YouTube is full of covers of Adele’s songs, and most of them are beautifully done. Only a few, however, have to ability to bring tears to your eyes and a catch to your throat. That’s why you must watch this cover of Hello, performed not by a mature and well-rounded adult, or even an angsty teenage girl. Instead, it’s sung by an eleven-year-old boy.
The boy in question is Tryzdin Grubbs from Columbus, Ohio. He’s had his own YouTube channel for the last eight years, and his music has two goals. The first is to talk about mental health after his own mental health suffered following relentless abuse from school bullies. Secondly, and more happily, he wants to get on the Ellen de Generes show.
When the video begins, Tryzdin appears to be standing in a public area but it’s not clear where. He’s casually dressed in a sports jersey and looks innocent and fresh-faced. His voice is anything but childlike, though! It’s powerful and intense and he’s putting every ounce of the pain he suffered into his performance. It’s simply stunning.
All the adults in the background are listening open-mouthed as he absolutely kills the performance. It’s no wonder the video has been viewed 5.2 million times and received 146,000 likes. One comment perfectly sums up the power of Tryzdin’s singing, “This kid taps into his soul. You can hear it. There’s expression and emotion. 110% gave me goosebumps.”
Although he hasn’t become a household name, Tryzdin has not been idle since this video was uploaded seven years ago. He has worked closely with the British band Saint Mars. The band wrote the first single of their album, Celesteville, from the perspective of a thirteen-year-old boy who is being bullied. The band wanted a boy of a similar age to lend authenticity to the song, which was called Somewhere, Somebody.
Trydzin was chosen and he wasn’t afraid to bring every ounce of the pain and isolation he felt to his vocals. When the band talked with Trydzin and listened to his story they were deeply touched. They were also blown away by the quality of his singing and so offered him more work. In the end, he provided vocals for six songs on the album. That’s pretty good going for a thirteen-year-old.
It would be wonderful to say that his career has taken off, but he’s still got a little way to go. Tryzdin appeared on American Idol in 2019. His audition song was Before You Go by Lewis Capaldi, but judge Luke Bryan halted him and asked him to try another song. He chose Nobody by James Arthur and was unanimously put through. Sadly, he was eliminated in the next round.
To date, his YouTube channel only has 3000 subscribers, but his most popular video has 142,000 views. With talent like his, it seems certain that he has a successful career ahead of him. If you would like to see more from Tryzdin Grubbs, you can subscribe to their YouTube channel or follow them on Instagram.