What Ever Happened to Angelica Hale? The ‘America’s Got Talent’ Global Sensation

Angelica Hale is one of the biggest shining stars to come out of the America’s Got Talent franchise. The Filipino-American singer had the most incredible journey on the show, twice! She battled through a devastating illness when she was just four years old and became a role model for so many fans out there.

‘AGT’ Singer Angelica Hale Battled Illness Early On

Angelica was born in Georgia in 2007 and at just two or three years old, she would sing along to songs in the car. Her parents realized she had a real singing talent. Their world was flipped upside down when Angelica contracted double pneumonia due to an aggressive bacterial infection. She was put on life-support and went into septic shock.

Angelica underwent dialysis due to multiple organ failures and spent 80 days in the hospital. Her family posted videos on YouTube of her singing in the hospital like a trooper. She received a kidney transplant in 2013. The donor kidney came from her mother and Angelica is forever grateful. After the operation, she continued to dream big.

The pint-sized singer did a lot of local theater and performances around town. This included several performances with Broadway Dreams Foundation and a performance of “America the Beautiful” at the 2015 US Open Men’s Semifinals. This all led up to the moment that would change her life on AGT.

She Earned a Golden Buzzer on ‘AGT’

After captivating viewers on the internet, Angelica auditioned for Season 12 of AGT when she was nine years old. She had just found out that she was going to be a big sister and excitedly announced to the judges that she wanted to be the next Whitney Houston. Angelica sang “Rise Up” by Andra Day.

It was a bit of a shock that she did not get a Golden Buzzer right then and there. The judges gave her a standing ovation and Angelica burst into tears. Simon Cowell predicted that Angelica was going to become a star. He was right. In the Judge Cuts, Angelica belted “Girl On Fire” and it was incredible. Guest judge, Chris Hardwick, was so blown away that he hit the Golden Buzzer.

Angelica headed straight to the live shows with two solid performances in the Quarterfinals and the Semifinals. She was voted through to the finale where she got to perform “What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Stronger” with Kechi Okwuchi and Kelly Clarkson. 

Angelica and Darci Lynne Farmer were the final contestants left standing at the AGT finale. Darci was announced as the winner and Angelica rushed over to hug her. Cowell immediately went over to Angelica to hug her too. She later joined Darci as one of the supporting acts in AGT Las Vegas Live! at the Planet Hollywood Casino & Resort.

Angelica Established a Global Singing Career

Angelica’s AGT journey helped her book so many huge opportunities. She performed “Girl on Fire” at the 2017 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and sang at the Macy’s Tree Lighting in Atlanta. The following year, Angelica performed at Celebrity Fight Night with Asia’s Got Talent judge, David Foster.

Angelica performed on Little Big Shots when she was 10 years old. She sang in front of Steve Harvey and a huge live audience. It was pretty epic. She traveled to Toronto to perform at The Organ Project 2018 Gala to raise awareness for organ donation. Angelica was also named the very first Kid Ambassador of the National Kidney Foundation. 

A huge career moment came her way when she was invited to The Today Show. She told Kathie Lee Gifford and Hoda Kotb that she was having “the best year” of her life. That same year, Angelica announced that she would be originating the voice-over role of Maya in the series Maya Unstoppable with The Masked Singer’s Danny Trejo.

Angelica Returned for ‘AGT Champions’

Angelica returned for AGT Champions in 2019 all grown up. She performed “Fight Song” and had the entire crowd up on their feet. Howie Mandel hit his Golden Buzzer for the then 11-year-old. She made it to the finale with Darci once again. This time, it was Shin Lim who took home the prize.

Two successful runs on AGT led Angelica to gain even more fans from the experience. She wrote and released the music video for her debut single “Feel The Magic” in May 2019. An album of the same name was later released. She was invited to the Disney Frozen 2 World Premiere in Hollywood before her cover of “Show Yourself” went viral.

Angelica made her Disney debut when she guest-starred as Peggy on T.O.T.S. The character was super cute just like her. She went on tour with the TNT Boys who rose to fame on The World’s Best. This was huge because they are two of the most popular Filipino acts to come from talent shows. She sadly had to pull out of some of the tour dates due to an illness.  

What Has She Been Up to Recently?

In 2020, Angelica launched a little live cooking show with her sister amid the pandemic. She continued to keep fans entertained, posting a cover of “The Prayer” with her AGT buddy Evie Claire. This year, she did an Instagram live stream with former The Voice coach Alicia Keys. 

Angelica scored an invite to the 2020 SAG Awards where she posed with the cast of Stranger Things. She continued to put out original music and incredible song covers that you need to listen to right now. It didn’t stop there. Angelica had her sights set on becoming a movie star. She made her feature film debut in the movie American Reject.

With over 1.1 million Instagram followers and 2.7 million subscribers on YouTube, Angelica is one of the biggest stars to ever hit the AGT stage. She has accomplished so much already and is only 14 years old. Keep an eye out for this young powerhouse singer.

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