American Idol Season 23’s youngest contestant, Mattie Pruitt, brought all the feels to Sunday night’s episode with a powerful “House That Built Me” cover.
Sunday’s episode of American Idol had the season’s Top 10 singing for their lives as they prove to America why they should advance to Monday night’s Top 8. The theme for the episode was “Ladies Night” and honored some of the greatest female talents in music across all genres.
Two artists covered Carrie Underwood’s songs. Three hopefuls honored Adele. Reba McEntire, Bonnie Raitt, Fleetwood Mac, and Beyonce were also remembered with powerful performances. But one of the night’s standout covers came from Mattie Pruitt, who sang Miranda Lambert’s “House That Built Me.”
The performance was especially poignant because Miranda Lambert was this week’s mentor. She offered Pruitt first-hand advice about covering one of her most popular songs.
Lambert encouraged Mattie to push herself by playing guitar on stage for the first time. “I want you to let Mattie fully shine through. I’ve been watching you and I feel like I haven’t gotten to know exactly the whole Mattie yet and I want to see her.”
Mattie overcame her fear and accompanied herself on guitar as she performed “House That Built Me” on stage. At the end of her performance, Mattie was overcome with emotion and couldn’t hold back her tears.
Lionel Richie praised her for holding her emotions in check until the end of the song. “We felt every moment of that performance,” he said. Carrie added, “We were holding onto every note, every single word. That was really quite brilliant. Toward the end, I was trying to hold my own tears in.”
Mattie Pruitt first wowed judges with a stunning rendition of Jessie Murph’s “How Could You.”
Mattie Pruitt was only 15 years old when she auditioned for American Idol. Following her performance, the judges were clearly in awe of her talent that belied her age.
“The question isn’t ‘Are you going to be a successful country artist,’ it’s ‘Are we going to be a part of it?’ And the answer is yes,” Carrie Underwood said at the time.
The other judges agreed and unanimously voted to award her a coveted Golden Ticket.
“House That Built Me” was one of Miranda Lambert’s most popular singles.
Miranda Lambert released “House That Built Me” in 2010 as the third single from her third studio album, Revolution. It became Lambert’s first No. 1 song and was the fastest-rising single of her career.
In 2011, Miranda took home the Best Female Country Vocal Performance Grammy for “House That Built Me.”
The song remains a fan favorite and one of Miranda Lambert’s most-streamed singles.
Watch Mattie Pruitt’s emotional cover of “House that Built Me” in the video below.
