1 singer of all time—and have any hope of impressing people. And yet, Taryn Charles managed to make the song her own and wow everyone in the process with her unique voice.

We'll definitely be keeping an eye on this humble music teacher as she makes her way through the "Britain's Got Talent" gauntlet. Heck of a way to kick it off.

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Pop Culture

Gorgeous 3-part harmony got 'The Voice' judges to hit their buttons within 7 seconds

They had the judges' attention right from the first bar of "Made You Look."

The Voice/YouTube

OK3 wowed everyone with their powerful voices.

The way our brains react to musical harmony is fascinating. When notes are off, the blending of different tones is grating and unpleasant. But when a harmony hits just right, it's a like a sweet celebration for our senses.

That's why, when OK3 sang the opening bar of Meghan Trainor's "Made You Look" in their debut performance on NBC's "The Voice," three of the four judges hit the button to turn their chair around within a remarkable 7 seconds. The women's three-part harmony was powerful throughout the whole song, but their pitch perfect opening was the epitome of attention-grabbing.

The way "The Voice" works is four celebrity judges first hear singers in a blind audition, where their chairs are turned around so they can't see the performers—they can only hear them. Then, if they like what they hear, they push their big red button and turn their chair around, indicating they want that performer on their coaching team. Ultimately, the judges compete along with the singers to have their chosen performers come out on top. When multiple judges turn their chairs, the performer gets to choose whose team they want to be on.

Usually, it takes longer than a few seconds of listening to a singer (or singers) perform for judges to start turning their chairs around, but in this case, it was almost immediate for three out of the four judges. And even the one holdout, Chance the Rapper, eventually hit his button as well, giving OK3 the coveted four-chair turn.

Watch:

The trio brought their vocal coach, who was the one who brought them together in the first place, and the judges encouraged them to consult her to make their decision about whose team they would be on.

Judge John Legend made a case for himself first.

“I loved your performance. ... I grew up arranging songs for groups, and then, when I went to college, I was an award-winning a cappella arranger," Legend said. "If there’s nothing else that I do, I do this." He also added that he thinks "there's a lot of space for a big pop girl group right now."

Country duo judges Dan + Shay made a strong pitch as well, as they literally do harmonies themselves. And Reba McIntyre not only shares roots with the women being from Oklahoma herself, but she also pulled out her Grammy and a box of chicken nuggets, so it's definitely going to be a tough choice.

The sneak preview clip didn't show who the group chose, and neither did the season premiere that aired on February 26, 2024. The episode ended on a cliffhanger, so the choice will be revealed on February 27.

What a standout performance for these young women, Sierra Sikes, 23, Kenna Fields, 22, and Courtney Hooker, 25. Their journey on "The Voice" is sure to be a life-changing experience, if not a career-making one.

You can follow "The Voice" on YouTube.

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Pop Culture

Pink shares a proud mama video of her daughter's first singing recital

'This 11 year old (11,000 year old soul) blows me away.'

slgckgc/flickr

Pink's daughter is following in her mom's footsteps with her own unique voice.

One of the best things social media offers is the ability for parents to share some of their kids' big moments. Proud parents are going to proud parent, and modern technology gives us ample opportunity to publicly gush about our offspring without forcing anyone to bear witness to their burgeoning talents.

Celebrity parents are in a bit of a different boat, however. When you're a household name with millions of followers, you might think twice about sharing your proud parent videos. But iconic pop star Pink has shared a video of her daughter's first singing recital just like any other proud mama would, and it's totally sweet.

Pink posted the video to an Instagram reel with the caption "This 11 year old (11,000 year old soul) blows me away."

Pink's daughter Willow can be seen standing on a stage holding a microphone with a purple curtain behind her. A Christmas tree sits on stage to her left and a piano to her right. The piano accompaniment begins, and she begins to sing "The Rose Song" by Olivia Rodrigo.

Imagine being the child of one of the best singers in modern times and wanting to be a singer yourself. It would be so hard not to feel a huge amount of pressure or feel like people are going to expect you to sound like your mom.

But Willow's voice is sweet and unique. She doesn't sound that much like Pink, but her performance shows the apple doesn't fall far from the tree nonetheless.

Watch:

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It takes a lot of courage to stand on stage alone and sing, no matter how talented you are. So kudos to Willow for that alone.

But people are loving the performance itself, the way she connects emotionally with the song and how she keeps control of her voice. Even some other famous singers weighed in with praise for the 11-year-old.

"Holy cow!!! What a voice! What composure. Superstar," wrote singer and actress Mandy Moore.

"Whoah Nelly!" wrote Nancy Wilson from Heart. "They’ll be no stopping her!"

Chrissy Metz of "This Is Us" fame shared a simple, emoji-filled "Wow."

The video has thousands of comments from supportive fans, of course, but as any parent knows, the pride that comes with watching your child succeed at what they set out to do doesn't require any fanfare. Pink's sharing of her daughter's recital comes from the same urge most parents have to celebrate our kids' achievements and encourage them in their endeavors. (Did you notice the camera starting to slip up and up before coming back down? A sure sign of a parent trying to balance recording on a phone while watching the performance. Classic.)

It's especially sweet to see this proud mama moment from Pink, as she's previously shared that she never had an urge to be a mom.

"It surprised me. I didn't really want to be a mom," she told Carson Daly on Today last year. "I didn't notnot want to be a mom, but it just wasn't sort of on my list of to-dos. I had Willow and, man, that saying of watching your heart go walking outside of your body, it's truly how it feels."

Indeed it is. Congrats to Willow on a beautiful recital and congrats to Pink for raising such a talented, self-composed young lady.

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Pop Culture

In 1974, Gladys Knight sang the Grammy nominees for best song. She slayed every single one.

We bow before the Empress of Soul and her unreal vocal skills.

John Mathew Smith & www.celebrity-photos.com, Prayitno/Thank you for (12 millions +) view

Gladys Knight isn't known as the Empress of Soul for nothing.

In this world, there is no shortage of people who can carry a tune. But there are singers, and then there are singers.

We don't need to debate who has the best singing voice, as that's really a matter of taste. But there are a handful of singers who can sing anything, anytime, anywhere and sound amazing every single time they open their mouths.

In 1974, Gladys Knight clearly solidified her spot on that list.

At the 16th Grammy Awards, Gladys Knight and the Pips were the presenters for Song of the Year. But instead of simply naming the nominees, Knight sang snippets from each song (with some backup help from the band and the Pips).

Knight was 29 years old at the time and had just won her first two Grammy awards, one for Best R&B Vocal Performance By A Duo, Group Or Chorus with "Midnight Train to Georgia" and one for Best Pop Vocal Performance By A Duo, Group Or Chorus with "Neither One of Us (Wants to Be the First to Say Goodbye)."

Even for an award-winning singer, the idea of singing the nominations—parts of five different songs from five different artists in five different styles back to back—seems daunting. But Knight pulled it off flawlessly, sounding as good as, if not better than, each of the original artists as she sang. The richness of her voice, her pitch-perfect delivery and the emotion with which she sang each song is simply unreal.

Watch her just effortlessly slay portions of each of these nominees:

"Feel Like Makin' Love" (Greg McDaniels)

"I Honestly Love You" (Peter Allen, Jeff Barry)

"Midnight at the Oasis" (David Nichtern)

"The Way We Were" (Alan Bergman, Marilyn Bergman, Marvin Hamlisch)

"You and Me Against the World" (Paul Williams, Kenneth Ascher)

She isn't known as the Empress of Soul for nothing.

Knight has won seven Grammy awards and has been inducted into both the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and the Vocal Group Hall of Fame (along with the Pips). Most recently, she made headlines for her gracious response after a sports commentator mistook Dionne Warwick for her at Serena Williams' final tennis match. Though both singers were in attendance, they were not sitting together and when cameras panned to Warwick, the announcer mistook her for Knight.

“Dionne and I have been sisters for a long time, and I hope she is as honored to be mistaken for me as I would be her,” Knight said in a statement to NBC News. “I’m sure it was an honest mistake. It was a blessing to be in the house to see Serena’s greatness.”

Knight will also be starring in an upcoming holiday film, "Someday at Christmas."

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Pop Culture

Dolly Parton declines Rock & Roll Hall of Fame nomination, says she hasn't 'earned the right'

Photo by Alejo Castillo/Creative Commons, Dolly Parton/Twitter

Dolly Parton is winning people's hearts yet again with her humility and class.

Few famous folks are as universally beloved as Dolly Parton. Somehow, she has managed to attract the admiration and respect of people across ages, races, regions, political persuasions and musical tastes. Even people who don't particularly like country music [raises hand] love Dolly.

Considering how much of a joke people made of her in her younger years, her broad appeal is impressive. It's also super simple. Dolly Parton is a genuinely good human being. She is generous, she is kind, she handles herself with class when people try to mess with her, and she continually does good deeds without boasting. Don't let the facade of the big hair and makeup fool you—Dolly Parton is as real as they come.

Now, once again, Dolly is winning hearts with her humility after being nominated to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

Dolly was first nominated to the honor in February, joining the likes of Pat Benatar, Duran Duran, Eminem, Eurythmics, Rage Against the Machine, Lionel Richie and Dionne Warwick as potential inductees. But in posts on Facebook and Twitter, she shared that she "must respectfully bow out" of the running and explained why.

pic.twitter.com/Z6LKfWtlxg
— Dolly Parton (@Dolly Parton) 1647268386

She wrote:

"Dolly here! Even though I am extremely flattered and grateful to be nominated for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, I don't feel that I have earned that right. I really do not want votes to be split because of me, so I must respectfully bow out. I do hope that the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame will understand and be willing to consider me again - if I'm ever worthy. This has, however, inspired me to put out a hopefully great rock 'n' roll album at some point in the future, which I have always wanted to do! My husband is a total rock 'n' roll freak, and has always encouraged me to do one. I wish all of the nominees good luck and thank you again for the compliment. Rock on!"

So not only does the 76-year-old country star think she hasn't earned a spot in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, she also doesn't want her name to split the vote for those she feels do deserve the nomination.

People have responded with praise for Dolly's character. Even Dictionary.com weighed in, saying she defined the word "humility."

See also: humble, altruistic, benevolent, kind, and selfless
— Bitchy Witch \ud83e\uddd9\ud83c\udffc\u200d\u2640\ufe0f \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 (@Bitchy Witch \ud83e\uddd9\ud83c\udffc\u200d\u2640\ufe0f \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8) 1647276017

People also disagreed with her claim that she doesn't deserve the nomination, basically saying that her awesomeness as a human being qualifies her for any and every hall of fame.

Dolly should be in the 'how to behave like a decent human being hall of fame'
— Ardywyn \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6 (@Ardywyn \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6) 1647272428

Nailed it.

Nailed it.
— Will Ratliffe (@Will Ratliffe) 1647276390

Even within the question of "Is she really rock 'n' roll, though?" people shared differing opinions. While she is a country music singer, her songwriting has crossed genres, and other musicians whose music is not purely rock 'n' roll have already been inducted to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

If Johnny Cash, Bob Marley and loads of R&B groups (all rock-adjacent, I\u2019d argue) can get in, surely so should Ms. Parton!
— Dan Saltzstein (@Dan Saltzstein) 1647272264

The Rock Hall is about the attitude, culture, and spirit that goes into music. It's not the genre. It's the essence of Rock, and Dolly certainly is Rock. She's her own person, shrugs the expectations of stardom, and then uses her talents to change lives.
— Matt Gullatta (@Matt Gullatta) 1647275064

We can quibble about the technicalities of what counts as rock 'n' roll all day long, but it doesn't really matter because Dolly has spoken. She may not be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame this time around, but she's definitely been inducted into the America's Most Beloved Celebrities of All Time Hall of Fame.

Keep being Dolly, Dolly. You've already won the hearts of people everywhere and that's what counts the most.

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This a capella version of 'Bridge Over Troubled Water' will knock your socks off

Yebba Smith/Instagram

Simon & Garfunkel's song "Bridge Over Troubled Water" has been covered by more than 50 different musical artists, from Aretha Franklin to Elvis Presley to Willie Nelson. It's a timeless classic that taps into the universal struggle of feeling down and the comfort of having someone to lift us up. It's beloved for its soothing melody and cathartic lyrics, and after a year of pandemic challenges, it's perhaps more poignant now than ever.

A few years a go, American singer-songwriter Yebba Smith shared a solo a capella version of a part of "Bridge Over Troubled Water," in which she just casually sits and sings it on a bed. It's an impressive rendition on its own, highlighting Yebba's soulful, effortless voice.

But British singer Jacob Collier recently added his own layered harmony tracks to it, taking the performance to a whole other level.

Be ready, because PHEW.

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If you're unfamiliar with either of both these singers, here's a little background.

Yebba is a singer-songwriter from West Memphis, Arkansas who has collaborated with various artists including Chance the Rapper, Ed Sheeran, Stormzy, and Sam Smith. She's released a few singles of her own over the past few years, and in 2019 won a Grammy alongside PJ Morton for Best Traditional R&B Performance with the song "How Deep Is Your Love."

"Yebba" is her stage name—a backwards play on her real name, Abbey Smith.

Her debut single, "My Mind" was written and performed shortly before her mom died of suicide in 2016. After that, the lyrics of the song took on a whole new significance. The powerful performance of the piece at SoFar NYC shows off Yebba's vocal range as well as her emotive style of singing.

YEBBA - My Mind | Sofar NYCwww.youtube.com

Jacob Collier, on the other hand, is a British musician who rose to fame through split-screen self-harmonizing videos he shared online. In 2012, his cover of Stevie Wonder's "Don't You Worry 'Bout a Thing" went viral on YouTube, and Collier was subsequently signed by Quincy Jones' record label. He has since been nominated for seven Grammy awards and won five of them. He's the first British artist to win a Grammy for each of his first four albums.

Collier—who has been referred to as "a musical force of nature" can play a wide range of musical instruments and often serves as his own one-man band. But his NPR Tiny Desk Concert with back-up vocals and instrumentalists is a delight. (It gets particularly fun at the 12:30 mark.)

Jacob Collier: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concertwww.youtube.com

Two impressive musical artists casually pulling together a soul-stirring performance of a much-beloved classic like "Bridge Over Troubled Water" is just the kind of entertainment we need after a year of collective trauma and hardship. Music is healing, creativity is healing, human connection is healing, and all three of those things came together beautifully in this brief video. (Anyone else wishing it didn't cut off? I don't think there's a longer version anywhere, since Yebba's original solo version wasn't a complete video either. I think it's time to demand a full recorded version, please and thank you.)

Yebba pretty much summed up here how we're all feeling after watching them sing:

See on Instagram

You can find more of Yebba's music here and Jacob Collier's music here.

From Your Site Articles

singers

Music teacher got two standing ovations and a BGT Golden Buzzer with 'Natural Woman' cover

Goose. Bumps.

Gorgeous 3-part harmony got 'The Voice' judges to hit their buttons within 7 seconds

They had the judges' attention right from the first bar of "Made You Look."

Pink shares a proud mama video of her daughter's first singing recital

'This 11 year old (11,000 year old soul) blows me away.'

In 1974, Gladys Knight sang the Grammy nominees for best song. She slayed every single one.

We bow before the Empress of Soul and her unreal vocal skills.

Dolly Parton declines Rock & Roll Hall of Fame nomination, says she hasn't 'earned the right'

Nailed it.

This a capella version of 'Bridge Over Troubled Water' will knock your socks off

Grandma got a secret DNA test after noticing her granddaughter didn't look like her siblings

Kids asked their parents to 'dance like it's the 80s' and they delivered big time

Husband asks if he's wrong for trusting his mom's parenting advice over his wife's opinion

A Canadian shelter sells older cats like used cars, and it's pretty effective ... and hilarious.

57-year-old former model Paulina Porizkova had the perfect response to ageist comment online

Good guy built a tiny house for one stray cat in his backyard. It quickly became a kitty village.