What happened to Willie Spence? Tributes pour in as American Idol runner-up reportedly dies aged 23

American Idol contestant Willie Spence, 23, has passed away. On October 11, 2022, the Season 19 runner up succumbed to injuries from a car accident.

At the time of writing this article, Spence's family had not released a public statement about his death.

One of the first publications to report on Willie Spence’s passing was Douglas Now Local news. They announced that the youngster was in Tennessee at the time of his death. In a Facebook post, the news outlet shared:

TMZ reported that at the time of his death, Willie Spence was driving home from Atlanta. As per reports obtained by E! News, the 23-year-old died due to injuries that he sustained after his car crashed into a tractor trailer on a Marion County interstate.

Prior to his death, Spence uploaded a video of himself on Instagram, in which he can be seen singing in a vehicle. The caption for the post read:

Confirming the news of his death, K Michelle, Spence’s friend took to social media to upload a tributary message. She uploaded a carousel of images and videos of the two spending time together and wrote in the Instagram post’s caption:

"Such a kind soul": Tributes pour in as Willie Spence passes away

Since news of the singer’s passing broke out, social media has been flooded with condolences messages. Along with his latest Instagram post being filled with endless tributary messages, Twitter has also accumulated several posts from fans expressing grief over Spence's untimely demise.

Who was Willie Spence?

Willie Spence amassed a massive fan following worldwide after appearing on the 19th season of American Idol. He sang Diamonds by Rihanna during his audition and was accepted into the show by all three judges, including Luke Bryan, Katy Perry and Lionel Richie.

During the show’s finale, the Douglas, Georgia-native crooned Georgia on My Mind by Ray Charles, A Change is Gonna Come by Sam Cooke, and Stand Up by Cynthia Erivo. Spence finished second, behind winner Chayce Bekham.

Last May, Spence and Grace Kinstler took to the stage to perform for American Idol’s 20th anniversary special, which was also dubbed “The Great Idol Reunion.”

The singer specialized in gospel and big diva music. Since his departure from the show, he has been performing live at various concerts and was also reportedly planning to record new music.

At the time of writing this article, Spence had amassed 483k followers on his verified Instagram account.

About the author

Karishma is a trending writer at SK POP. With a BA in Journalism, Psychology and Literature, Karishma, who has closely followed the latest internet trends from a young age, found her role at SK POP to be the perfect fit for her professional qualifications and personal interests.

She has nearly 3 years of experience in the industry and has interned with The Hindu and Deccan Herald. In her role at Sportskeeda, Karishma covers a range of topics at the pop division, but she believes her skills as a journalist are best reflected while creating impactful and research-intensive stories. For her, no other step in the writing process is as crucial as fact-checking with multiple sources and accurately conveying facts and data.

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