Simon Cowell, raising his hand, took this audition from total disaster into a magical golden buzzer moment! Ohio mother of two, Charity Lockhart, initially auditioned on America’s Got Talent with an a cappella take on “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” on June 11, 2025. It showed off her beautiful voice, but Cowell understood that she could do better than the old talent staple. He asked her to sing another song, and she at first looked flustered before agreeing and singing The Beatles’ timeless classic “Golden Slumbers.”
“Golden Slumbers” is one of Paul McCartney’s most touching songs, and Lockhart took it to another place with her heavenly piano rendition. The 49-year-old singer had judge Sofía Vergara tearing up with her yearning R&B vocal while delivering a soul masterclass. The lift to an angelic high note at 5:40 had the crowd’s jaws on the floor and giving her a standing ovation. The Music Man has to say that things just kept on getting better and better from there, leading to Mel B giving Lockhart her golden buzzer.
Lockhart is certainly one of the most talented vocalists to ever hit the America’s Got Talent stage. She’s such a sweetheart as well, which made her pulling through a tough audition to get the golden buzzer such a feel-good moment, which you can see in the eyes of the audience as they celebrate. Lockhart’s big moment instantly drew traction online, with 1.1 million viewers tuning in within four days of her audition going live on YouTube.
Fans gave max props to both Cowell and Lockhart, adding comments such as “Simon was right. I could FEEL the emotion in the second song. Outstanding!” and “So glad Simon stopped her or we never would have witnessed this amazing moment of true talent.” Lockhart is yet to return for her second appearance on America’s Got Talent. However, she’s not the first talent to find viral success with “Golden Slumbers,” as teen Kaylee Shimizu bowled over the judges with her take on The Beatles number on her The Voice audition.
Charity Lockhart is a native of Garfield Heights, Ohio, and she had her start as a live performer in Cleveland. The Music Man readers might be interested to hear that Lockhart initially thought her time on America’s Got Talent was over after Cowell stopped her first song. She told WKYC Studios that she figured that she had at least done her best. However, she pushed through and performed her golden buzzer performance almost on autopilot. She recalled that “I was in so much of a trance that I had to ask my daughter what had happened afterwards. Because I think if I had come out of that trance and seen it, I probably would’ve passed out.”