Lionel Richie was moved to tears by a 19-year-old singer Ronda Melton who persevered despite a hardscrabble past on Sunday s episode of American Idol.
Listening to Ronda Melton sing One Night Only from the musical Dreamgirls completely undid the four-time Grammy winner, 71, usually the least likely of the judges to cry.
It wasn t just Ronda s emotional vocals that turned Lionel into a wreck and caused him to lend her his handkerchief as he saw her starting to cry, too.
Getting emotional: Lionel Richie was moved to tears by a 19-year-old singer Ronda Melton who persevered despite a hardscrabble past on Sunday s episode of American Idol