Amanda Lynn Harvey (born January 2, 1988) is an American

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

and

pop singer Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

and songwriter.

Profoundly deaf Hearing loss is a partial or total inability to hear. Hearing loss may be present at birth or acquired at any time afterwards. Hearing loss may occur in one or both ears. In children, hearing problems can affect the ability to acquire spoken ...

following an illness at the age of eighteen, she was a contestant on the 12th season of ''

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 distribu ...

'', where she performed original songs during the competition.

Early life and education

Harvey was born in

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line w ...

, before moving to St. Cloud, Florida. She had hearing problems, and underwent several surgeries as a child to try to correct them."Mandy Harvey"
'' JazzTimes'', 2009, accessed September 15, 2017 Her family moved to Colorado when she was a young child. She sang throughout her childhood, and her talent was recognized at

Longmont High School Longmont High School is the original high school of the city of Longmont, Colorado, United States, and opened its doors to students in 1901. The school is located in central Longmont and serves as a high school for the St. Vrain Valley School Dist ...

, where she graduated in 2006."Winners of the VSA International Young Soloists Competition: 2011 Award Recipients"
www.kennedy-center.org, accessed September 15, 2017 Harvey gradually lost her hearing, as a result of the connective tissue disease Ehlers-Danlos syndrome. She lost her hearing completely when she was eighteen, while she was majoring in vocal music education at

Colorado State University Colorado State University (Colorado State or CSU) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Fort Collins, Colorado. It is the flagship university of the Colorado State University System. Colorado S ...

. As a result, she left the university.

Music career

After fully losing her hearing in 2007, Harvey became depressed and quit music. However, with the aid of visual tuners, she learned how to find the correct pitches when singing.Moniuszko, Sara M
"Watch this deaf singer win Simon Cowell's heart on ''America's Got Talent''"
''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...

'', June 7, 2017 In 2008, she met jazz pianist Mark Sloniker, at Jay's Bistro in

Fort Collins, Colorado Fort Collins is a home rule municipality that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of Larimer County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 169,810 at the 2020 census, an increase of 17.94% since 2010. Fort Collin ...

(where she began performing regularly). She later performed at Dazzle Jazz Lounge in

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

,"Mandy Harvey"
NoBarriersUSA.com, accessed September 15, 2017 and recorded three studio jazz albums.Shea, Christopher D

''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', June 8, 2017, accessed September 15, 2017 '' JazzTimes'' wrote of her 2009 debut album, ''Smile'', claiming: "The vocals are rich and captivating". Her second album, ''After You've Gone'', was released in 2010. In 2011, Harvey won VSA's International Young Soloist Award. She later returned to perform at the Kennedy Center. Her third album, ''All of Me'', followed in 2014. Her fourth album, ''Nice To Meet You'', was released in 2019. Her fifth album, ''Paper Cuts'', arrived in 2022.

''America's Got Talent''

In 2017, Harvey appeared on ''

'' during season 12, where she took fourth place. She was given the Golden Buzzer by Simon Cowell, after performing an original song with her ukulele, during the competition. During the same year of her ''AGT'' appearance, Harvey published a memoir with co-author Mark Atteberry, entitled ''Sensing the Rhythm: Finding My Voice in a World Without Sound''. In a November 2017 interview for the BBC, Harvey described how she was accused of promoting oralism when she first took to the stage, and had received

death threat A death threat is a threat, often made anonymously, by one person or a group of people to kill another person or group of people. These threats are often designed to intimidate victims in order to manipulate their behaviour, in which case a d ...

s from within the deaf community for promoting a "hearing" activity. In July 2022, Cowell ranked his favorite Top 15 Golden Buzzer moments in ''AGT'' history during season 17, which Harvey placed 5th.

Personal life

Harvey is an

ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or s ...

for the

nonprofit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

No Barriers, which helps disabled people overcome obstacles. In May 2022, Harvey announced her pregnancy, something she and her husband initially kept a secret (due to uncertainties surrounding her EDS). In June 2022, Harvey and her husband became parents of a boy named Louis.

References

External links

Mandy Harvey's Website

NBC video profile
2015
BBC video profile
2017
Facebook
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harvey, Mandy Deaf musicians Singers from Ohio Musicians from Cincinnati 1988 births Living people 21st-century American singers People from Longmont, Colorado Singers from Colorado American women jazz singers American jazz singers Jazz musicians from Ohio Jazz musicians from Colorado American deaf people 21st-century American women singers America's Got Talent contestants