The 20th season of American Idol saw another memorable audition on Sunday from Alabama’s Kezia “Lady K” Istonia, who dedicated her audition to her brother, who died by suicide.
“I knew that we all had it hard, but at some point, it was all just too much for my brother,” Lady K said, as reported by AL.com “My brother died by suicide and that was one of the hardest things that my family ever had to go through. It was hard to decide if paying rent was going to come first, because we needed somewhere to live, or paying for a funeral because we don’t have our brother anymore.”
The singer, songwriter and aspiring actress revealed the hardships her family endured.
“There were times where I didn’t think that the rest of my family would pull through, and we’re still here — the rest of us are, anyway — and that’s why this is so important to me,” she said. “Because I don’t want that to happen again, because it gets so hard that they feel like there’s no hope. So Poppy’s death, it started a fire in me. It gave me more purpose, like, I know I don’t want my mom to have to only think about this. I don’t want that to be the only significant thing in our life. So I’m here to honor him and just make my family proud, give us something to be excited about after everything we’ve been through. It’s a blessing to be here, honestly.”
Istonia then segued into a rendition of Katy Perry’s “Wide Awake”, which blew the American Idol judge and pop singer away. Istonia was eventually advance to the round.
“You sang with such elegance, beauty, grace and filigree,” Perry said. “It’s like you reinvented the song. It’s like your heart is shining through your vocal cords.”
Watch the audition below:
