Who Is Kyra Waits? Kentucky Local Earns Golden Ticket After Impressive Performance In American Idol Season 22

Hailing from Berea, Kentucky, Kyra Waits managed to get her Golden Ticket for Hollywood after impressing American Idol judges with her performance and her story.

Updated on Mar 04, 2024  |  09:33 PM IST |  171.5K
Kyra Waits
Kyra Waits (Instagram)

Quite a few contestants have managed to impress American Idol season 22 judges Katy Perry, Lionel Ritchie, and Luke Bryan with their performances. And Kentucky girl Kyra Waits was one of them. After auditioning for the show five times, Waits finally got her Golden Ticket this year.


Who is Kyrs Waits? 

Kyra Waits is a stay at home mom from Berea, Kentucky who managed to impress American Idol season 22 judges Lionel Ritchie, Luke Bryan, and Katy Perry with her beautiful performance of Up The Mountain by Patty Griffin. Her emotional story about her life also seemed to move the judges. 

Kyra explained how she grew up competing in talent shows and even sang in choir, and that she was inspired by her mother Tasha Harris, who was also a singer. She has always been close to her mother, and her first time singing on a stage was also in one of her mother’s shows. 

During the introductory session, Kyra explained how her mother lost her career to addiction.  "She was a bluegrass singer but she had a really hard life, So she just didn't know how to deal with it properly and eventually, addiction came into her life, so her dream kind of got ruined,” she shared. 

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But Kyra was also quick to share her mother’s sobriety journey, saying,  "But she's been sober for a while now. My mom is rooting for me to go all the way. because she never got the opportunity. So I just want to make her and my whole family round." She also said how she always wanted to become a singer just like her mom, and that is why she auditioned for the show. The 23-year-old also shared that she has a two year old daughter at home. 


What did the judges say to her? 

Kyra delivered a phenomenal performance which moved the judges to tears. She also received a standing ovation for her singing from all of them and a horde of praises as well. Perry told her, "I can tell it was great. You were a little bit unrehearsed and a little bit not completely in control of your massive talent but you've got a huge voice in there that needs some shaping. You're a different kind of diamond in the world."

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Lionel Ritchie was also amazed by her singing and commented, "You might be in this 100 million times as you say but one thing that was clear to me when you went to that note of the full scream." After learning that Kyra has previously also tried for American Idol multiple times, he also said, I thought she is not going to let this door close, not one more time. I felt all of your energy go through your way through this thing. And I think that it's going to serve you well."

Luke Bryan was also in love with her energy and her voice. He told the singer, "Great big big big voice. I love the cry that you've in your voice. I love the volume. You just roll and young and new at all this." Waits commented on her multiple American Idol tries by saying, “Each time I would try out, of course, I would never make it to the second or third step. I just didn’t give up, thankfully. So finally I made it through.” And she was ecstatic about finally going to Hollywood with her Golden Ticket. 

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ALSO READ: Who Is Kimi Robinson? All About The American Idol Contestant Who Won A Golden Ticket After Leaving Judges Teary-Eyed With Emotional Performance

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About The Author

Gargi has a Masters degree in English Literature from The University of Calcutta. She has been a content writer

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