After America’s Got Talent auditioner Mitch Rossell performed his touching original song, “Son” on Tuesday’s (June 6) episode, judge Howie Mandel predicted that the song would hit No. 1 on the country chart.
The power of suggestion is strong. Not only did “Son” go to No. 1 on the iTunes country sales chart, but by Wednesday morning, it also hit No. 1 on iTunes’ overall chart.
Howie Mandel nailed it!
Mitch celebrated his accomplishment on Instagram. “Well, @howiemandel nailed it! Y’all went and took it a step further though. Grateful is an understatement!” He wrote. As of Thursday afternoon, “Son” is still No. 1 on iTunes.
Mitch, a seasoned independent country singer from Nashville, described “Son” as “the most personal thing I’ve ever written” and a “true story about my life.” The song tells the poignant story of how the birth of his own son healed the grief he felt over losing his father to a drunk driver at 10 years old.
Mitch’s father had always wanted him to pursue music, but he was more interested in sports and other things. But after he graduated from high school, Mitch finally picked up a guitar as a way to connect to his late father. In the years since he has crafted a career, which includes millions of streams on iTunes, and collaborations with Garth Brooks and his wife Trisha Yearwood.
“The words and the emotion that you sing with…,” said Howie before sharing that he’s a father of three children. “The world revolves around you. What a great sentiment. What great beautiful words. Such simple brilliance.” Howie then added, “I predict tomorrow when the people are watching his on TV tonight, I bet you that’s No 1 downloaded country song.”
The birth of Mitch’s son changed everything
Simon Cowell said that he “loved every part of that. I love your voice, I love the song, It was a compliment that fact that you could hear a pin drop during the entire performance. And it was sincere. I really think people are going to connect with you….This was a great audition.”
Howie, Simon, Heidi Klum and Sofia Vergara all gave Mitch four enthusiastic yesses, the first step in advancing to the live shows.
Mitch shared that he wrote for years, but never wrote a song about his grief. “I had a son of my own and I think that really allowed me to finally write about it and bring it full circle.”
