Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

More than a year after winning ‘AGT,’ Michael Grimm is still along for the ride

Michael Grimm

Nate Ludens

Michael Grimm performs at Ovation at Green Valley Ranch during the benefit show for Jeff Jordan.

Audio Clip

  • Michael Grimm from 'America's Got Talent'

Michael Grimm

On the episode of "Kats With the Dish" that aired May 13, co-hosts John Katsilometes and Tricia McCrone sit down with Michael Grimm to talk about his "America's Got Talent" victory, his new CD on Epic Records, and his marriage proposal that was broadcast on national TV.

Michael Grimm at Ovation Lounge

Bill Medley and Michael Grimm perform at Ovation Lounge at Green Valley Ranch on May 9, 2011. Launch slideshow »

The stage is an ocean, and playing the role of cork is Michael Grimm.

That’s how it sounds when you talk to the Las Vegas singer-songwriter who stunned TV viewers across the country (and many of his contemporaries here in Las Vegas) when he won the championship of NBC’s “America’s Got Talent” in September 2010.

It wasn’t as if Grimm fluked his way to the title -- those who saw him perform at such Vegas haunts as Ovation and Hank’s Fine Steaks & Martinis at Green Valley Ranch knew him as a highly engaging and gifted singer, musician and songwriter.

It’s just that “AGT,” regardless of the show title, is not famous for rewarding pure talent. It helps to present a highly unique act, such as ventriloquism -- Terry Fator vaulted to Strip stardom after winning his “AGT” title in 2007. Or, woo the audience with a uniquely inspiring biography -- the modestly talented Kevin Skinner won his championship largely because viewers were taken with his story as a chicken catcher in a small town in Kentucky.

Though he’d promised to use some of his $1 million in prize money to build his grandparents a new home in his original hometown of Wavefield, Miss. (a project that is just about finished, the artist is relieved to report), Grimm took the title largely because he is danged good. The person he beat in the series finale, Jackie Evancho, is one of the great young vocalists in the world and has drawn the attention of star-maker David Foster. Ever since winning the title, Grimm said, “Every bit of this has been unexpected. I just came in, doing my own thing, and I won. … It has been an incredible year, so much has happened that all I can say is I have been blessed.”

Grimm makes his appearance at a large-scale Vegas venue Saturday night when he opens for Stevie Nicks at The Joint in the Hard Rock Hotel. Grimm has been opening for Nicks on her current U.S. tour, supporting his latest Epic Records release with the characteristically straightforward title “Michael Grimm.” The record deal was part of Grimm’s prize for winning “AGT,” but he’d been introduced to Nicks years before he even auditioned for the show.

Seven years ago, Grimm was invited to a Fleetwood Mac rehearsal in Los Angeles. His manager at the time also was managing Fleetwood Mac guitarist Lindsey Buckingham, and, during the session, Nicks listened to a recording of Grimm singing an Otis Redding song (Grimm can’t even remember which). Nicks was impressed and turned to the young artist to ask where he was performing.

“I was at this little joint in L.A. called Genghis Cohen,” Grimm recalled. “She says, ‘I’ll come see you.’ And that night, she shows up! This place seats about 50 people, and in walks Stevie Nicks. Afterwards, we talked, but I hadn’t seen her since.”

When Grimm was booked to open for Nicks on her current tour, the superstar artist was unaware that this was the same singer-songwriter she’d encountered several years ago. So at the start of the tour, Grimm reintroduced himself.

“I approached her and asked, ‘Do you remember who I am?’ ” Grimm said, laughing. “She says, ‘You look familiar,’ and I reminded her of when we met.

“She says, ‘Oh my God! The universe is bringing us together!’ She always stops to talk to me, she’s always reaching out to me.”

Grimm’s next Vegas appearance after Saturday will be a limited engagement at Flamingo Showroom. The dates are Nov. 29-Dec. 11, a fairly tall order of tickets to move even for someone who just last year performed before millions of viewers on network TV.

“I know we will have a wonderful time. We’re going to put together a show that takes people back to what music once was, to the ’60s and ’70s, and I’ll play some originals,” he said. “I’ll play the music I was raised on. But to be honest, it’s a little scary, headlining a show like that in Las Vegas.”

Grimm said he has been steadied by his wife, Lucie, to whom he proposed during an appearance on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” in September of last year, the day after he won the “AGT” title.

“This can be a rough road, and it’s been great to have her with me,” Grimm said. “She’s a great woman and has made me stronger.”

The two were married in June at a resort in Maui, and Grimm was met with one of the more frustrating trappings of fame: Paparazzi.

“I thought, ‘I’m famous now,’ ” he said. “That was something new for me, definitely. That had never happened before.”

Grimm said his favorite moment of the wedding day was escaping to the couple’s honeymoon in Kauai.

“Getting away from the wedding, getting away from it all, was the best moment for me,” he said. “That was the best, romantic moment that I’ll always remember.”

Grimm has no blueprint for his future beyond what is currently on his schedule other than just to continue to write and play music.

“I’m really just who I am,” he said. “I write songs, I sing, and when I get onstage, I play like it’s the last time I’m there because one time it will be. Everything else, I can’t control.”

Follow John Katsilometes on Twitter at Twitter.com/JohnnyKats. Also, follow “Kats With the Dish” at Twitter.com/KatsWithTheDish.

Join the Discussion:

Check this out for a full explanation of our conversion to the LiveFyre commenting system and instructions on how to sign up for an account.

Full comments policy