Mark Osborne, a 26-year-old warehouse worker from Bedford County, Virginia, allowed his raspy vocals to shine and earned a Golden Ticket to Hollywood with his American Idol audition.
“You guys know this is nerve-wracking right?” the contestant asked Idol judges Lionel Richie, Katy Perry and Luke Bryan, who laughed at his question. “I just found that out.”
Wearing a denim jacket and strumming his acoustic guitar, Osborne auditioned with a cover of Whiskey Myers’ “Stone,” a track from the group’s 2016 album, Mud.
Following his audition, Richie, Perry and Bryan praised his vocal abilities and authenticity.
“That was very good,” Richie gushed.
“I mean, the wirey guitar strings and all, like people reference your look in Los Angeles to be that cool,” Perry said. “When you’re singing, you’re singing from a real life story. You’re the guy who we look for at American Idol. It’s just authentic, Brother Osborne.”
“Here’s why I know you’ve got something going on,” Richie added before walking over to the contestant and asking the camera crew to pan the camera towards his mustache. “Now, you know when you rock the mustache. You know what you’re doing son. See because the mustache brings the cash. A lot of people have tried to make runs, and thrills and trills and stuff, but you’re just singing the song man. I do like what you’re doing.”
“I think vocally, I think down the road potentially, if you make it to Hollywood; We’re going to push you to really dig in deeper on some other stuff, but I really like where you’re at and your approach,” Bryan added.
The next ✨ 𝐆𝐎𝐋𝐃𝐄𝐍 𝐓𝐈𝐂𝐊𝐄𝐓 ✨ goes to…@themarkosborne!#AmericanIdol pic.twitter.com/tu2pPOuE9a
— American Idol (@AmericanIdol) March 14, 2022
“I like your attitude and that incredible mustache,” Richie shared before voting a ‘yes.’
“I think you’d be an authentic addition to Hollywood,” Perry added, before Bryan joked, “Brothers Osborne has some competition in the Osborne category.”
His mom always told him that he could be a singer if he continued to work towards his goal but he never had faith in himself and his Idol audition proved his mother was right all along.
“Your mama was right,” Bryan said with a smile, as Perry wished his mom a Happy Birthday.
