- I was found in a box on a battlefield.
I'm Emmanuel Kelly, and this is my story.
I was found on a battlefield in Iraq,
by soldiers taken to an orphanage
without any birth certificates, passports or identity.
And for the next seven years
I was raised by mother Theresa nuns,
where I experienced and saw gunshots,
executions, experienced bombings going off
hearing noises every day that I didn't understand.
That's also where I met my now brother Ahmed
who is an amazing individual.
I always say the only thing thicker than blood is love.
Ahmed is not my biological brother
but I love him more than words can ever, ever explain.
Whilst I was in that orphanage for the next seven years,
we knew it was up to us to take care of these kids.
We would have one meal a day at 4:00 PM every day
and we would have to feed these kids change their diapers
do all the things that a 30 year old
would do at the age of five.
Eventually this exceptional woman Moira Kelly,
who's a humanitarian who has
changed 1000 of kids' lives over the years
had heard about my brother and I
while she was in Albania of all places
looking after kids at a Mother Theresa orphanage as well.
She gets on a plane and heads out to Iraq,
eventually arrives at this orphanage
after spending an eight hour trip from Jordan to Iraq,
in a taxi with someone that doesn't speak English
for three days straight
I sat on a window ledge waiting and waiting and waiting.
Thank God for my brother
even though I had moments where I felt alone
because of him, he reminded me every now and then
whether it was through singing to me that I wasn't alone.
And finally, on the third day she arrived
and I remember thinking three things.
Number one, can she help us, will she help us?
Number two, is she and angel, she wearing the white dress
with a blue veil over her head
and I thought to myself, this could be the moment where
my life could literally change
and number three, how the heck did this white woman
get in this country?
Cause she was whiter than white chocolate.
And as a Brown guy in Iraq,
never seen a white person in my life at the age of five,
she comes into the orphanage
my brother and I always start singing
at like at the top of our lungs, a welcome song
(sings in foreign language)
But she took us out for the day
I got to see the river of Babylon, got to experience Iraq,
and we got to step out of the walls of that orphanage
for the first time she brought us back to the end of it
that day she sat us down.
My brother asked her a really serious question.
He was seven at the time, auntie Moira
we called her auntie Moira he says, can you help us?
And auntie Moira turns around and says,
I'll do my best and I'll do my best.
And he goes well its okay moira if you can't help
both Emmanuel and I, take Emmanuel
and maybe come back for me another time.
It took me a while, I think I was about eight years old
It was after I came out to Australia
where I got told that story, and that's when I realized
the only thing thicker than blood is love.
It took mom two years auntie Moira, two years
to bring us out to Australia.
Finally we arrived, I remember looking over the window ledge
and I thought, wow, how beautiful is that?
we arrived into the airport, oh stop right
and I said, auntie Moira, I'm very, very hungry
she goes, no worries boys, we have spaghetti bolognese
and we're like, what is spaghetti Bolognese
she says, ah, you love it, right?
And she puts it in front of us
and we said, auntie Moira we need help,
she goes, no, you don't said no, we need help.
See, we'd never used a knife and fork for the first term,
We'd never used a spoon for the first time
using the knife and fork was, completely new to us,
but we learned it.
Spaghetti bolognese is the hardest meal to eat.
There's no doubt about it is,
I mean it goes over you, it's messy, but after a while
and through as my life grew and I got bigger and older
I realized that life is messy right?
We have these moments and life is messy
that's the reality.
But I learned to embrace myself so much so
that I'm sharing with you right now,
doctors were able to make me a hand
and it was pretty exceptional.
I went to school, I had my first crush.
I know I had my first girlfriend, my first kiss.
I lived a life that I would never have lived in Iraq.
At the age of nine is when I learned
that I could sing and I could sing and make money.
I watched a TV show called American idol
and I watched this woman perform
it was Kelly Clarkson and she won the show.
I was inspired and I said, wow, she can do it I can as well.
That same year I did my first public performance
in front of a bunch of financial planners and accountants
Financial Planners are fun, accountants boring,
and everyone in the audience clapped loud.
Cut two years later at age 11, I performed again,
this is the first time I realized
I wanna pursue music for the rest like this is what I wanna
do for the rest of my life.
I wanna be a singer for the rest of my life.
I wanna be an artist and entertainer,
I wanna disrupt the music industry
this was the first time I realized
I wanted to be the first differently abled pop success.
I sung Imagine, now remember that at 11 years old
was when I first sung imagine I got three standing ovations
cut to age at 14 I sung for the Prime Minister of Australia.
I went in on and met him, I shook his hand, and he says
you're gonna become big, two years later
I got my citizenship at age 16, my brother was 18
I got my citizenship and it was the best of my life.
I had two incredible days of my life at this point,
the day I arrived in Australia
and the day I got my citizenship
cause for the first time ever
the woman that has been taking care of both my brother and I
for the last eight years of our lives,
we could call her mum we finally felt like we belonged.
At 17 years of age, I auditioned for X factors.
I remember learning home by Michael buble
and the reason I resonated with that song so much
is because I think wherever you are in the world,
home is where love is, I mean, that's the message, right?
And I'm terrified, I'm nervous, I'm waiting,
and finally they call my name this guy Andrew furs.
And he says to me now, Emmanuel, are you ready to sing
Imagine by John Lennon, I said, no, I'm singing home.
He says, no, dude we couldn't get the rights
for you to sing home by Michael Buble,
I said, wait, no, no one knowing no one did
and he goes, Oh, sorry buddy,
lucky I sung it when I was 11 years old
but dude, I can't remember anything
and he goes, well, he is the lyrics, you got five minutes.
And then finally I get to the, to the stage and I'm nervous.
Everything just slows down, I'm still massively insecure
about the way I look about my hands.
I'm getting ready to hide them
under my sleeve, pulling it down and down and down.
And I walk on stage with my lamp and I'm nervous about that
and I'm trying not to limp and I arrive at the on stage
and I remember Ronan Keating, who's a Irish guy sung
He was big in the UK and Europe with a band
called boyzone right, and I was a huge fan
I remember him asking me, Hey mate,
I said, Hey, how you doing?
And he says, what's your name, and the rest was history.
I told the story that you all just heard.
I was found in a box on a battlefield
taken to an orphanage where I was raised there
for the next seven years, experiencing noises
gunshots, seeing things that I didn't understand.
And the whole audience just took back
millions of views start rolling in into YouTube
things go crazy, interview after interview,
after interview, after interview.
And I'm starting to think I'm God's gift
to earth, but at the same time
I'm starting to become massively overwhelmed.
I started touring, started seeing the world.
I sold out the MGM grand arena in Las Vegas,
I mean, things like that, It was nuts.
But as things go up, there's always a down point.
I started to get arrogant and cocky and I realized
that it wasn't because I necessarily thought
I was the best or anything like that.
It was because I was so insecure about myself
that I overcompensated with arrogance
and cockiness, record labels, agents,
managers started to discriminate.
They told me I couldn't make it, I wasn't gonna make it.
They told me that because I had a disability
that I looked bad for their brand.
And I'm talking about every
all the labels and forcing me to be a speaker instead
of doing what I love, what I know the world also loves.
It is my passion, my dream is to disrupt,
my dream is to be the first differently abled pop success.
I started to go into a depressive state, anxiety
depression, If I heard loud noises, it would remind me
of the bombs in Iraq and I would be terrified
I would have nightmares in the way to stop
that was to get on drugs, drink too much,
have sex with any random stranger,
It was a really bad time in my life.
But one day a friend of mine, he says,
stay with me on my couch, and that same day I looked
at the mirror and I asked myself Emmanuel
what happened to the boy who could survive anything,
punched the mirror as hard as I could.
A lot of my hand, the next day, my mate,
he bought a new mirror put it up on the wall
and he said, please don't break this
(laughs)
And I looked at the mirror again and I said, there you are.
From that day onwards, I started to say to myself
embrace yourself, love yourself, embrace who you are.
You can do it.
Remember you're never alone, but then I get a call.
Rob Goldstein, he managed some artists
in New York and says, Emmanuel, a friend of mine has gone
on tour and we pitched you to perform with him.
We sit down and he has me record a video,
and then he turns the phone to me
and he shows me and it says, Chris Martin from Coldplay
the biggest band in the world wanted to perform with me?
This kid from Iraq a month later, I arrive in Australia.
I'm a surprise for my mom,
we didn't tell her that this was happening
and Chris Martin walks in the band, walks in,
I high five them well, high three,
and we start rehearsing just
as I'm about to hop on stage with Coldplay,
I realized something, Oh no, I'm not wearing my jacket.
I'm just wearing a T-shirt and a white T-shirt
I'm like, I gotta wear my jacket,
80,000 people in an audience is gonna look at me.
I've gotta wear my jacket.
Then the backstage manager goes to me,
Emmanuel they're ready, you've gotta get on stage.
Its not gotta get my jacket
my boy looks at me and he says, Emmanuel
you got two choices right now,
you either get on that stage
or you go and get that jacket
and you don't perform the coldplay
for a second, I actually considered not to perform
with the biggest band in the world
because I was still so insecure.
All those memories just start a rushing back
you'll never make it,
I start to realize this voice starts screaming at me.
And it's saying Emmanuel, it's none of your business
what they think about you, it's only your business
what you think about yourself.
So what do you think of yourself now?
I said in my head, I love me.
And at the end of the performance,
I walked away I gave my mum biggest hug
and I said, well spit in her ears,
I love you, thank you, I love me
Today, I have an album that's been helped and mentored
and by Chris Martin of Coldplay,
it's set to come out this year in November,
I have a new single that just released
"Never Alone" and music video featuring some
of the biggest artists in the world.
♪ Open my mind and know you're with me ♪
♪ And through my life I know you're beside me ♪
♪ I will never be alone ♪
♪ And through the storm I know you hold me ♪
They also want to see inclusion
and diversity really coming to the forefront,
they wanna see mental health talked about,
I am becoming the pop artist I wanted to become
I am the first differently abled pop success.
And soon I wont be just the first
differently abled pop success.
I'll just be my own brand my own self,
who I am a pop artist a businessman,
whatever you wanna say, but I'll be me.
And I'll embrace every inch of that.
(upbeat music)