ATLANTA — An “American Idol” contestant with ties to the metro Atlanta area is now in the Top 5.
Watch tonight on Channel 2 at 8 p.m. and vote for your favorite. Then stick around for WSB Tonight.
Braden Rumfelt’s journey is filled with faith and disappointment, but it shines the spotlight on how you should never give up on your dreams.
Rumfelt’s story starts long before the bright lights of Hollywood. He learned he had a congenital leg condition that ended his dream of becoming an athlete and pushed him to pursue his second love, music.
“There was a doctor there in Atlanta at Peachtree Orthopedic that said, ‘I think I can fix this,’ so they literally saw the lower part of his knee nearly in two and put in a wedge of cadaver and cement to align his body,” Chris Rumfelt told Channel 2’s Karyn Greer.
Chris Rumfelt says that coupled with the COVID pandemic put Braden in a bad place mentally.
His life was changing. The family was moving, and music was his escape.
“He really struggled with all the change and with the pain that he was having in his knees. But, you know, when you continue to follow your dreams and you trust in the Lord, He gives us the grace,” Chris Rumfelt said.
That grace has the Murphy, North Carolina, native using his music to tell a different story.
Braden is in the Top 5 of American Idol, a national spotlight for this small town singer from the Southeast.
“I preach twice on Sundays, and then we fly to California. And it’s been taxing on several levels, but you know, God is faithful,” Chris Rumfelt said.
Braden’s family has one request for north Georgia.
“I’m reminded of David verse Goliath. That little as much when God is in it. So if you want him to succeed, and when you hear him, you’re gonna love him. And he is kind,” Chris Rumfelt said.
Braden Rumfelt still has family in metro Atlanta. Tonight it will be down to the Top 3.
You can watch “American Idol” LIVE on Channel 2 on Mondays at 8 p.m.
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