Pittsburgh College Student To Appear On ABC's 'American Idol'

PITTSBURGH, PA — You might not have heard of Raymond "Tripp" Taylor, but hundreds of thousands of people are aware of the singer and actor's work.

Taylor has more than 300,000 TikTok followers, and that number likely will grow after the Carnegie Mellon University musical theater major auditions on "American Idol." The show will air locally on March 12 on WTAE-TV after the Oscars.

Taylor, 18, will perform the Ray Charles classic song "I Believe to My Soul," in front of the hit show's all-star judging panel consisting of Luke Bryan, Katy Perry and Lionel Richie.

"When I auditioned for the producers and they I could go before the judges, honestly, I couldn't believe it," Taylor told Patch in an interview Thursday. The performance for the producers "was super stressful, but super thrilling and satisfying. It didn't feel real."

Taylor has been singing since he was a child, beginning in church and then taking voice lessons when he was 8. When he was in middle school, he was selected for the National Honor Choir and went to high school at the South Carolina Governor's School for Arts and Humanities.

He was, and still is, inspired by his father's collection of classic songs and has a preference for older material.

Apparently, many of his fans do as well. His recent cover of "Hit the Road Jack," has been viewed 9.1 million times on TikTok.

He came to CMU hoping to follow in the footsteps of so many famous actors and actresses who attended the university - performers such as Ted Danson, Billy Porter, Zachary Quinto, Ethan Hawke and Holly Hunter.

"I'd really just like to do any sort of acting, but I'd really like to be in TV and movies because they have wider audiences (than theatrical productions)," he said.

He says he enjoys being in Pittsburgh, where he intends to stay until he graduates from CMU in 2026.

"I like the city. There's a lot to do here," he said. "It was a shock coming into the cold (from South Carolina), but luckily this winter hasn't been too bad."