Luke Bryan promised Chayce Beckham a bass fishing trip after an impressive cover of The Beatles.
During the American Idol season finale on Sunday, May 23, the top 3 finalists were also tasked with performing a song that was hand-selected by the Idol judges. Luke Bryan, Lionel Richie and Katy Perry chose “Blackbird” by The Beatles for Beckham.
The 24-year-old Apple Valley, California native admitted to Los Angeles Daily News that he was surprised with the judges choice as he “was expecting something a little more out of left field.”
While Beckham was working with the Idol producers and coaches on his version of the song, they asked him to feel the song and how it related to him. However, Beckham admitted that he wasn’t sure that it did, until he listened to it. “Then I started listening to it, and I was like, ‘Holy (cow), it really does kind of tell my story, just in a different way. You know, taking your broken wings and learning how to fly, and all your life you’ve probably been waiting for this moment to arise,” Beckham explained to the outlet. “That’s literally what happened to me on my ‘Idol’ experience, you know. So I think that they may have picked that because it really represents my story very well.”
“You have an identifiable voice,” Richie said, before adding, “a wonderful raspy voice of life.”
“Chayce the ace,” Perry added.
“Me and you, you’ve earned your bass fishing trip,” Bryan said. “Book the date, we got it. Win or lose we’re still going fishing.”
“Blackbird” is a track co-written by Paul McCartney and Lennon-McCartney and appears on The Beatles’ 1968 double album, The Beatles (also known as The White Album).
Furthermore, Beckham also performed several other times during the three-hour Idol finale, including covers of Chris Stapleton’s “Fire Away” and Ed Sheeran’s “Afterglow.” In addition to the covers performed by Beckham, he also joined Luke Combs, Fall Out Boy and Macklemore for duets.
The three-hour American Idol finale also featured performances from Fleetwood Mac’s Lindsey Buckingham, Sheryl Crow, Alessia Cara, Leona Lewis, Mickey Guyton, Luke Combs, Macklemore, Chaka Khan, Fall Out Boy, and Idol judges Katy Perry, Lionel Richie & Luke Bryan.
In addition to the celebrity performers on the star-studded finale lineup, the top 3 including Chayce Beckham, Grace Kinstler and Willie Spence also performed several times throughout the show. Idol also welcomed back several contestants from the Top 24 to perform during the finale including Alyssa Wray, Arthur Gunn, Cassandra Coleman, Casey Bishop, DeShawn Goncalves, Hunter Metts, Phillip Murphy and more.
Hosted by Ryan Seacrest, the season finale of American Idol aired live on Sunday, May 23 at 8/7c on ABC.