A 17-year-old student walked onto the American Idol stage with nothing but his guitar and a story that would shake the room. His original song—a heartfelt tribute to his teacher’s late son—was more than music; it was raw emotion wrapped in melody. As his voice cracked with sincerity, the audience held their breath, completely spellbound. By the time the last note faded, Carrie Underwood was in tears, visibly moved by the depth of his performance. “What an authentic, raw voice,” she whispered, wiping her eyes. With a heart like that, this young man isn’t just chasing a dream—he’s destined for greatness.

American Idol is coming in hot, and fans should get their tissues ready for this stunning tribute. Slater Nalley is going to have fans and judges alike in tears by the end of it. And I can definitely see him making it to the end.

In a recent preview clip of the upcoming season of American Idol, fans got to meet Slater Nalley. This 17-year-old musician’s audition was nothing short of emotional, and he had the judges in tears by the end of his short performance.

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The teenage contestant hails from Atlanta, Georgia, and is an apparently very talented singer and guitarist. Rather than opting for a cover song, Nalley surprised the judges with an original tune titled “Traces Of You”.

Nalley hit the American Idol audition stage accompanied by his high school English teacher, who went only by Mrs. Davis. It was odd at first, but everything started to make sense when Mrs. Davis herself introduced Nalley and told Carrie Underwood, Luke Bryan, and Lionel Richie the young man’s story… as well as the story of her own late son.

‘American Idol’ Contestant Slater Nalley Had The Judges in Tears

According to Mrs. Davis, her son, Carter Davis, passed away nearly a decade ago. Nalley wrote “Traces Of You” as a tribute to Davis’ late son.

“I have a special student of mine, Slater Nalley, and he wrote a song for my son who was killed eight years ago,” said Mrs. Davis in the clip. “Slater had heard the story about my son. […] I had written a poem and the second year that I taught him I asked, ‘Would you mind looking at the poem? I would love to see what your thoughts are and how you turn a poem into a song.’ And so, two weeks later, he did, and that’s the song he’s going to sing today.”

Nalley, acoustic guitar at the ready, said that it was “the most deep thing I have ever written” and that he did not know Carter before his teacher had told her students about him.

“I just felt this presence come into my life essentially and I knew I needed to do something,” said Nalley.

Nalley then jumped into his performance, and it was an arresting and gorgeous rendition of the original song. Carrie Underwood, in particular, was weeping by the end of it.

“I couldn’t imagine you doing that any better,” said Underwood.

Lionel Richie was also quite moved by the performance, noting that the way Nalley sang the song was akin to the blues.

“You just stick to walking on stage and singing with your heart, and the rest will take care of itself,” said Bryan.

You can watch the upcoming season of American Idol, Slater Nalley’s tribute and all, via ABC on March 9, 2025. The first episode will debut at 8:00 pm ET.