Turning on the TV every Monday night became a weekly ritual in Pensacola during season 24 of “American Idol,” as hometown fans of Keyla Richardson watched her glorious rise to the season finale.
Richardson ultimately placed third, and won the hearts of hundreds of thousands of fans across the U.S. and in her hometown. Days removed from her last performance, we met with Richardson in her home to talk through what it was like to meet her own inspirations, juggle music and motherhood, and, of course, find out what’s next for the rising star.
Meeting her mentors, talking with Jennifer Hudson ‘sister to sister’
While Richardson’s stunning voice brought many of the show’s guests to tears, she forged a deep connection with EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony) award-winner Jennifer Hudson, who mentored Richardson on the show.
Richardson first started listening to Hudson when Hudson starred in the 2006 film “Dreamgirls,” alongside Beyoncé and Jamie Foxx. Hudson became an inspiration to her, as a woman and as an artist. Despite Hudson’s mega-fame, Richardson said they felt a familiar connection from the very start, which led to deep conversations between the two, “sister to sister.”
Hudson was an “American Idol” alum herself, finishing seventh on Season 3 in 2004, behind winner Fantasia Barrino.
“I feel like whenever Jennifer Hudson mentored me, I feel like she saw a lot of herself in me. Just the drive…the purpose, just having that passion for singing,” Richardson added. “When I look back at her videos on “American Idol,” she had that passion, she had that drive. She wanted to really do it, and she saw that in me. So, it just really touched my heart, and it touched her heart…”
Richardson had a live show routine. Here’s what she did to lock in
While Richardson would often claim the stage in shimmering evening gowns, with seemingly effortless powerhouse vocals and killer confidence, her Monday nights looked a lot different than they did from couches across the nation.
“Leading up to show day, a lot of times when it got into Saturday, Sunday and Monday, I would just shut down completely. I wouldn’t come out of my dressing room, I wouldn’t joke around,” Richardson said. “My thing is I have to get to a point, especially on live show days—there’s no one in the room. The judges aren’t there, the cameras aren’t there, nobody. That’s the thing I always try to get in my head…I try to get in that mode and stay prayed up.”
It wasn’t until somewhere between the Top 7 and Top 5 episodes, nearing the end of the competition, that she felt herself relax a little more and begin to “let it flow.”
“Whatever God has for you, it is for you, and you just have to be you in it,” she remembers thinking at the time.
While the show launched Richardson’s career in new ways, diversifying her as an artist and expanding her base of dedicated “Keyhive ” fans, Richardson has been taking music seriously for years. Her “Idol” song choices spanned multiple genres, and she also worked alongside a variety of other artists on the show.
“I was used to being in one lane, but it opened me up to more. I really enjoyed everybody, and we were like one big family. We were like brothers and sisters,” Richardson said. “All of us connected.”
Growing up in gospel and using her voice to bless others
When Richardson was a child, music was an undeniable talent, but basketball was her heart, following in the footsteps of her siblings who were involved in athletics. As she got older, music became not just a skill, but a powerful and transformative way to reach people’s hearts.
Lots of her gospel experience and influence came from her church in Pensacola, Abundance of Life Temple of Praise, pastored by her father, Willie Richardson.
It’s the kind of church where start and end times are fluid, but she never believed in skipping a Sunday to lead worship—even if her heart wasn’t always fully in it, at least at first.
“I would be so upset having to sing, doing our youth services and everything. My dad would literally say, ‘Hey, you can’t sit up there and sing with an attitude,’…. it wasn’t bad! It’s just that I didn’t want to do it at that time. I’ve always been kind of placed there,” Richardson said. “I’m so glad for that push now, because not knowing that God had bigger plans for me than I could ever imagine as a little girl… Even though I didn’t want to do it, I grew to love it in high school. I liked when people came up to me and were like, ‘You are a blessing to me, you helped me get through some times.’ That really did a lot for me, so since then, I’ve been singing.”
Now, Richardson considers her voice a gift she uses to touch and inspire others.
“I’m an inspirational person; I like to speak life in people. That’s what my gift is all about,” Richardson said. “Especially in this moment right now, I feel like the world needs to be touched, people need to hear inspirational music to be uplifted and feel good about themselves.”
When she she wasn’t connecting to music through praise, she was listening to Mary J. Blige, Anthony Hamilton and Jamie Foxx as inspirations.
After using her talent in gospel music to perform on BET’s Sunday Best, ultimately placing fourth, Richardson began to see the potential career ahead of her, eventually prompting her to take a leap of faith and audition for “American Idol” years later.
Auditioning for ‘American Idol’ was a leap of faith
When Richardson selected her audition song, “Glitter in the Air” by P! NK, she had no idea that stepping out in faith would become the mantra of her season, carrying her all the way to the show’s end.
“I was there at the morning time, at the top of the morning, and didn’t get the chance to audition until that night, and I had to stay in one spot. So that was a lot, anticipating, getting in front of those judges. In your head, you’re like re-rehearsing the song, the lyrics, just in your head about it because you want to do the right thing, you want to do it the right way,” Richardson said. “So, it was a long process. I was tired. I got a little weary at first. There were moments I was like, ‘You know what, forget this. I’m (going) to go.’ But I stayed the course, I know I wanted to do it. I think I was just anticipating, and I was ready to get it done.”
She reimagined the song to symbolize taking a leap of faith and “taking a chance on yourself and just giving it all you got, keeping the faith and staying the course.”
The song remains one of her most emotional performances to date, and Richardson performed the full-length version at her hometown concert, where she performed before roughly 11,000 people.
As part of American Idol’s Top 3, earning herself a hometown visit back home to Pensacola, filmed by producers, Richardson had a jam-packed schedule. Some of the festivities included stops at her school, Life Shifting Learning Academy, where she taught music; a Blue Wahoos game; jet skiing; and even an appearance by the Blue Angels.
What stood out to her the most, though, was the reaction from her students, who know her as “Miss Keyla” or “Miss Key,” and who pulled her into a hug when they saw their teacher step out of the limo.
Life as a musician and a mother to fan-favorite Drew
Motherhood was a major topic explored on the show. Richardson’s 9-year-old son, Drew, not only served as his mother’s main inspiration but also captured America’s hearts with his charismatic personality.
Viewers fell in love with Drew in Richardson’s first audition, where he was mouthing the lyrics by memory, and even did an “audition” of his own in front of the celebrity panel of judges to the song “God Only Knows” by for KING & COUNTRY.
Drew would often make appearances in the crowd during his mother’s performances and even had his own segment in the finale, doing a sing-off with Carrie Underwood.
The connection between mother and son is strong on and off the screen, whether they’re filming in Los Angeles or sitting at home playing Fortnite.
“I’ve always enjoyed being a mother from the day Drew was born, and for being an artist, thank God for my support system I’m able to do what I love and continue to be a mother. I always find the time to spend with my son,” Richardson said. “In my career now, he’s an inspiration to me. It’s like everything that I’ve poured out and given my child, he’s already given it back to me…he’s like my protector, he’s the man of the house.”
Music has been part of Drew’s life since he was in the womb, and he has grown up to not only enjoy Richardson’s taste in music but also have favorite artists of his own, like Michael Jackson.
“When I was pregnant with Drew, I was still singing. I mean, singing hard, too. I wasn’t letting up, and people would have to tell me, ‘Keyla, you can’t sing so hard, you’re six months pregnant, you’re eight months,’” Richardson said. “He came out singing. He loves songs now. It doesn’t take him (any) time to remember a song. He learns it like that…I think he’s going to grow up to become a singer.”
When she placed third in the season finale, Drew’s feelings were her priority above her own.
“At the time that the elimination happened, my first thought was Drew. It’s just like, ‘I failed my son.’ I’ll be transparent and honest about that, and that’s the thing that really got me the most until I had to realize, ‘No. You did not fail him. Do you know how far you have gotten?’” Richardson said. “I didn’t expect to get to Top 3…just to even have that experience and get to share that with him in itself… that’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”
“He’s like, ‘Mom, it doesn’t even matter, Mom. You’re still my Idol,” she said.
What’s next for Keyla Richardson?
When returning home to Pensacola after the season wrapped, Richardson was treated to a hero’s welcome from friends, fans and family at the Pensacola International Airport, who met her fresh off the plane with PensaKeyla posters in hand.
After hugging her family members and thanking her fans for their support, she headed to one of her favorite spots, Pensacola Beach, for some sunshine, white sand and fresh oysters. Once she had a quick break to recharge and reset, she began to address the one question everyone had for her: What’s next?
“There’s so many things that’s in store, so much good news that I have for you. So much that I want you to stay tuned on,” Richardson said.
Since returning home, she said she has been back in the studio working on music, with lots of opportunities for both her and her son, Drew, hinting that they’re “going to be on the road a lot” and maybe even seeing her face on some talk shows. While she can’t say yet what her plans are for the next few months, she doesn’t think her schedule will allow her to continue teaching at Life Shifting Academy next school year.
“I love my students, I’m always going to visit my students…they’re my kids. As far as right now, my schedule is so busy I don’t see myself being able to even go back to the school and teach the kids,” Richardson said. “But I can come back and maybe have a program; we can schedule that time.”
When her newest music is released, fans may even see her transition into a genre outside of gospel.
“I’ve always sung gospel music, and now, I’m just open to more. I’m an inspirational person, and everybody just won’t come to where I’m at, I have to go to where they’re at. That’s how I think about it,” Richardson said. “I’m just not in the gospel lane anymore. I’m in the country lane, I’m in the pop lane, I’m in the rock lane, the soul lane, you name it. I can do different kinds of stuff, but I’m just really leaning toward pop…I’m just a little bit of everything, I guess.”
Richardson had previously grown her career as a gospel artist, climbing the charts with original songs like “So Good,” which placed No. 1 on Billboard Gospel Airplay in 2020, which was Richardson’s soulful account of praise for God’s goodness, rescuing her from even the darkest moments of life.
“American Idol” may have motivated her to expand from just the gospel genre, but Richardson will continue singing about her life experiences in hopes of inspiring others, including themes of healing and freedom.
“The kind of music I make is still; it’s all in one. Just being a blessing to people, uplifting them, and letting them know that they can do whatever they want to do, whatever they desire. As long as they feel like they can put their mind to it, they can do it,” Richardson said. “Just letting them know just to keep going, because life isn’t always peaches and cream…”
But her roots in gospel will never be far away.
“I never want to forget where I come from, and that’s why sometimes you’ll see me at a set and I might just break out into a worship song or something like that, but I will never forget where I came from,” Richardson said.
Richardson is grateful to her fans for their support on the show and as she moves into her next chapter.
“I just want to appreciate the KeyHive. You guys were just extraordinary. Y’all supported me, not just me, but y’all supported my family, y’all supported my son. That means the world to me. And not only after that, even after everything was all said and done, y’all still continue to support me,” Richardson said.
Tickets are still available for Richardson’s Pensacola concert at the Saenger Theatre at 7 p.m. on July 25, and can be purchased on Ticketmaster.com.
This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: We sat down with Keyla Richardson to see what’s next after ‘American Idol’
Reporting by Brittany Misencik, Pensacola News Journal / Pensacola News Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
