Some musical performances will make just about anybody cry.
Whether the performer got emotional or because the song itself is so darn sad, sometimes,
you can't help but be moved to tears.
The following are musical performances that are guaranteed to make just about anyone cry.
Ashly Williams on The X Factor USA - "I Will Always Love You"
Ashly Williams performed "I Will Always Love You," a song written by Dolly Parton and made
popular by Whitney Houston, on The X Factor.
When Williams was just 14, her mother was murdered, and Williams performed this song
just before what would have been her mother's birthday.
She soars through the song, and at the end, among thunderous applause, she points to the
heavens and mouths "for you" to her mom.
If that doesn't get you, what will?
Williams went on to compete on Kelly Rowland's reality show Chasing Destiny in 2016, and
her girl group, June's Diary, just released a mixtape called Male Edition that features
covers of "Hey Jude," "Poison," "Stay," and other songs by male groups.
This performance, though, dedicated to her Guardian Angel, is what led the way to her
success.
"Love… you!"
Kelly Clarkson on American Idol The Farewell Season - "Piece by Piece"
The first winner of American Idol, vocal powerhouse Kelly Clarkson, performed "Piece by Piece"
during the final season of the show.
Clarkson wrote the song when she was pregnant with her first child, River.
It's about how she was able to discover love for herself even after her father's abandonment
when she was young.
"He'll never walk away, he'll never break her heart, he'll take care of things!"
She told the Huffington Post,
"A lot of the reason why I wrote 'Piece by Piece' was I guess I didn't realize the gravity
of the situation until I had a child of my own, and until I experienced love like I do
with Brandon on the daily."
It's no surprise that Clarkson got choked up during the song, and practically everyone
in the world cried along with her.
Especially Keith Urban.
He looks positively wrung out, emotionally speaking, by the end of the song.
Us too, Keith.
Adele at Brit Awards 2011 - "Someone Like You"
James Corden, when introducing Adele and "Someone Like You" at the Brit Awards 2011, said,
"If you've ever had a broken heart, you're about to remember it now."
And he's not kidding.
The song is so loaded with emotion that even the album version makes tender-hearted people
cry.
"Sometimes it lasts in love and sometimes it hurts instead..."
Adele makes it through the performance, but she falls apart right after.
It was, after all, the first performance after her throat surgery.
But it's a tearjerker of a song nonetheless.
So much, in fact, that psychologists from the University of London studied it to find
out why.
Turns out that if we like that song, we're nostalgic people with a penchant for suffering
through someone else's pain.
Ouch.
Connie Talbot on Britain's Got Talent - "Somewhere Over The Rainbow"
Little Connie Talbot was only 6 years old when she performed "Somewhere Over the Rainbow"
on Britain's Got Talent in 2007.
"Somewhere over the rainbow…"
As if hearing an adorable little girl with a British accent sing wasn't enough, her voice
is otherworldly.
She has no front teeth, and isn't sure how she'd feel about singing in front of the Queen
— but she holds the judges and audience in rapt attention during her a capella performance.
Talbot came in second on the show, and she's still singing.
Lady Gaga on Howard Stern Show - "Edge of Glory"
Before Lady Gaga sang "Edge of Glory" on the Howard Stern show, she got a little choked
up saying what the song was about:
"It's about also knowing in your heart that you might never reach that glorious moment
until you die.
So live life on the edge."
Then, she sang the living heck out of the song and it is so soulful, so emotional…
"I'm on the edge of glory and I'm hanging on a moment of truth."
...that by the time she hits the last note your heart will be beating fast and you may
have to fight back some tears.
Norah Jones at Detroit Fox Theatre - "Black Hole Sun"
A tribute to the fallen musician Chris Cornell, Norah Jones uses her otherworldly voice to
wrench the hearts right out of the folks at Detroit Fox Theatre on May 23, 2017.
"Black hole sun, won't you come.
Won't you come..."
Her cover of "Black Hole Sun" came just days after Cornell's death, in the same theatre
where Soundgarden played their final show.
Simon & Garfunkel at The Concert in Central Park - "Bridge Over Troubled Water"
Simon and Garfunkel were a popular singing duo before they first broke up in 1970.
They reunited a few times, most notably perhaps at The Concert in Central Park in 1982.
Art Garfunkel got up and performed his famous song — with tears in his eyes — perfectly.
One YouTube commenter said,
"I was at that concert.
When he sang this you could have heard a pin drop."
"Like a bridge over troubled water."
That's quite a feat for an event that had 500,000 attendees.
Watching it all these years later, you can see why.
Whitney Houston at Super Bowl XXV - "The Star Spangled Banner"
The sad fact that Whitney Houston is no longer with us is enough to make most music fans
cry, but emotions were especially high during this performance in 1991 because of the Persian
Gulf War, and patriotism was strong.
Add that voice, and it makes you cry for a country in crisis.
"Star-Spangled banner yet wave!"
Houston's crystal clear, pitch perfect performance came ten days after Operation Desert Storm
started in the Persian Gulf.
She was already a star, but in that moment she was so much more.
Jordan Runtagh, in a remembrance for People, said,
"armed with no more than a song, Houston galvanized an uncertain nation."
"And the home of the BRAVE!"
Music moves us, and that's a good thing
It's a magical thing when a song, or the performance of a song, can elicit strong enough emotion
to make people cry.
So don't be ashamed as you sit there clutching a handful of soggy tissues.
Those are tissues filled with the magic of gifted songwriting and passionate performance.
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