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Drake Milligan and Chapel Hart’s Dynamic Return to AGT Will Give You Chills
Two fan favorites returned to the stage to wow audiences again with original hits during the America's Got Talent: Fantasy League.
The final Acts competed to win the $250,000 grand prize during the finale of America’s Got Talent: Fantasy League, but not before a few of the 40 competitors of the season got a chance to return and get audiences on their feet yet again.
After they got attention as dueling country Acts during Season 17 of America’s Got Talent, Chapel Hart and Drake Milligan joined forces to each headline at the Keith Killebrew Memorial Rodeo at the state fairgrounds in Mississippi in July 2023. They surprised audiences again by reuniting to perform during the AGT: Fantasy League finale for a pair of country songs like no othe.
How far did Drake Milligan and Chapel Hart get on AGT: Fantasy League?
Country girl band Chapel Hart, made up of sisters Danica and Devyn Hart, and their cousin, Trea Swindle, brought massive energy to the stage for their AGT Season 17 debut in July 2022. They got a standing ovation while singing their original song, “You Can Have Him, Jolene.” Although all of the judges and host Terry Crews had already used their Golden Buzzers, they decided to award the band a Group Gold Buzzer—the second in show’s history. They finished that competition in 5th place.
RELATED: AGT Finalists Chapel Hart and Drake Milligan Just Notched Major Career Updates
The girl group came back to be a part of judge Simon Cowell’s Dream Team for AGT: Fantasy League but was ultimately eliminated during the Semifinals. During their return, Simon suggested they sing their original song “American Pride” for their moment of redemption—a performance for which they received a standing ovation.
AGT Season 17 finalist and fan favorite Drake Mulligan first returned to the AGT stage during Season 18’s fourth live results show to sing his original song, “I Got A Problem,” with Simon telling him, “I’ve always said that you’re gonna be a real superstar, and you are. And what a great song.”
But it was judge Howie Mandel that drafted Drake to be on his dream team for AGT: Fantasy League, after describing him as “the new Elvis of country” during his Season 17 AGT audition with his original song, “Sounds Like Something I’d Do.” Drake won his first ever-CMT Music Award nomination for the song in the Breakthrough Male Video of the Year category.
Drake and Howie decided to mix it up on Fantasy League, and for the first time, Drake performed a song he hadn’t written himself.
Simon was critical of the decision, telling Howie, “This is bad mentoring. You [Drake] are a great writer, and I didn’t feel there was a connection with you and that song.”
Drake ended up eliminated in Episode 2 of AGT: Fantasy League.
What songs did Drake Milligan and Chapel Hart sing in the finale?
It was no surprise to anyone that Drake Milligan performed an original song when he came back to the AGT: Fantasy League stage again during the finale. He sang “What I Couldn’t Forget” from his new album, Jukebox Songs, released Feb. 16, 2024.
When he was finished, he immediately introduced Chapel Hart, who started their performance down in the audience by the judge table. They decided to perform a fan favorite, their original song, “You Can Have Him, Jolene.” Danica Hart explained back in 2022 that the track is a response to Dolly Parton’s 1970s classic, “Jolene.”
"We’ve always been country music fans, and Dolly is by far our favorite," she said during AGT Season 17. "We were so inspired by the song ‘Jolene;' we just love the storyline. And we figured, though, from 1973 to 2022, we could not still be fighting over the same man, so we decided to tell her, 'You can just have him, Jolene.'”
Chapel Hart once again got the audience and judges on their feet by the end of the tune, and Drake Milligan joined them on stage for hugs.
“That was just brilliant, honestly,” Simon reacted. “Both songs—absolutely fantastic. This, I think, is what it’s all about. You know, it’s just coming on the show, and remembering that first audition, and seeing you both there, it makes me feel really proud.”
He added, “By the way, that Dolly Parton duet has just GOT to happen,” to which Chapel Hart wholeheartedly agreed.
Watch all-new episodes of America's Got Talent: Fantasy League, airing Mondays at 8/7c on NBC and streaming the next day on Peacock.
