Mattie Pruitt
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Mattie Pruitt | |
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 Pruitt performs at the 2025 19/Idol/BMG CMA Fest Takeover in Nashville | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Mattie Pruitt |
| Born | April 15, 2009 |
| Genres | |
| Occupations |
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| Instruments |
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| Years active | 2015–present |
Mattie Pruitt (born April 15, 2009) is an American singer and musician from Eagleville, Tennessee, who was a finalist on American Idol season 23. She plays guitar and piano.
Early life and education
[edit]Mattie Pruitt was born to Sara Lytle and Justin Pruitt. She is from a blended family and has 12 siblings. They live in Eagleville, Tennessee, a one stoplight town of 934. Justin and Eleanora (Ellie) Pruitt, Mattie's stepmother, run Middle Tennessee Traffic Management in Nolensville, a southern suburb of Nashville.[1] Pruitt went to Barfield Elementary School in Murfreesboro, Tennessee; Rockvale Elementary School in Rockvale, Tennessee; and Christiana Middle School in Christiana, Tennessee.[2][3] Lauren Alaina, who was runner-up on season 10 of American Idol, offered Pruitt some advice. Alaina told her to keep in mind that the judges have the same experiences as everyone else. Pruitt's influences include Jessie Murph to whom she refers as being a new artist, Teddy Swims, Chris Stapleton, Whitney Houston, Etta James, and Paramore. Pruitt talked about having met Jelly Roll in church; he was the in-house mentor for season 23 of American Idol.
Pruitt feels that her musical style is undefined and sometimes leans towards "classic music", which she defines as soul or country soul. She told WIS News Channel 20, "My grandparents are from there (Champaign, Illinois), my mom and all her siblings and cousins, they're all from Champaign. I visit them once or twice every year for…holidays…and along this journey, they've been really supportive." Pruitt said that her family enjoys Miranda Lambert's music; Lambert was a guest mentor for a week on season 23 of American Idol. Pruitt's mother, Sara Lytle, auditioned for American Idol when she was about 15.[4]
Pruitt was joined on her audition for American Idol by Craig Campbell. She sang "How Could You?" by Jessie Murph. Campbell is a singer but played piano for the performance. He is a former bandmate of Luke Bryan, one of the American Idol judges. Pruitt began to post cover songs on TikTok when she was 11 and she has over 117 thousand followers there. Her snippets of songs covering Teddy Swims' "Lose Control", "Vienna" by Billy Joel, and "I See Red" by Everybody Loves an Outlaw (Bonnie and Taylor Sims) have 3.5 million, 1.8 million, and 3.5 million views respectively on TikTok. She has a version of "Rise Up" by Andra Day on TikTok which has been viewed 1.7 million times.
Pruitt said that she was so excited to meet Miranda Lambert that she wanted to cry.[5] After being voted by the public as one of the bottom two contestants of the top 8 show, Pruitt was saved from elimination by the two judges who tied for top place in the "Judges Song Contest"-themed episode.[a] She finished in the top 7 of the contest, alongside Gabby Samone.
Performances
[edit]| American Idol season 23 performances and results | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Episode | Theme | Song choice | Original artist | Order number | Result |
| Auditions Episode #3 | N/A | "How Could You?" | Jessie Murph | N/A | Advanced |
| Hollywood Round | "Cold" | Chris Stapleton | |||
| Showstoppers/Green Mile | "It's a Man's Man's Man's World" | James Brown | |||
| Top 24 — Monday, Part 2 (April 14) |
Contestant's Choice | "Wide Awake" | Katy Perry | 10 | |
| Top 20 (April 20 – Voting) |
Easter Sunday — Songs of Faith |
"Rescue" | Lauren Daigle | 9 | |
| Top 20 (April 21 – Results) |
Victory/WildCard Songs | "In the Stars" | Benson Boone | 9 | |
| Top 14 (April 27) | Rock & Roll Hall of Fame | "Piece of My Heart" | Erma Franklin | 2 | |
| Top 12 (April 28) | Iconic American Idol Moments | "Because of You" | Kelly Clarkson | 6 | |
| Top 10 (May 4) | Ladies' Night | "The House That Built Me" | Miranda Lambert | 9 | |
| Top 8 (May 5) | Judges' Song Contest | "Always Been You" (selected by Luke Bryan) |
Jessie Murph | 2 | Saved by the Judges[a] |
| "Something in the Water" (w/ Breanna Nix) |
Carrie Underwood | 9 | |||
| Top 7 (May 11) | Disney Night #1 / Mother's Day Tributes |
"Remember Me" (from Coco) |
Benjamin Bratt | 6 | Eliminated |
| "Those Kind of Women" | Lauren Alaina | 12 | |||
Notes
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ "We Couldn't be More Proud to Cheer on One of Our Own!". Facebook. April 13, 2025. Retrieved May 8, 2025.
- ^ "Rutherford Countian Auditions for American Idol". March 2, 2025. Retrieved May 8, 2025.
- ^ "How a Tiny Tennessee Town Built a Sewer and Finally Started Growing". April 11, 2017. Retrieved May 8, 2025.
- ^ Husain, Michelle (May 7, 2025). "16-year-old Mattie Pruitt, with Champaign ties, rises to 'American Idol' Top 10". Retrieved May 8, 2025.
- ^ Wasylak, Victoria (May 4, 2025). "This 'American Idol' Hopeful Brought Carrie Underwood and Miranda Lambert to Tears". Retrieved May 8, 2025.