Meet The Birmingham Youth Fellowship Choir, Who Earned Simon Cowell’s Golden Buzzer On AGT
From their first performance on the AGT stage, it was clear that the Birmingham Youth Fellowship Choir has the power to inspire millions.
The Birmingham Youth Fellowship Choir comes from Birmingham, Alabama. The group’s director, Ahkeem Lee, grew up in the historic 16th Street Baptist Church.
“A lot of people may know that church because in 1963, a tragic bombing happened there, and that was when four little girls were killed. While that bombing was such a tragic situation, it played such an instrumental role in bringing international attention to the civil rights struggle in America… 60-something years later, the choir exists, so we wanted the opportunity to show that Birmingham, Alabama, has some talented young people, and we wanted to do something great for the community,” Lee said.
Lee started the choir when he was 18, and it has been going strong for 10 years now. The group’s current members range in age from 10 to their 20s.
When the Birmingham Youth Fellowship Choir auditioned for Season 20 of AGT earlier this year (2025), they performed the traditional song, “Hymn of Joy,” otherwise known as “Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee.” Then, they transitioned into singing their version of “JOY (Unspeakable).”
Their performance impressed all of the judges, especially Simon Cowell. He awarded them with one of his Golden Buzzers, saying, “I could see and hear how much work went into this. Every single one of you played a perfect part. We had lead vocals, we had emotion, and I am so honored that you would come here on our 20th anniversary.“
The Birmingham Youth Fellowship Choir’s AGT audition has been watched by over 700,000 people on YouTube and over 3.6 million people on Facebook.
Youth Choir’s Energetic And Faithful Quarterfinals Performance Called “Fantastic”
The Birmingham Youth Fellowship Choir returned to the AGT stage on September 9th for the Quarterfinals. They delivered an energetic performance full of praise, worship, and heavenly vocals.
They sang a mashup of two songs, “Praise You” by Fatboy Slim and “When I Think About Jesus” by Kirk Franklin. The judges were awestruck as they watched the group enthusiastically and joyfully sing and dance their way through the performance.
The choir brought things to a soaring conclusion, and the judges showered them with compliments.
“That was the feel-good moment of the show tonight,” said Sofía Vergara. “You didn’t disappoint.”
Mel B added, “You took me down the street. You took me into a garage. You took me up the stairs, [and] down the stairs. But most importantly, you took me to church!“
Simon Cowell applauded his Golden Buzzer pick, telling the group, “That was fantastic. That’s called lighting up the room, lighting up the sky. I mean, seriously, that’s what a great choir should do, right?“
Everyone will agree that’s exactly what a great choir should do! Check out The Birmingham Youth Fellowship Choir’s otherworldly AGT Quarterfinals performance in the video below.
