The Story of Kodi Lee _ Beyond America's got talent

America's Got Talent has introduced viewers to many talented acts during its 14 seasons on the air. However, 23-year-old singer and pianist Cody Lee might just be the best one of them all. Cody, who is blind and autistic, first captivated audiences with his flawless cover of Donny Hathaway's A Song For You, which was originally written and performed by Leon Russell. New AGT judge Gabrielle Union was so impressed by Cody's audition that she gave him her first ever golden buzzer, sending him straight to the live shows where he would go on to win the competition. For Cody, his journey began years before the magic of AGT, and he has worked exceptionally hard to master his craft. The oldest of three children for Eric and Tina Lee, Cody currently lives in Lake Elsinore, California, with his family. His sister Kayla and brother Derek can be seen supporting Cody backstage along with their parents during the audition. In addition to his family, Cody also has another supporter that many AGT fans may recognize, his best friend Michaela Phillips, who appeared on season 13 of America's Got Talent. Michaela also earned a golden buzzer during her appearance on the show and made it all the way to the semifinals. The two regularly performed together and he supported Michaela throughout her AGT journey, just as she has done for him this time around. Cody was born with optic nerve hypoplasia, a visual disorder that has rendered him legally blind. A YouTube video posted by Cody and his siblings explained that he has no vision in his left eye. He does have some slight vision in his right eye, but it's like trying to find a hole to look through in Swiss cheese. At the age of four, Cody was diagnosed with autism and he also suffers from Addison's disease, a potentially life-threatening condition caused when the adrenal glands don't produce enough of hormone cortisol. Cody's conditions impact how he processes emotions and can cause him to be hyperactive and emotionally reactive. Yet, despite these disadvantages, put him in front of a keyboard and Cody turns into a musical genius. His mom said, the minute you put him on stage, it's like he turns a hat and he's a professional. It takes years to become a polished musician, but for Cody Lee, it just happened naturally, like turning on a switch. According to his website, Cody is a musical prodigious savant, one of the roughly 25 people in the world with a combination of perfect pitch, audio photographic memory, and a natural inclination for musical expression. His mother explained, he can hear a song and play it right away on the piano and sing it. With the lyrics, sometimes he has to go over it more, but the music is there. It's amazing. Researchers say rare savants like this have incredible recall and almost a compulsive need to let it all out. Dr. Daryl Treford, a Wisconsin psychiatrist who has studied savant syndrome, said, Cody does fit the definition of a prodigious musical savant. I've been following his career a bit. He's blind and has been given a diagnosis of autism, yet he has this spectacular musical ability. Cody's parents first noticed his musical ability at the age of two, when his father began playing Mary Had a Little Lamb on a toy piano. His mom explained that Cody just reached over and immediately played it back. By the age of three, Cody was copying music on a real piano that had been donated to the family. His parents believe his blindness, combined with the fact that all of his toys made sounds to compensate for his lack of sight, heightened his musical awareness. It didn't take long for Tina Lee and her husband to realize they should strive to cultivate Cody's talent, which was reinforced by Dr. Treford's advice that Cody should receive musical therapy. He has all these talents, but he has trouble communicating, his mother said. He used to tantrum like 30 times a day. After he started performing, he got it. It really helped us to get his autism under control. He wants to be an entertainer. It actually has saved his life, playing music. Unlike many contestants on AGT, Cody was largely unknown prior to his audition. He didn't have a huge following on social media, nor had he already released a debut album or EP. However, Cody has been performing and singing across the globe for many years. Cody's mom explained he's been singing and playing piano publicly since he was six and has performed at over 200 charity events. At nine years old, he traveled to Korea, China, and Japan to perform. And in high school, he formed a band with some other high school seniors called Cody and the Chill Bodies. Cody's former bandmate, Chad Carter, said, I could probably spend 30 years trying to learn what he knows now, and I would never get there. In high school, Cody kicked off the Elsinore High School pep rally with the national anthem back in 2012. The following year, Cody appeared at the Long Beach Aquarium, where he performed at the Human Abilities event with his sister Kayla and brother Derek. As a child, Cody showed a fondness for gospel and soul genres, including artists such as Alicia Keys, Mahala Jackson, and Ray Charles, Tina Lee said. He currently knows how to play more than six instruments and has also picked up tap dancing along the way. Tina Lee explained, Cody can recite songs sung in different languages, such as Dutch, Japanese, Hebrew, and Korean. Not only has Cody mastered classical works by Chopin, Bach, and Mozart, but he can also perform rock, pop, and R&B. His talent has earned him invitations to sing at several prestigious venues, including Carnegie Hall in New York City. Cody currently performs locally at a variety of venues, including local restaurants, wineries, and music events around town. During an interview with the Tribune back in 2012, Tina Lee said that her son had hoped to be on AGT or American Idol one day. Winning America's Got Talent would be one of his greatest accomplishments yet. This is Cody's dream. Right now, he teaches himself. He's a genius. In May of 2019, Cody began realizing that dream when his audition aired for the season 14 premiere of America's Got Talent. He performed a rendition of Donny Hathaway's A Song For You, earning a standing ovation and a golden buzzer from Judge Gabrielle Union, which sent Cody straight to the live rounds. Cody and his family had always been big fans of classic R&B and soul music and searched for a song that would be suitable for Cody's America's Got Talent audition. My brother picked it, and it turned out to be perfect, Cody said. The popular audition performance has been viewed more than 300 million times across social media platforms, including Facebook and YouTube. For his quarterfinal performance, Cody performed Simon and Garfunkel's Bridge Over Troubled Water. The soulful rendition earned Cody a standing ovation and he was voted through to the semifinal round. For his semifinal performance, Cody showed off his incredible range again, taking on Callum Scott's You Are The Reason. Coincidentally, Callum Scott's You Are The Reason was also the same song that played during Cody's golden buzzer moment. During the results show the next day, Cody was announced as one of the finalists and he advanced to the season finale. During the finale, Cody delivered a heartfelt rendition of Freya Riding's Lost Without You. Cody's performance was met with a tearful standing ovation from the audience, with Judge Simon Cowell saying, One of the most beautiful things I've ever, ever heard. During the results show, Cody Lee was announced as the winner and walked away with the $1 million prize. Cody will also headline a Las Vegas show with season 14 finalists Detroit Youth Choir, comedian Ryan Neimler, dance group Unbeatable, and violinist Tyler Butler-Figueroa. Less than an hour after being crowned the season 14 America's Got Talent winner, Cody Lee was relishing the experience. The season 14 winner was joined by his mother, who was the inspiration behind his choice of Cody's finale song. Asked whether he thought he would win, Cody had no doubt. Heck yeah, he said. I'm a winner. After Cody's win, Judge Gabrielle Union said, I recognize this young man will change the world and hopefully will open up many more opportunities for so many individuals and families that are fighting tooth and nail every day to get attention and resources for all of our kids and make sure they have an equal opportunity to win at life, not just on the AGT stage. Cody's mother said it's worked the other way too, as Cody Lee's AGT appearances have helped him communicate better. Now he can form sentences, and that's amazing to me, so we're very thankful to the show. They did a really great service for Cody. Tina Lee also added that Cody's experiences as a performer have helped him adjust to meeting new people and being in crowds, two things he had previously struggled with. That was the deal. We said if you want to perform, you have to shake people's hands and you gotta let people come up and say hello to you. And it worked. Cody is destined to become one of the most popular AGT winners in history, but he is not without critics. One view expressed by Cody Lee's critics is that his talent is much like a human tape recorder. He can reproduce the music he hears, but cannot make creative changes or come up with his own original music. Sal Spinelli, Cody's friend, vocal coach, and collaborator, explained Cody has more musical ability than America's Got Talent fans got to see on the show. You know him as somebody who plays other people's songs really well on AGT. He actually does create lyrics, melodies, chord progressions, and the world will soon find out he does that. Going forward, Cody expressed excitement about making and releasing music, saying, oh my gosh, I want to make plenty of albums. He is also considering competing on America's Got Talent The Champions. As the season 14 winner, Cody qualifies to compete on the show which kicked off production this fall. We're discussing that right now, but I really do think we are considering it. Tina Lee says, I want to see how Cody feels in the next couple of days to get a real answer from him, but I definitely think he will. I want to give him the rest, and then he'll give me the answer. Judge Simon Cowell, however, advised against it, saying, I think this is as much pressure as he probably needs in one year. I think he needs to enjoy it the moment, and hopefully forever. Maybe next year. Do you think Cody Lee should compete on season 2 of America's Got Talent The Champions? Let us know in the comments below, and as always, thank you for watching!