Brian Justin Crum (born May 28, 1988) is an American singer and actor from San Diego, California. In 2016, he came to national attention competing on the eleventh season of the

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

TV competition ''

America's Got Talent ''America's Got Talent'' (often abbreviated as ''AGT'') is a televised American talent show competition, and is part of the global ''Got Talent'' franchise created by Simon Cowell. The program is produced by Fremantle (as well as distribut ...

'', taking fourth place.

Early life and stage career

Brian Justin Crum was born in San Diego, California, United States, and attended the

San Diego School of Creative and Performing Arts The San Diego School of Creative and Performing Arts, known as SDSCPA, is an audition-only public arts magnet school in southeastern San Diego, California, US. The San Diego SCPA is a non-tuition, public, dedicated magnet school in the San Dieg ...

. Crum always had a love for music, and decided to take it to the stage. At the age of seventeen, Crum left San Diego to become a part of the popular broadway musical ''

Wicked Wicked may refer to: Books * Wicked, a minor character in the ''X-Men'' universe * ''Wicked'', a 1995 novel by Gregory Maguire that inspired the musical of the same name * ''Wicked'', the fifth novel in Sara Shepard's ''Pretty Little Liars'' ser ...

.'' He later moved to New York City and joined the cast of the

musical comedy Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, movemen ...

Altar Boyz ''Altar Boyz'' is a musical comedy with music and lyrics by Gary Adler and Michael Patrick Walker and book by Kevin Del Aguila (based on an idea by Marc J. Kessler and Ken Davenport). Centering on a fictitious Christian boy band from Ohio, the ...

'' and '' Grease.'' Crum also dreamed of becoming a part of the ''

Next to Normal ''Next to Normal'' (stylized in all lowercase) is a 2008 American rock musical with book and lyrics by Brian Yorkey and music by Tom Kitt. The story centers on a mother who struggles with worsening bipolar disorder and the effects that managing ...

'' musical; that came true when he became a standby for Gabe and Henry, characters of the play. Crum has starred in several regional productions such as ''

Tarzan Tarzan (John Clayton II, Viscount Greystoke) is a fictional character, an archetypal feral child raised in the African jungle by the Mangani great apes; he later experiences civilization, only to reject it and return to the wild as a heroic adv ...

,'' ''

Jesus Christ Superstar ''Jesus Christ Superstar'' is a sung-through rock opera with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Tim Rice. Loosely based on the Gospels' accounts of the Passion, the work interprets the psychology of Jesus and other characters, with ...

'' and Snapshots. He soon met his mentor

Stephen Schwartz Stephen Lawrence Schwartz (born March 6, 1948) is an American musical theatre lyricist and composer. In a career spanning over five decades, Schwartz has written such hit musicals as ''Godspell'' (1971), ''Pippin'' (1972), and ''Wicked'' (20 ...

, and the two performed alongside each other throughout the country. Brian played the character of "Daniel" in the episode "Possessed" in Season 12 of Law & Order: SVU. Crum toured with ''

The Addams Family ''The Addams Family'' is a fictional family created by American cartoonist Charles Addams. They originally appeared in a series of 150 unrelated single-panel cartoons, about half of which were originally published in ''The New Yorker'' over a ...

,'' portraying Lucas Beineke and most frequently as Galileo Figaro in Queen's rock theatrical ''

We Will Rock You "We Will Rock You" is a song written by Brian May and recorded by British rock band Queen for their 1977 album ''News of the World''. ''Rolling Stone'' ranked it number 330 of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" in 2004, and it placed at numbe ...

.'' He sang with

Brian May Brian Harold May (born 19 July 1947) is an English guitarist, singer, songwriter, and astrophysicist, who achieved worldwide fame as the lead guitarist of the rock band Queen (band), Queen. May was a co-founder of Queen with lead singer Fredd ...

and

Roger Taylor Roger Taylor may refer to: *Roger Taylor (Queen drummer) (born 1949), drummer for Queen *Roger Taylor (Duran Duran drummer) (born 1960), drummer for Duran Duran *Roger Taylor (author), author of epic fantasy Hawklan series *Roger Taylor (college pr ...

, original members of the band. He won a few Best Actor in Musical Awards for his performance and garnered reviews that considered him as "a Triumph." But besides his acting career, Crum is now pursuing a new career in Pop music, currently in Los Angeles, California.

''America's Got Talent''

For the June 28, 2016, final broadcast during the eleventh season of NBC's ''

.'' Crum continued into the cuts and performed

Radiohead Radiohead are an English rock band formed in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, in 1985. The band consists of Thom Yorke (vocals, guitar, piano, keyboards); brothers Jonny Greenwood (lead guitar, keyboards, other instruments) and Colin Greenwood (bass) ...

's "Creep". Crum received enough votes from the public and automatically advanced into the quarterfinals. Going into the quarterfinals, Crum performed

Phil Collins Philip David Charles Collins (born 30 January 1951) is an English singer, musician, songwriter, record producer and actor. He was the drummer and lead singer of the rock band Genesis and also has a career as a solo performer. Between 1982 and ...

In the Air Tonight "In the Air Tonight" is the debut solo single by English drummer and singer-songwriter Phil Collins. It was released as the lead single from Collins's debut solo album, '' Face Value'', in January 1981. Collins co-produced "In the Air Tonight" ...

. Crum received enough votes from the public once again and advanced to the semi-finals, along with fellow act

Grace VanderWaal Grace Avery VanderWaal (born January 15, 2004) is an American singer, songwriter and actress. She is known for her distinctive vocals and has often accompanied herself on the ukulele. VanderWaal began her musical career by posting videos of her ...

. In the semi-finals, Crum performed

Tears For Fears Tears for Fears are an English pop rock band formed in Bath, England, in 1981 by Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith. Founded after the dissolution of their first band, the mod-influenced Graduate, Tears for Fears were associated with the new wav ...

' "

Everybody Wants to Rule the World "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" is a song by English pop rock band Tears for Fears. It was written by Roland Orzabal, Ian Stanley, and Chris Hughes and produced by Hughes. The song was first released on 22 March 1985 by Phonogram, Mercury, ...

". Mandel, Klum, Mel and Cowell gave Crum a standing ovation and he received enough votes to be sent into the finals. For his final performance, Crum sang

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over a ...

's "

Man in the Mirror "Man in the Mirror" is a song by the American singer-songwriter Michael Jackson. It was written by Glen Ballard and Siedah Garrett and produced by Jackson and Quincy Jones. It was released on February 6, 1988, as the fourth single from Jackson' ...

". At the end of the broadcast, Crum placed fourth in the competition overall, with VanderWaal declared as the winner.

Post-''Got Talent'': 2016–present

Following his time on ''America's Got Talent'', Crum and Mary Lambert performed as guest vocalists on Superfruit's cover of

Katy Perry Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson (born October 25, 1984), known professionally as Katy Perry, is an American singer, songwriter, and television personality. Known for her influence on modern pop music and her Camp (style), campy style, she has been ...

's "

Rise Rise or RISE may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional entities * '' Rise: The Vieneo Province'', an internet-based virtual world * Rise FM, a fictional radio station in the video game ''Grand Theft Auto 3'' * Rise Kujikawa, a video ...

". He released a cover of

Robyn Robin Miriam Carlsson (born 12 June 1979), known as Robyn (), is a Swedish pop singer, songwriter, record producer, and DJ. She arrived on the music scene with her 1995 debut album, ''Robyn Is Here'', which produced two Billboard Hot 100, ''Bil ...

's "Show Me Love" on December 10, 2016, through Prop D Recordings."Billboard Dance Chart Upstarts: Above & Beyond, Brian Justin Crum & Xenia Ghali"
''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'', February 16, 2017. The song reached the top ten on ''Billboard's''

Dance Club Songs Dance Club Songs is a chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine in the United States. It is a national look over of club disc jockeys to determine the most popular songs being played in nightclubs across the country. It was launched as t ...

chart, and peaked at No. 33 on the magazine's

Dance/Electronic Songs The Dance/Electronic Songs chart has been published weekly by ''Billboard'' since January 2013. It is the first chart to be published that ranks the most popular dance and electronic songs according to audience impressions, digital downloads, s ...

chart. He also made an appearance on ''America's Got Talent's'' Christmas special alongside previous Got Talent acts, singing "

Santa Claus Is Coming to Town "Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town" is a Christmas song featuring Santa Claus written by J. Fred Coots and Haven Gillespie. The earliest known recorded version of the song was by banjoist Harry Reser and his band on October 24, 1934. It was then ...

". He has continued to perform live, travelling across the United States to perform at various events. In 2019, he was a competitor on '' America's Got Talent: The Champions''. On the January 28, 2019, episode, he performed a cover of

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, pianist and composer. Commonly nicknamed the "Rocket Man" after his 1972 hit single of the same name, John has led a commercially successful career a ...

's "

Your Song "Your Song" is a song written by English musician Elton John and songwriter Bernie Taupin, and performed by John. It was John's first international Top 10 chart single. "Your Song" was first released by American rock band Three Dog Night in M ...

" and advanced to the finals. He did not finish in the top five. The day after the ''America's Got Talent: The Champions'' finale, Crum released his new single "Circles". He sang the National Anthem at the San Diego Padres opening day game, March 28, 2019. He released a new music video "I & U" on June 20, 2019. In 2021, he appeared in a Chicago production of

Children of Eden ''Children of Eden'' is a 1991 musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and a book by John Caird. The musical is based on the Book of Genesis, with Act I telling the story of Adam and Eve, and Cain and Abel, while Act II deals with ...

at the

Arcada Theatre The Arcada Theatre Building is a theater in St. Charles, Illinois located on Main Street (which becomes North Avenue (Chicago) further eastward). The theatre was opened on Labor Day, September 6, 1926, engaging projection of silent movies and th ...

. In 2024, Crum was a contestant on '' America's Got Talent: Fantasy League''. He was selected to participate on

Mel B Melanie Janine Brown (born 29 May 1975), commonly known as Melanie B or Mel B, is an English singer, songwriter, and television personality. She rose to fame in the 1990s as a member of the girl group Spice Girls, in which she was nicknamed Sc ...

's team, but was eliminated in the preliminary round.

Personal life

Crum lived with his aunt and uncle in

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

. He also has two sisters. Crum

came out Coming out of the closet, often shortened to coming out, is a metaphor used to describe LGBT people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity. Framed and debated as a privacy issue, coming out of ...

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...

during elementary school and was

bullied Bullying is the use of force, coercion, hurtful teasing or threat, to abuse, aggressively dominate or intimidate. The behavior is often repeated and habitual. One essential prerequisite is the perception (by the bully or by others) of an imbal ...

by his classmates. With help from his mother, he later gained confidence in exploring a career as a singer.

Discography

Singles

* "Wild Side" (2017)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Crum, Brian Justin 1988 births 21st-century American LGBT people 21st-century American male singers 21st-century American singers America's Got Talent contestants American gay musicians American LGBT singers American male musical theatre actors American male pop singers Living people Musicians from San Diego