At age nine, Barrett and his family moved to Durban, South Africa where he fell in love with African harmony and singing. He experienced a huge culture shock when they moved back to the States, and the only way Barrett could connect to others his age was through music. He received a scholarship to college and, at 19, made national headlines when his choir was on board a major commercial aircraft that crashed and took the lives of 11 people in Little Rock. Since surviving the horrific accident, Barrett has become a father of two and is now a high school teacher of the dramatic arts.