Priest Brings Simon Cowell To Tears With Soulful Version Of ‘Everybody Hurts’

Jul 11, 2020 by apost team

A parish priest from Oldcastle, County Meath, Ireland, Father Ray Kelly, took to the stage for an emotional performance of R.E.M’s Everybody Hurts for Britain's Got Talent in 2018, bringing even judge Simon Cowell to tears.

According to Evening Standard, Father Ray Kelly was 64 when he auditioned for Britain's Got Talent in 2018, a televised British talent show competition whose show’s leading adjudicator is no less than Mr. Simon Cowell. When called on stage, Fr. Ray got to introduce himself in front of the judges and exchanged jokes with them.

The priest chose the song called Everybody Hurts a song which is an original of the well-known American rock band from Athens, Georgia, R.E.M.

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His rendition of the song literally brought the house down as he received thunderous applause and standing ovations from the judges and the live audience of the show. “My parents were musical,” Fr. Kelly shared. He continued:

“Growing up in a musical family, we were held up like trophies every time we get to share our talents ... I knew I could put up a fairly good performance, but I never saw the amazing comments from the judges coming.”

Fr. Kelly watches BGT and he was totally inclined to give it a try. But it took him a lot of careful thinking before he decided to audition. “I decided to put myself forward without really knowing what to expect,” he quipped.

But even before joining the talent show, Fr. Kelly has been a huge sensation on social media when he was recorded singing Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah during a wedding in his parish church. The video, which was uploaded on YouTube, has millions of views as of this writing. Simon commented:

"I’m going to tell you something. This is one of my favorite ever auditions! I think your voice is beautiful. I love the version of the song. This is everything we’ve been waiting for. I absolutely loved it."

What did you think of this performance? Did you love it just as much as the judges did? What is your favorite performance from Britain's Got Talent? Let us know in the comments and make sure you pass this along to your friends and family.