Kayla Slone was working as a cashier at Walmart in Logan, West Virginia back in 2013 when she decided to break into song.
That’s not normally something we do at work, but we might reconsider if we had a voice like hers!
In fact, the 21-year-old’s impromptu performance of a Dolly Parton classic went viral thanks to a friend who was there to record it.
YouTube celebrity
Shows like The Voice, American Idol, and the Got Talent franchise have given us a lust for seeing regular people get their chance in the spotlight. But it’s platforms like YouTube that often give them an initial boost.
There’s no formula for creating the perfect viral video, but it helps if you have talent like Kayla Slone’s!
Slone had even tried to make it in country music before technology could be counted on to provide a boost.
According to ABC News, when she was just 15-years-old she created a “homemade album” with her brother, but nothing ever came of it.
Still, her dream was to perform at Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry, and if that meant singing from behind a Walmart cash register to get noticed, then so be it.
Impromptu performance
Slone was suddenly moved to belt out Dolly Parton’s 1971 classic, “Coat of Many Colors.”
And her voice is just spectacular.
“I could cry. Her voice is so beautiful, and I love seeing my beautiful home state in a positive light,” said a commenter on the video that’s been viewed nearly a million times since it was first uploaded.
Getting her big break
After getting hundreds of thousands of views, Slone’s performance caught the eye (or ear, more accurately) of Opry Vice President and General Manager Pete Fisher.
Once he saw the video – which involved no technical equipment at all – he extended the young singer a very special invitation to perform on the stage of her dreams.
Fisher told ABC News:
“Country music at its best is about real people singing real stories about real life. How the chips fall often times in the music industry can be very hard to predict, but it starts with a voice and a passion and we’re happy to give her a stage.”
Of course, she immediately took him up on the offer.
Soon, Slone and her husband (who works as a coal miner) made the road trip down to Nashville.
Talk about an exciting experience!
Support from a celebrity
Her plan was to perform “Coal Miner’s Daughter” on the famous stage.
So imagined how shocked she was when Loretta Lynn herself called to calm her nerves!
Before the performance, while she was rehearsing at the Opryland Hotel, Slone spoke to Lynn.
“I think talking to Loretta helped me a lot,” Slone told ABC News. “She told me that she loved me, and she said she would be watching and I said it was an honor to sing her song. That’s the music that I grew up listening to and that’s what I want to sing.”
During her performance, Slone sang both the Dolly Parton hit that made her famous as well as Lynn’s “Coal Miner’s Daughter.”
Capitalizing on the momentum
Her YouTube fame and dream performance led to an interview with Diane Sawyer on ABC News.
And that led to yet another television invitation, this time from Anderson Cooper.
On Cooper’s show, she got another boost from a famous country singer when Dierks Bentley called in to give her another invitation to perform on a big stage.
“I’m a huge fan. Like so many people, I saw the video, and, gosh, I just love your singing, your voice, you have such a traditional country voice. It was really refreshing and I enjoyed your story. I thought maybe it might be your first Las Vegas trip to come to the Academy of Country Music Awards this April.”
But that’s not all.
“We got two tickets for you guys to actually go to the awards show, but we also got two tickets for the pre-show, that I’m headlining the day before, and two tickets for the afterparty… Hopefully you’ll be able to come.”
Cooper even decided to pay for the cross-country trip!
It was a well-deserved set of opportunities for a very talented woman.
Be sure to scroll down to watch both of Slone’s amazing performances!
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