Southland's Lee takes his best shot
Judges swoon after the singer offers David Bowie's `Heroes'
A few days before singer and pianist Kodi Lee took the stage for his performance in the finals of “America's Got Talent: All-Stars,” he answered coyly when asked what song he'd chosen for the broadcast.
“You'll have to wait and see,” the 26-year-old Lake Elsinore native says, laughing as he so often does in conversation.
We waited, and we saw Lee deliver a beautiful version of David Bowie's “Heroes,” a perfect choice given its lyrical content for a blind performer with autism who won the 14th season of “America's Got Talent.”
“That song, the lyric is `We can be heroes just for one day,' ” judge Howie Mandel told Lee at its conclusion. “Kodi, you are a hero every day. You really are.”
Fellow judges Heidi Klum and Simon Cowell were equally enthusiastic about Lee's artistry, which also arrived as the penultimate performance of the night, typically a very good spot to be in for a TV talent competition.
“You shine so bright on that stage,” Klum told him. “You are the ultimate all-star; you just are. I love you so much.”
Cowell called the performance “stunning, honestly stunning.”
“I mean, boy, that lyric took on a whole new meaning for us just then. Really,” he said. “There's something really, really special about you, Kodi. You're just so cool and just so brilliant.”
As Lee walked offstage with his mother, Tina Lee, and host Terry Crews, Cowell leaned over to ask Klum and Mandel, now having seen 10 of the 11 finalists, who they thought would win.
“I think Kodi,” Klum said, turning to gaze at the packed house in the theater. “I mean, look at everyone. Everyone loved, loved, loved him.”
In our earlier interview, Kodi Lee said he felt confident about his chances in the finale, which wraps up Monday with the results show. It's a feeling he knows most from his life as a musician and entertainer, his mother says, but that can-do sense has spilled over into other parts of his life since his “AGT” journey began in 2019, she adds.
And while the idea of bringing her son into the spotlight of a hugely successful TV show was frightening four years ago, the experience has been nothing but good for Kodi and the entire family, she said.
“This was a lot more fun for me, a lot less worrisome,” said Tina Lee, who as her son's escort on the show has had plenty of screen time. “Because you don't know what to expect. You've worked your entire life to help him co-exist, and you're just a little bit worried when you take him up there.
“And, of course, I'm very nervous in front of people anyway,” she added as her son laughed next to her.
Tina Lee, and host Terry Crews. Kodi Lee, who is blind and autistic, has blossomed through his performing, his mom says.
“We worked so hard for him to be able to do what he loves to do by performing,” Lee said. “That took many years of him understanding that he has to deal with crowds. You know, people touching him. Being around a crowd.
“That's how he learned to become so good in the world,” she said. “That's how he's been able to co-exist, by the fact that he is a born entertainer.”
This time, Tina Lee says, she's noticed her son is more open and outgoing than during his championship season in 2019. He's made jokes onstage with the audience and the judges. He understands how they'll react each time he delivers his signature response of “Heck, yeah!” a phrase he's made so popular you can buy it on various items of Kodi Lee merch.
“I don't think people realize the caliber of what the show did for him with his disability side,” Tina Lee said. “People just see the part where, you know, `Oh my gosh, he's talented.' But the part where it's so good for him to be a part of all this is how this helps him and all other people with disabilities.
“It's like things, when you adapt to them, look how far they can go. They can just do what anybody else does.”
With the $1 million prize Kodi Lee won in 2019, he bought a house in Las Vegas, where he opens and closes the “America's Got Talent Super Stars Live” show at the Luxor casino.
“I love it! I love it, I love it,” he said of the show, which features other “AGT” talents WednesdaysSaturdays. “I love the crowd. I love the applause. Chanting my name: Kodi! Kodi! Kodi!”
He's also started to record and release original music. The single “Miracle,” written with his longtime vocal coach Sal Spinelli and Mark Renk, arrived in August. “Hello World,” a collaboration with Men at Work singer-songwriter Colin Hay, was released in January.
Tina Lee said that because of the communication issues that come with her son's autism, his collaborators have found different ways to unlock his creative thoughts and ideas, all of which have blossomed through the doors that have opened for him through “America's Got Talent.”
“We were kind of stuck in speech,” she says of Kodi's verbal communication skills in 2019. “And when he auditioned, and after all that happened, I mean, his speech changed so much his speech teacher called and couldn't believe it. It's kind of like when you find what they love to do, they start to flourish.”
Kodi Lee said he wants to write, record and release an album eventually and also perform more with his rock band — something he'd often done in his life before the show — and not just focus on the solo piano for which he's now mostly known.
Tina Lee says their family is working to get the Kodi Lee Foundation — working slogan: Helping Children One Note at a Time — up and running. It won't be just for children with autism or blindness, or only for those with musical skills like Kodi. Instead, she said, it will help families find ways to support their disabled children's skills no matter what area they lie in.
“I want to give the kids the tools they need because it was such a fight for me,” she said. “Like us, we had a family donate a piano when he was 3. We wouldn't have been able to do that because we couldn't afford it. I just want to give back that way.”
As for Kodi's future, Tina Lee says the whole family is both thrilled that he has the opportunities to live the life he wants, and inspired by what he's accomplished.
“Yes, I can say I'm happy that he has a job, but it's more than that,” she said. “Just knowing that your son is like everybody else. Gets the same opportunities. It's really hard to express, especially when going through so many years of wondering and worry about where he'll end up.
“Him going on `America's Got Talent' and winning changed it,” she said. “It made things that seem impossible possible.”
Music fans may already have their wristbands ready for the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio in April, but if you're not into making the trek to the desert or the idea of three long days in the heat, you can catch several artists on the bill in the Goldenvoice Presents April concert series.
As Coachella's promoter, Goldenvoice is bringing bigname and up-and-coming artists on this year's lineup to smaller venues scattered throughout Southern California from April 12-22.
Coachella's double weekend party is set for April 1416 and 21-23 at Empire Polo Club in Indio, but the series, sometimes referred to as Localchella, will bring acts to The Roxy in West Hollywood; El Rey Theatre, The Fonda Theatre, The Novo, The Greek Theatre and Sound Nightclub in Los Angeles; and Fox Theater and The Glass House in Pomona.
Tickets for the series are going on sale over the next three weeks at Goldenvoicepresentsapril.com.
Here are the show dates.
APRIL 12 ❯❯
TBA at the Fox Theater.
APRIL 13 ❯❯ The Breeders with The Linda Lindas at 7 p.m. at The Glass House; Momma at 8 p.m. at The Roxy; Pi'erre Bourne with AG Club at 8 p.m. at The Novo; Remi Wolf with Lava La Rue at 8 p.m. at Fox Theater.
APRIL 14 ❯❯
Kyle Watson at 10 p.m. at Sound Nightclub.
APRIL 15 ❯❯ Dennis Cruz with Chris Stussy at 10 p.m. at Sound Nightclub.
APRIL 17 ❯❯ Bakar at 7 p.m. at The Novo; Benee at 8 p.m. at The Roxy; FKJ at 8 p.m. at Fox Theater.
APRIL 18 ❯❯ Cannons at 8 p.m. at The Roxy; Destroy Boys with Soul Glo and The Murder Capital at 8 p.m. at El Rey Theatre; Gabriels at 7 p.m. at The Glass House; Hiatus Kaiyote with El Michels Affair (DJ set) at 8 p.m. at The Novo; Vintage Culture with Colyn at 10 p.m. at Sound Nightclub.
APRIL 19 ❯❯ Angèle at 8 p.m. at The Novo; Blondie with The Linda Lindas at 7 p.m. at the Greek Theatre; Christine and The Queens with Lewis of Man at 9 p.m. at The Fonda Theatre; Ethel Cain at 7 p.m. at The Glass House; Monolink (DJ set) at 10 p.m. at Sound Nightclub; Mura Masa at 9 p.m. at El Rey Theatre; Overmono at 9 p.m. at The Roxy; Willow with Yves Tumor at 7 p.m. at Fox Theater.
APRIL 20 ❯❯ 2manydjs at 9 p.m. at The Fonda Theatre; Big Wild with Elderbrook at 8 p.m. at Fox Theater; BRATTY with Los Bitchos at 8 p.m. at El Rey Theatre; Donavan's Yard with Uncle Waffles at 9 p.m. at The Roxy; Mathame with Cassian at 10 p.m. at Sound Nightclub; Muna at 7 p.m. at The Glass House; Yaeji with LP Giobbi at 8 p.m. at The Novo.
APRIL 21 ❯❯
APRIL 22 ❯❯
— Tina Lee, Kodi Lee's mother
John Digweed at 10 p.m. at Sound Nightclub.
Nora En Pure at 10 p.m. at Sound Nightclub.