Northside native Wyn Starks wows judges on 'America's Got Talent'

Wyn Starks performed his original song Who I am for the AGT judges. AGT/YouTube screen grab

By Azhae’la Hanson, Reporter

A year had passed, and Wyn Starks still felt gutted and depressed from the loss of his twin brother, Caine. He struggled to find purpose.

Then the aspiring singer got a sudden opportunity to audition for the hit TV show America's Got Talent. The fear flushed from his body because he knew it was time to sing for his brother.

Starks, a North Minneapolis native, is one of the breakout artists on the 17th season of AGT and could be on the cusp of stardom.

The 2001 graduate of North High School grew up singing in Berean Baptist Church for most of his life until he moved to Nashville, Tenn. There, he signed with Curb Records, where he's been releasing music since 2019.

His music celebrates joy, love, community, acceptance, and loss, all things he ties back to his upbringing and family.

Although he is currently a Nashville resident, he still draws inspiration from the older church women he sang backup for when he was just a boy. His upbringing has always been incorporated into his music and he mashes different genres of ’80s, pop rock, and R&B with his experiences to contribute to defining the Minneapolis sound.

“I’ve been a music lover ever since I can remember,” Starks said. “There were so many great singers in my church growing up. And that's where a lot of my influence and inspiration comes from.”

He got his professional start in the music industry in Nashville while singing backup for a local artist and working in the hospitality industry. He was laid off during the COVID-19 shutdowns and lost his brother, Caine, the following year. Starks was jobless and struggling to find purpose.

“I was in a low place,” Starks said. “My brother was my biggest supporter and I lost him.

“I just couldn't even get out of bed some days but when the opportunity came along with AGT, I was like, ‘You know what, I gotta do this. I gotta get out of this slump.’ And I’m glad I did. He would have been so proud of me .”

The idea of being on the big stage rattled Starks at first, but when he arrived, he felt as though his brother was right there with him and the fear quickly turned into love and reassurance.

“When I saw the lights, the fear was gone because I felt him there with me, Caine. And I knew I was okay.”

Before Starks began his performance, judge Simon Cowell, famous for being particularly harsh, whispered under his breath, “I hope he’s good.”

By the time Starks bowed, he received a standing ovation from Cowell and brought another judge, actress Sofia Vergara, to tears. Starks recalled how he felt with such a positive reaction from the judges and the crowd.

“I wasn't expecting that reaction,” he said. “God, I could feel so much love. It felt like I was singing to people I knew and loved, it felt so familiar. It was an incredible experience and I just loved the way that ABC handled it with such care. It was beautiful”

Throughout his experience in AGT, the biggest lesson for Starks is to just be himself.

“That's what carried with me through this whole process,” he said. “Just being myself is what got me here today and it took a long time for me to get to the place where I feel like I could be myself.”

Starks declared to the judges and to the rest of America who he is, choosing to perform Who I Am, an original EP released in 2020, because it was one of his brother's favorite songs. But also because it's a song

for everybody and a song for himself. Having such a successful reaction to an original song is a major accomplishment. Especially since AGT received countless singing auditions this season.

Who I Am is a song about accepting

and loving who you are,” Starks said. “Being unashamed about who you are resonates with everybody. It resonated with my brother, and it resonates with me about my journey in being able to express myself freely.

“I'm gonna be unashamed about who I am as a member of the LGBTQ community. I embrace that because I didn’t always feel like I could growing up.”

Choosing to perform an original song proved to be the best decision for Starks. He is now back in Nashville awaiting to hear about his next steps in the competition and although he has moved on to Nashville, Starks still keeps Minneapolis close to his heart.

Starks is eager to continue on with the competition and dreams of coming home to North Minneapolis to perform for his hometown. He left us with some remarks to the community.

“To Minneapolis, I love you,” he said. “Thank you for all the love and support. I'm so glad to be able to represent my city on a platform like this, it means everything to me.”