How Brandon Leake Managed to Get a Golden Buzzer Without an Audience
Leake’s season of America’s Got Talent aired right in the middle of the pandemic in 2020.
When Brandon Leake took the stage to Audition for Season 15 of America’s Got Talent, he was far from a shoo-in. For one thing, his Act of spoken word poetry was hardly one of the most common on the show. For another, due to Covid restrictions, there was no audience in the auditorium. All he had were his own words and the hope that he could impress three Judges enough to move on to the next stage of the competition.
Turned out, he only needed to impress one: Howie Mandel. The comedian liked Leake so much he gave him the coveted Golden Buzzer. That moment led him directly to taking home the Season 15 trophy. Since winning, Leake has gone on to have a flourishing career as a published poet, motivational speaker and entrepreneur. Take a look back at his incredible journey, here.
Brandon Leake’s Golden Buzzer and path to winning AGT
For his Audition in 2020, Leake performed a piece about mourning his deceased sister, which deeply touched Mandel. “It’s amazing to me that on Season 15, it’s the first time that we’re hearing somebody [do] spoken word,” Mandel said. “There was something more raw in the way it’s like singing and talking and just being a human a cappella. No music, no nothing, just a raw heart beating in front of us. We feel your pain, we feel your love.”
For Leake, having no audience made less of a difference than you might have thought. “In my early stages of doing spoken-word, there might’ve been five, 10 people in the crowd, but there’s a level of professionalism you have to have. You give the same effort of performance and excellence for 10 people as you do for 10,000,” he told NBC Insider.
Photo: Chris Haston/NBC
When he returned for the Quarterfinals, his topic shifted to police brutality, racial injustice and a Black mother’s love, and Heidi Klum, Sofia Vergara and Mandel all gave it a standing ovation. History repeated itself at the Semifinals when he dedicated his poem to his father, phrasing it as an open letter reflecting on their estranged relationship.
Just before his Audition, Leake and his wife welcomed their first child, a daughter. By the night of the Finals, he had written a touching, prayer-like poem for her, which naturally brought the house down and brought him a victory.
Where Is Brandon Leake now?
The Stockton, California native used his winnings to pay off his student loan debt, per NBC News, and has since branched out into filmmaking and uploaded some of his spoken word onto Spotify as singles. He continues to write and perform, and he and his wife have also welcomed a son.
Last year, Leake delivered a TEDx talk about using the power of art to uplift marginalized communities, and his book of poetry, Unraveling, is available now.
