Rising country artist Mitch Rossell won over America's Got Talent judges with "Son," a deeply personal composition he wrote about his late father.
"When I was 10 years old, I lost my dad in a drunk driving incident," Rossell said during his audition, which aired on June 6. "It was kind of a freak accident. We lived in a small town, and my grandfather just happened to be driving his truck coming one way on a highway, and my dad and my grandmother-in-law were in his work van, coming back from a job, and they were about to cross each other. But a drunk driver hit my grandfather from behind and sent him into my dad's lane. My grandfather, grandmother-in-law and my dad all lost their lives."
Rossell's father encouraged the East Tennessean to become a country artist.
"The way I got into music is my dad. When I was a kid, I would ride with him in the car, and we'd just listen to country music together," Rossell shared. "We would sing the songs together, and we both just loved it so much. We had a connection through music...We were so poor, but he loved me so much. He bought me a little guitar when I was a kid. He always wanted me to play growing up. I was just too rambunctious. I just didn't take the time to learn."
Judges Heidi Klum, Simon Cowell, Sofia Vergara and Howie Mandell joined the studio audience in giving Rossell's performance a standing ovation. More importantly, the entire panel voted "yes," sending Rossell to the next round.
"The words, and the emotion that you sing with, you know as a father also, you know, I have three kids, and the world revolves around you. What a great sentiment," Mandell said. "What great, beautiful words, such simple brilliance. I predict that tomorrow when people are watching this on TV tonight, I bet you it's the number one downloaded country song."
In line with Mandell's prediction, "Son" climbed to No. 1 on the iTunes Top Songs chart.
Like Chapel Hart and other AGT standouts before him, 35-year-old Rossell is hardly new to the country music space. His discography on Spotify stretches back to the 2011 song "Prayin' It Don't Rain" and includes the 2016 album Raised By the Radio. He's amassed over 76K Instagram followers. Earlier this year, he played "Son" onstage during his Grand Ole Opry debut.
As a songwriter, Rossell has gained acclaim through cuts by Garth Brooks, including "Ask Me How I Know," "That's What Cowboys Do," "All Day Long" and "Dive Bar."
