Slater Nalley moved Lionel Richie, Carrie Underwood, and Luke Bryan to tears during his American Idol audition with a heartfelt tribute to his high school teacher’s late son, Carter Davis.
High School Teacher Mrs. Davis Introduces Slater Nalley’s American Idol Audition
Slater Nalley’s audition was introduced by his high school English teacher, Mrs. Davis, who entered the room in front of the star-studded judges panel consisting of Lionel Richie, Carrie Underwood and Luke Bryan, to detail Nalley was going to perform.
“I am not performing today… I’m so grateful to be here. I have a special student of mine, Slater Nalley, and he wrote a song for my son [Carter] who was killed eight years ago,” Davis explained. “Slater had heard the story about my son and I had written a poem and the second year that I taught him I asked, ‘Would you mind looking at the poem? I would love to see what your thoughts are and how you turn a poem into a song.’ So he did and two weeks later, he wrote the song and that’s what he’s going to sing today.”
Nalley made his way into the room as Mrs. Davis remained in the room off to the side.
“You have had the coolest introduction ever,” Luke Bryan told the young contestant.
Performs Original Song, “Traces Of You”
Slater Nalley then added to the story behind his audition, “This song is called ‘Traces of You,’ I wrote it for Carter Davis. I didn’t know Carter before this happened and when Mrs. Davis told us, I just felt this presence come into my life essentially, and I knew that I needed to do something. I went home and started working away on little notebook pages, and eventually it turned into a song.”
The 17-year-old contestant from Atlanta, Georgia went on to strum his acoustic guitar and sing the emotional original song, titled “Traces Of You.”
“The moment breaks, and you appear / And for a second I swear you’re standing right here / I’d give anything for love to be enough to make it true / As the memories come racing in the view / These traces of you,” Nalley sang on the tune’s heartbreaking chorus.
Slater Nalley’s “Traces Of You” Brings Idol Judges To Tears
Nalley’s performance of “Traces Of You” brought all three Idol judges to tears. As his audition came to a close, Lionel Richie, Carrie Underwood and Luke Bryan comforted each other through tears.
Carrie Underwood, wiping tears from her eyes, said, “Even though this was about your son, every single person that hears that can fill in that memory with somebody that’s in themselves. I couldn’t have imagined you doing that any better.”
“That one line, ‘Your life was like a river running home,’ that moves man. That’s the one,” Lionel Richie added.
Luke Bryan then chimed in, “You just stick to walking on stage and singing with your heart. The rest will take care of itself.”
Earned A Golden Ticket To Hollywood On Idol
Richie then stated, “sometimes we don’t have to vote.” Unanimously, the Idol judges votes ‘yes’ and Slater Nalley got a golden ticket to advance to Hollywood.
“To have this gift, I don’t know, it’s like a little piece of Carter gets to live on,” Mrs. Davis said.
As the show cut to commercial break, the screen read, “In Memory Of Carter Davis”
Following his audition, Slater Nalley took to social media to commemorate the milestone moment, writing, “Still in shock. Golden ticket is secured! 🎟️🌟 Huge thanks to @carrieunderwood, @LukeBryan, and @LionelRichie! Such an incredible honor. It means so much that “Traces of You” has resonated with so many of you. Just the beginning!”
The 2025 season premiere of American Idol took place on Sunday (Mar. 9) at 8 PM EST.
