Chayce Beckham has been crowned the winner of 2021 American Idol!
During the Idol finale on Sunday, May 23, the 24-year-old Idol winner and California native was given the task perform a song chosen by the judges, a hometown song and a song previously performed during their Idol journey.
Beckham chose to perform Chris Stapleton’s “Fire Away” as his hometown song, further proving his country star power. While he was initially surprised by the judges choice song, which was “Blackbird” by The Beatles, he thoroughly impressed them, earning praise from Lionel Richie, Katy Perry and Luke Bryan. He brought back his cover of Ed Sheeran’s “Afterglow” as his choice for a song he previously performed, he first performed the cover during celebrity duets week after duetting with Incubus’ Brandon Boyd.
In addition to the covers, Beckham also joined Luke Combs, Macklemore and Lionel Richie for duets. Furthermore, after being crowned the American Idol, Beckham got to performed his debut single “23.”
See all of his performances from the Idol finale below.
Macklemore – “Can’t Hold Us”
Chris Stapleton – “Fire Away”
The Beatles – “Blackbird”
Ed Sheeran – “Afterglow”
Luke Combs – “Forever After All”
Chayce Beckham – “23”
Lionel Richie – “One World”
Fall Out Boy – “My Songs Know What You Did In The Dark (Light Em Up)”
Crowning Moment
The three-hour American Idol finale also featured performances from Fleetwood Mac’s Lindsey Buckingham, Sheryl Crow, Alessia Cara, Leona Lewis, Mickey Guyton, Chaka Khan, 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, Graham DeFranco, 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.
