Skilyr Hicks, a former contestant on “America’s Got Talent,” died on Monday at the age of 23. According to a report, Hicks was found dead at a friend’s home in South Carolina.
Hicks’ mother, Jodi, told TMZ that her daughter will live on through her music as she broke the news of the death.
Although it was unclear how she died, Hicks’ mother told TMZ that her daughter suffered from substance abuse and mental health issues.
At the age of 14, in 2013, Hicks performed a song she wrote on Season 8 of NBC’s talent show competition. She made it onto the second round before getting eliminated during the show’s live rounds.
Skilyr Hicks, at the time, impressed the judges of America’s Got Talent with her performance of an original song and poignant story of losing her father.
Hicks leaves behind her mother and four siblings.
Her last post on Facebook reads:
“I don’t make music, music makes me. It’s my life, the breath in my lungs, and it’s the steady beating of my heart. It has helped me to heal me when no one else could. It has helped me cry the tears that I was holding onto for so long. It has showed me that I don’t have to put on this so called “metaphorical mask” that everyone seems to be putting on these days. That I don’t have to hide my pain, that it’s ok to show how you feel, it’s Ok to be YOU. It has touched a deep part of my soul that before I never knew existed. Every song I write is a different story. It’s not just lyrics and a tune, it’s an expression of how I feel, it’s the pain, it’s the laughter, the tears and the heartbreak that I have known. It has touched other people in ways I never would have imagined possible. And just being able to make a difference in someone’s life, even in the smallest way, is the most amazing feeling for me. I don’t write songs because I have to, or because I’m expected to… I write them because it’s the one thing in this world that makes me truly happy. And I hope that one day, you too, will find that one thing.”
