Drake Milligan Auditions For America’s Got Talent To Standing Ovation

The America’s Got Talent season 17 auditions are underway, and Drake Milligan made his AGT debut during the June 7 episode.

“I’m Drake Milligan. I’m from Fort Worth, Texas, and I’m a country music singer,” the 23-year-old said in his introduction video. “I was a pretty normal Texas kid. I grew up, a lot of hunting, a lot of fishing. My Dad runs a scrap yard and my Mum’s a veterinarian, a good country household.”

“When I was about 7, I was out eating with my family and there was an Elvis [Presley] impersonator at the restaurant, and I was enthralled. I think that’s when I decided that I wanted to be like Elvis,” he continued. “I’d put on the jump suits. I was dying my hair black, but it probably wasn’t until one of the first times I got on stage and sang some of my own songs, I figured man, this is something I can do. I can pave my own way.” 

After performing his original song Sounds Like Something I'd Do, he received a standing ovation from crowd and the four judges who put him through to the next round of the competition.

Judge Howie Mandel was the first to speak. He said, “I think that song’s a hit. And I think that you’re a hit. You’re like the new Elvis of country, I think you’re gonna break out from this particular song, this particular moment, on this particular night.” Judge Simon Cowell concluded, “It was very authentic, that’s what I liked about it... Everything worked today.”

🎶 A perfect audition by @DrakeMilligan 🎶 🎤 #AGT #AGTauditions https://t.co/S1G1kPNjke

— AGT Auditions (@AGTAuditions) June 8, 2022

Milligan previously auditioned for American Idol in 2018, where he performed the George Strait classic You Look So Good in Love. When he did not go on to perform in Hollywood, he moved to Nashville, Tennessee at 19, to become a “better singer and songwriter.”

“After my audition I decided that I wasn’t quite ready for that platform yet, and that it would be a better step for me to move to Nashville and focus on my music first!” he revealed. “It was a very tough decision, and it in no way reflects my experience during the audition process.”

He adds on his official website, “The reason I came to Nashville is because all of my heroes are here. All the guys who wrote and played on my favourite songs are still so good. They wake up every day and want to write the best song they can. I wanted to learn something from every write. Writing with those songwriters was a rite of passage for me.”

Milligan then released his self-titled debut EP in 2021, stacked with five songs he co-wrote. Bursting with the sounds of a fervent fiddle and wailing steel guitar amplified by an intoxicatingly rich, new voice, Milligan is the embodiment of true, authentic country music. He also released the single Cowgirl for Christmas in October 2021 – it later became our Song of the Day.

Milligan said, "I wrote Cowgirl For Christmas to bring you back to the days of the singing cowboys such as Roy Rogers, Gene Autry and Marty Robbins. We based this video off one of my favourite scenes in the classic comedy The Three Amigos, complete with a talking horse."

Also, an accomplished actor, Milligan starred as Elvis Presley in the 2017 CMT TV series, Sun Records, an adaptation of the Tony-winning musical Million Dollar Quartet.

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Keep up to date with Drake Milligan on his Facebook page here.