Mississippi’s Chapel Hart almost didn’t audition for ‘America’s Got Talent.’ Here’s why.
It might have skipped the attention of many people who were dazzled by the pink outfits Chapel Hart sported on the Grand Ole Opry stage and their tribute to Loretta Lynn.
When the trio from Poplarville returned to the Opry Oct. 8 for their second appearance in less than a month, Danica Hart chatted with the audience between the three songs they performed.
Standing on the stage between her sister Devynn Hart and their cousin Trae Swindle, all dressed in shimmering pink for October and Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Danica talked about their experience on America’s Got Talent.
“We almost didn’t audition,” she revealed. “We almost didn’t go.”
The reason? “We’re busy,” Hart said.
While it might seem like they had overnight success since their appearance on AGT, they’ve been singing and songwriting for years and traveling to share their music at fairs, festivals and clubs.
“The Good Lord worked it out,” she said, and their schedule was free the week of the AGT audition.
They auditioned with their original song, “You Can Have Him Jolene.” and Hart said, “I believe it was the audition heard ‘round the world.”
Hart told the Sun Herald, “I can only tell you this career does not pay off until it does and there’s not much gray area in between.”
That song and their appearance on AGT moved them toward their pay-off.
Their answer to Dolly Parton’s “Jolene” brought the second-ever unanimous AFT Golden Buzzer from judges Howie Mandel, Sofia Vergara, Heidi Klum and Simon Cowell and host Terry Crews.
It brought social media posts from Dolly Parton and Loretta Lynn, who they call “the outlaws of country music,” along with Darius Rucker, Tanya Tucker, Big and Rich and other country stars.
And it garnered then fans worldwide.
Lynn asked on social media after their AGT audition, when the girls from Poplarville were going to do a remake of one of her songs. Lynn died earlier this month, before she had a chance to see Chapel Hart perform their new cover of Lynn’s “Fist City.”
Hart said at their Oct. 8 performance the band might have to come back to to the Opry and debut Loretta’s requested song.
This story was originally published October 14, 2022 at 3:36 PM.
