This is just too stinkin’ cute!
A third-grade Kentucky student has gone viral after his in-school rendition of the national anthem, Blavity reports.
9-year-old DCorey Johnson is a student at James H. Bates Elementary School in Louisville, Kentucky. For as long as he can remember, he’s always loved music and arts. His mother said he started singing at St. Stephen Baptist Church, humming along to the songs.
He acts, loves to dance, play the piano, tap dance. He’s just a very, very inspirational kid, and everywhere we go, everybody knows [DCorey] as the anointed one,” Nakia Johnson said of her son.
When classes resumed for in-person learning last week, DCorey asked his principal if he could sing the national anthem over the intercom one day. Principal Alecia Dunn said sure, not thinking anything of deviation from the norm. She couldn’t have imagined what happened—next, the third-grader blowing everyone away with a world-class performance of the song.
When he was finished, I couldn’t finish the announcements,” Principal Dunn said.
She had recorded the performance and decided to upload it to the school’s Facebook page, captioning it, “It is not America’s Got Talent, it is Bates Got Talent!”
Now, DCorey has gone viral, his video being viewed more than 160,000 times. He is also in high demand, performing some of his favorite songs by Tina Turner and Whitney Houston for his classmates.
I really love my classmates. It’s like they’re my audience...Now they want me to sing it at a baseball and at the football, at the school and everywhere,” DCorey exclaimed.
Jessica Hart, one of DCorey’s teachers, said she first heard him sing via Zoom after a class meeting. She tells him being so fearless about sharing his gifts inspires his classmates to do the same.
He blew us all away...I think that he inspires his classmates to be more confident in themselves and share their talents,” Hart said.
Now DCorey is gearing up for multiple performances at school and one at the University of Louisville.
I just want my voice to reach out to the world,” he said.
Congratulations, DCorey!
Photo Courtesy of ABC News