Brian Justin Crum

Brian Justin Crum (born May 28, 1988) is an American singer and stage actor from San Diego, California. In 2016, he competed on the eleventh season of the NBC TV competition show America's Got Talent, taking fourth place.^[1]

Early life and stage career

Brian Justin Crum was born in San Diego, California, United States, and attended the San Diego School of Creative and Performing Arts. Crum always had a love for music, and decided to take it to the stage.

At the age of seventeen, Crum left San Diego to become a part of the popular broadway musical Wicked. He later moved to New York City, New York and joined the cast of the musical comedy Altar Boyz and Grease. Crum also dreamed of becoming a part of the Next to Normal musical, that came true when he became a standby for Gabe and Henry, characters of the play. Crum has starred in several regional productions such as Tarzan, Jesus Christ Superstar and Snapshots. He soon met his mentor Stephen Schwartz, and the two performed alongside each other throughout the country.

Crum toured with The Addams Family, portraying Lucas Beineke and most frequently as Galileo Figaro in Queen's rock theatrical We Will Rock You. He sang with Brian May and Roger Taylor, original members of the band. He won a few Best Actor in Musical Awards for his performance and garnered reviews that considered him as "a Triumph". But besides his acting career, Crum is now pursuing a new career in Pop music, currently in Los Angeles, California.

America's Got Talent

For the June 28, 2016, final broadcast during the eleventh season of NBC's America's Got Talent, Crum auditioned by singing Queen's "Somebody to Love" as the last act to perform. Howie Mandel, Heidi Klum, Mel B. and Simon Cowell all voted yes, sending Crum to the judge cuts.^[2] Crum continued into the cuts and performed Radiohead's "Creep".^[3][4] Crum received enough votes from the public and automatically advanced into the quarterfinals. Going into the quarterfinals, Crum performed Phil Collins' In the Air Tonight.^[5][6] Crum received enough votes from the public once again and advanced to the semifinals, along with fellow act Grace VanderWaal. In the semifinals, Crum performed Tears For Fears' "Everybody Wants to Rule the World".^[7] Mandel, Klum, Mel and Cowell gave Crum a standing ovation and he received enough votes to be sent into the finals.

For his final performance, Crum sang Michael Jackson's "Man in the Mirror".^[8] At the end of the broadcast, Crum placed fourth in the competition overall, with VanderWaal declared as the winner.^[9][10]

Personal life

Crum lived with his aunt and uncle in Oregon. He also has a sister.

Crum came out as gay during elementary school and was constantly picked on by his classmates. Throughout his middle school and high school years, Crum would walk by and students would insult him by using harsh terms such as "faggot".

Crum began to lose hope after his constant bullying and declared himself as "worthless". But, with the help from his mother, he was given confidence and his hope was revived as he continues to sing and do what he loves.

References