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How This Humble Mississippi Native Stunned with an Unforgettable Country Cover on AGT
AGT Season 5 Act Michael Grimm hoped his earthy and soulful voice would get him closer to helping loved ones who'd "lost everything" during Hurricane Katrina.
Dreams really do come true, especially for a select few who give it their all on America’s Got Talent like Season 5 contestant Michael Grimm.
The Las Vegas-based singer, guitarist, and songwriter held out high hopes in Season 5 when he braved the AGT stage for then-Judges Howie Mandel, Piers Morgan, and Sharon Osbourne. At 30, the southern-raised Grimm used his humble persona and earthy voice to win the crowd over, and he accepted Mandel’s request to step it up as he advanced to the next round.
The vocalist’s persistence got him further than just the next round. While we wait for America's Got Talent Season 19 to kick off its Live rounds, we thought it'd be great to take a look back at one of the show's most compelling Acts to date.
Who is Michael Grimm from AGT?
Michael Grimm gave exceptional performance after exceptional performance, ultimately winning AGT Season 5.
Born in Waveland, Mississippi, he tearfully told producers ahead of his 2010 Audition that he and his sister grew up “very poor,” to such an extent that children’s services intervened to take them out of the home. But thanks to his grandmother, placement with the state was averted.
However, they “lost everything” in 2005 with the catastrophic Hurricane Katrina.
“She lives now in a little trailer up in Picayune, Mississippi, and she wants to get out of there,” Grimm said. “What little money I make, I give to them, and I try to help them. I’d love to get them in a situation where they don’t have to worry anymore.”
At the time of his AGT Audition, Grimm had been performing around Vegas-area bars and restaurants, trying to make ends meet.
What song did Michael Grimm sing?
Grimm’s story tugged on the Judges’ heartstrings, as did his moving rendition of “You Don’t Know Me,” which he sang while playing the acoustic guitar.
The 1956 classic by Eddy Arnold has been covered by more than 60 established artists over the decades, including Elvis Presley, Roy Orbison, Bette Midler, Van Morrison, and Michael Bublé, to name just a few. Perhaps most famous, however, was Ray Charles’ 1962 version, which reached No. 2 on the Billboard Charts’ Hot 100.
Eddy Arnold’s version, which he wrote with country hall-of-famer Cindy Walker in 1955, peaked at Billboard’s No. 10 position in the category of Hot Country Songs.
“I wrote all the time — I still write every day. I was up in my little studio… and I was sitting there. All of a sudden, here comes this song… ‘You give your hand to me, and you say hello,’” Walker once said of the hit, according to Wide Open Country. “I couldn’t finish it. I couldn’t find any way to finish it... Maybe two or three weeks went by, and nothing happened. One day, [I thought], ‘You give your hand to me, and then you say goodbye,’ and when it said that, I knew exactly where it was going. To make a long story short, I couldn’t wait to get to the phone to call Eddy.”
It was Michael Grimm’s soulful version of the tune that helped him become an AGT winner.
“I wasn’t expecting very much when you came out, and then you began to sing, and I think that your grandparents were right to back you because you’ve got a lot of talent,” said AGT Judge Morgan.
Where is Michael Grimm now?
Winning AGT not only garnered Grimm the show’s $1 million prize, but it helped him join the show’s first-ever national AGT concert tour, which opened the door for the singer to later share the stage with some music greats, including Stevie Nicks and the band Heart, according to Grimm’s website. He went on to record multiple studio albums and play at arenas filled with tens of thousands of audience members.
Grimm continues to play shows in Las Vegas, as seen on his Instagram page. Recently, he played the original song, The Reason, on NBC Las Vegas affiliate KSNV’s morning show, Morning Blend.
Watch all-new episodes as America’s Got Talent Season 19 continues, Tuesdays at 8/7 on NBC and streaming the next day on Peacock.
