PA Native's Johnny Cash-Like Voice Wows 'American Idol' Judges

WEST CHESTER, PA — Whether it's spoofing movie trailers, nailing Johnny Cash's "Ring Of Fire" or singing a rumbling version of a Christmas classic, 20-year-old Luke Taylor showed up at his "American Idol" audition to impress.

It's no surprise. The West Chester native instantly commands attention when he speaks, his voice a low, smooth bass that doesn't entirely match his round, boyish face.

From the start of his audition, others clearly felt the same way.

"Whoa," host Ryan Seacrest said as soon as Taylor introduced himself. "That's your voice?"

It is his voice. In fact, Taylor has used that voice to make quite a name for himself on TikTok, where the Liberty University sophomore has amassed more than 2.3 million followers adding bass lines to sea shanties — songs that tell stories of mermaids, pirates, treasure and rum.

"I didn't always have such a low voice," Taylor said on the show. "My voice started to drop around 16 or 17, the beginning of my junior year. ... It was a very dramatic drop. I went from being 4 foot 11 and singing alto to being 6 foot 1 and singing below bass."

In fact, Taylor's voice is a deep basso profundo, or contrabass, which is considered the deepest possible vocal register. None of his close relatives — not his brother, not his dad — had such deep voices, he told Philly magazine last year.

Judges Luke Bryan, Katy Perry and Lionel Richie were stunned when Taylor entered his audition.

"James Earl Jones has walked into the building," a shocked Bryan said.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Taylor auditioned by singing Johnny Cash's "Ring Of Fire," prompting Richie to say, "He sings lower than Cash."

While Bryan and Richie were smitten with Taylor's voice, Perry wasn't convinced.

"I think it’s cool, but if you don’t give us those other notes, it's just one gimmick," she said.

Regardless, Bryan and Richie gave Taylor the "yes" votes he needed to advance to Hollywood Week — but not before asking Taylor to sing "Frosty the Snowman."

"This has been fun as hell," Bryan said.