{"id":95554,"date":"2022-10-13T05:26:59","date_gmt":"2022-10-13T05:26:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/willie-spence-american-idol-finalist-dies-at-age-23\/"},"modified":"2022-10-13T05:26:59","modified_gmt":"2022-10-13T05:26:59","slug":"willie-spence-american-idol-finalist-dies-at-age-23","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/willie-spence-american-idol-finalist-dies-at-age-23\/","title":{"rendered":"Willie Spence, &#8220;American Idol&#8221; finalist, dies at age 23"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"\">\n<p>Willie Spence, a former finalist on ABC&#8217;s &#8220;American Idol,&#8221; died Tuesday in a car crash, according to the Tennessee Highway Patrol.  He was 23.<\/p>\n<p>A preliminary report from the Tennessee Highway Patrol found that Spence&#8217;s Jeep Cherokee was driving east along Interstate 24 in Marion County at about 4 pm Tuesday when it left the roadway and hit the back of a tractor-trailer that had pulled off onto the shoulder.<\/p>\n<p>Spence, who was from Dunwoody, Georgia, was wearing a seatbelt at the time of the crash, the report said.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"newsletter_signup \">\n<figure class=\"embed embed--type-newsletter-widget embed--float-none embed--size-large embed--type-iframe\" data-ads=\"{\" wordcount=\"\">\n<\/figure>\n<\/aside>\n<p>The driver of the truck was not injured.  No charges have been filed in the crash, according to the report.<\/p>\n<p>Spence had come in second place in Season 19 of &#8220;American Idol,&#8221; which aired last year.<\/p>\n<p>In a statement posted to the &#8220;American Idol&#8221; Twitter account, the show said it was &#8220;devastated.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;He was a true talent who lit up every room he entered and will be deeply missed,&#8221; the statement said.  &#8220;We send our condolences to his loved ones.&#8221;<\/p>\n<figure class=\"embed embed--type-twitter-tweet embed--float-none embed--size-medium lazyload\" data-require=\"third-party\/twitter-widgets\">\n<div class=\"embed__content-wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">We are devastated about the passing of our beloved American Idol family member, Willie Spence.  He was a true talent who lit up every room he entered and will be deeply missed.  We send our condolences to his loved ones. <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/QWrWqf7qQN\" target=\"_blank\">pic.twitter.com\/QWrWqf7qQN<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 American Idol (@AmericanIdol) <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/AmericanIdol\/status\/1580225060291301376?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\">October 12, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Luke Bryan, a country music star and judge on &#8220;American Idol,&#8221; also <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/lukebryan\/status\/1580254272796921856\" target=\"_blank\">paid tribute<\/a> to Spence on Twitter.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Willie really did light up every room he walked into,&#8221; he wrote.  &#8220;He could change the mood instantly when he started singing. He will truly be missed.&#8221;<\/p>\n<figure class=\"embed embed--type-twitter-tweet embed--float-none embed--size-medium lazyload\" data-require=\"third-party\/twitter-widgets\">\n<div class=\"embed__content-wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Willie really did light up every room he walked into.  He could change the mood instantly when he started singing.  He will truly be missed.  https:\/\/t.co\/XTqm65UJu0<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Luke Bryan (@lukebryan) <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/lukebryan\/status\/1580254272796921856?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\">October 12, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Katharine McPhee Foster, who mentored Spence and sang with him on the show, shared the news of his death on her Instagram account late Tuesday night.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Life is so unfair and nothing is ever promised,&#8221; she wrote.  &#8220;God rest your soul Willie. It was a pleasure to sing with you and to know you.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>    <!-- data-recirc-source=\"chartbeat\" --><\/p>\n<aside class=\"component list recirculation component--type-recirculation \">\n<p><h3 class=\"component__title\">Trending News<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n<\/aside>\n<p><!-- tags --><\/p>\n<div class=\"content-author\">\n<p>    Sophie Reardon<\/p>\n<div class=\"content-author__bio\">\n<div class=\"content-author__image\">\n<p>        <span class=\"img \"><img alt=\"sophie-reardon.jpg \" height=\"80\" width=\"80\" class=\" lazyload\" srcset=\"https:\/\/assets3.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2021\/10\/29\/54cd09c4-7d5b-4687-a12c-3b0c200cbf6b\/thumbnail\/80x80\/e7646698d6d036011ac42559df414d7b\/sophie-reardon.jpg 1x, https:\/\/assets2.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2021\/10\/29\/54cd09c4-7d5b-4687-a12c-3b0c200cbf6b\/thumbnail\/160x160\/c2b4abfdc8b835c24a3a1118f8ddea60\/sophie-reardon.jpg 2x\"\/><\/span><\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"content-author__full-information\">\n<p class=\"content-author__text\">Sophie Reardon is a News Editor at CBS News.  Reach every at sophie.reardon@viacomcbs.com<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>    .<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Willie Spence, a former finalist on ABC&#8217;s &#8220;American Idol,&#8221; died Tuesday in a car crash, according to the Tennessee Highway Patrol. He was 23. A preliminary report from the Tennessee Highway Patrol found that Spence&#8217;s Jeep Cherokee was driving east along Interstate 24 in Marion County at about 4 pm Tuesday when it left the &hellip;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"> <a class=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/willie-spence-american-idol-finalist-dies-at-age-23\/\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Willie Spence, &#8220;American Idol&#8221; finalist, dies at age 23<\/span> Read More &raquo;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[5],"tags":[14592],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":96029,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/idol-alum-willie-spences-fatal-car-crash-details-revealed\/","url_meta":{"origin":95554,"position":0},"title":"&#8216;Idol&#8217; alum Willie Spence&#8217;s fatal car crash details revealed","date":"October 13, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"The grisly details surrounding \u201cAmerican Idol\u201d runner-up Willie Spence's fatal car crash have been revealed. The late crooner was driving on Interstate 24 East in Marion County, Tenn., on Tuesday afternoon when he exited the highway but crashed into a tractor trailer that was parked on the shoulder, according to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Entertainment&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":97828,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/american-idol-judges-honor-willie-spence-as-911-calls-detail-the-late-singers-horrific-car-crash\/","url_meta":{"origin":95554,"position":1},"title":"&#8216;American Idol&#8217; judges honor Willie Spence as 911 calls detail the late singer&#8217;s horrific car crash","date":"October 15, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"\"American Idol\" judges Katy Perry, Luke Bryan and Lionel Richie honored runner-up Willie Spence on social media after the singer died at the age of 23.Spence was killed in a car crash on Tuesday afternoon in Jasper, Tennessee, after he drove his SUV off a highway and collided with the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Entertainment&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":95216,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/american-idol-runner-up-willie-spence-dead-at-23-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":95554,"position":2},"title":"American Idol Runner-Up Willie Spence Dead at 23","date":"October 12, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"the American idol family has lost a beloved member. Former contestant Willie Spence, who was the runner-up on season 19 of the competition series in 2021, died on Oct. 11, fellow American idol alum Katharine McPhee shared. \"I received very tragic news tonight,\" she began her Instagram Story message. \"Sweet\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Entertainment&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":95094,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/willie-spence-american-idol-season-19-runner-up-dead-at-23\/","url_meta":{"origin":95554,"position":3},"title":"Willie Spence, &#8216;American Idol&#8217; Season 19 runner-up, dead at 23","date":"October 12, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"CNN \u2014 Willie Spence, a singer who as a teen went viral with his rendition of Rihanna's hit \u201cDiamonds\u201d and was the runner up on Season 19 on \u201cAmerican Idol, has died the show confirmed in a social media posting on Wednesday. He was 23 years old. \u201cWe are devastated\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Entertainment&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":94874,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/american-idol-runner-up-willie-spence-dead-at-23\/","url_meta":{"origin":95554,"position":4},"title":"&#8216;American Idol&#8217; runner-up Willie Spence dead at 23","date":"October 12, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"\u201cAmerican Idol\u201d runner-up Willie Spence died Tuesday from injuries sustained in a car accident, according to a report. He was 23. The talented crooner was in Tennessee at the time of the accident, according to local news outlet Douglas Now. Singer Katharine McPhee, who performed a duet with Spence during\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Entertainment&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":72910,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/john-michael-montgomery-injured-in-serious-bus-crash\/","url_meta":{"origin":95554,"position":5},"title":"John Michael Montgomery injured in &#8216;serious&#8217; bus crash","date":"September 11, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"John Michael Montgomery, 57, has stated, via Facebook, that he is \"recovering\" alongside passengers on his bus that overturned in Jellico, Tenn on the way to a concert appearance in North Carolina.The vocalist behind songs including 1995's \"I Can Love You Like That\" and \"Sold (The Grundy County Auction Incident)\"\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Entertainment&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/assets1.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2022\/10\/12\/4631dd5e-9b84-490c-ad64-eeda203dfe18\/thumbnail\/1200x630\/428644d9f9db53e1456383218502e51f\/gettyimages-1233078456.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95554"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=95554"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95554\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=95554"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=95554"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=95554"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}