Darci Lynne Sang Etta James Again without Moving Her Lips and Hit the Loveliest Note
The AGT winner and ventriloquist took on a favorite James track — "Something's Got a Hold on Me" — with her puppet, Oscar.
Darci Lynne is back at it, and this time, she's recruited a little-known puppet friend to help her sing an iconic song!
In a September 16 Instagram post, the former America's Got Talent winner shared a video featuring a puppet that was definitely not her usual partner-in-crime, Petunia. Instead, fans saw Oscar in action, who didn't pass up the opportunity to sing a duet with Lynne. The pair belted out the Etta James classic "Something's Got a Hold on Me" that will absolutely floor you.
"Who else missed Oscar?" Lynne captioned. (Uh-oh, this might make Petunia jealous.)
As usual, it's something special whenever Lynne opens her mouth to sing. But as every fan knows by now, it's when Lynne doesn't open her mouth that the 19-year-old truly shines! The way she hits those high notes and floats through her impressive range while barely moving her lips never fails to put our jaws on the floor. She also blew viewers away when she covered the song on The Kelly Clarkson Show back in the day.
The banter between Lynne and Oscar harkened back to Lynne's unforgettable repartee with her puppet during her viral AGT audition many years ago.
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While puppets have always been part of Lynne's utterly unique ventriloquist Act on the AGT stage and off, in a 2024 interview with Parade, she stressed the importance of the puppets evolving — and maturing — alongside her.
"The puppets have grown up with me I guess you could say, but not in any crude way," she explained. "My demographic and the people that follow me, it's super multi-generational and I love that, especially kids, too. So, I still keep it pretty family friendly, but yeah, I would say definitely my material's grown up with me."
Here's what to know about "Something's Got a Hold on Me"
Released in 1962 as the third single off James' self-titled album, "Something's Got a Hold on Me" included elements of gospel, soul, and blues en route to becoming one of the artist's bigger hits. James performed the song live for the first time in Nashville on September 27, 1963 — a performance that would eventually be featured on her first live album, Etta James Rocks the House.
The track reached #37 on the Billboard Hot 100 and peaked at #4 on the Hot R&B Sides.
Contemporary music fans will undoubtedly recognize the iconic opening verse since it was sampled Flo Rida's 2012 track, "Good Feeling." The song eventually reached the #3 spot on the Billboard Hot 100, marking one of seven Top 5 hits for the rapper.
