“I never in a million years thought I’d be sitting here as the winner,” Beckham told reporters in a Zoom call after winning the title. “Especially with the people I was competing with this year. This is my family. It’s not a competition. There was so much love the whole way. I’m at a loss for words.” One of the big pluses in Chayce’s favor turned out to be his original song, “23,” which he performed on the semifinal night of performances and was also released as his single. It shot up to both the top of the country charts and the all-genre charts. “You notice I didn’t sing an original for the whole season,” Chayce told Parade.com. “I waited until the right time to do it and I think that made a big difference. I played my cards just right. Katy Perry told me something. She said, ‘Don’t forget to pull the ace that you have up your sleeve.’ She told me that because I didn’t do enough for my Showstopper performance in Hollywood. She said, ‘You were supposed to pull the ace and you didn’t. Don’t do that again.’ They gave me another chance, and so I waited and waited and waited for the right time to pull my ace, and I did. So, I think that definitely affected the outcome.” It will take a little bit of time for what winning means to sink in, but Chayce already has plans, including a move to Nashville, an album to release, and there was also a mention of bass fishing with Luke Bryan. “For me this is just the beginning for what I want to do,” he said. “This was a great start to my second chance at life. I really did a good job at messing everything up and God gave me a second chance to come back and do all this. Not because of me. It’s because of him and other people that I got a chance to do this. I’ve got a lot of work I still got to put in. I’ve got a lot of people I’m still trying to make proud. I’ve got to get my feet on the ground in Nashville and go out there and try to make hit records for the rest of my life. My only goal is to make music for people for the rest of my life.” Here’s more of the conversation with Chayce: What does this mean to you? And since you have had many struggles in your life, what do you think this win means for people at home? This win means everything, not only to me but to my family and to the people who are supporting me, all the blue-collar workers out there in America who are busting their asses every day in the sun, sweating every day, and coming back to their wife and kids and their families. That is who I do it for and it means the world to me to be able to represent the people I get the chance to represent, working class people, but I know it means so much more to those people to have a champion in that sense. I know they are proud, and I just hope that I can provide music for them that they can relate to for the rest of their lives. I really don’t have words to say. I haven’t processed everything. I have to swallow all of this and actually see that this is happening. To me, it is my redemption. There is a bigger plan with all of this. I like to think that I am in charge of this ship I am in, but I am not. God is guiding me and putting me all the places I need to be, so for me it means the world that I have been able to turn it all around from where I was and to be able to do all of this. And it means a lot to the people whose brothers and sisters and moms and dads might be having a hard time with addiction and substance abuse and things like that. I know a lot of people reached out to me and said that I give them hope for their mom or their dad or their brother or their boyfriend. I hope I can show all those people as well that they can turn their lives around and do something good with it. How is the Chayce now different from the Chayce at the start of this competition? Every time I have been on and been able to perform or get voted through, it solidifies in my head what I am doing and why I am here. It just gives me more faith on what is going on as opposed to how I used to react to things. I used to freak out on everything and thought everything was wrong because I had to be in control. I think this has really shown me that is not the way to process my life. You’ve got to roll with the punches and make the best of it. Life has given me lemons many times along this road and I have smiled right back and made lemonade, so I am very, very grateful of what I have been through because I think that shaped me for this experience, and this journey made me a better man. What was the best advice you got from all of this journey? The best advice was from Brandon Boyd from Incubus. He is their front man and he told me the best superpower you can develop is to be able to block out all the cameras and all these lights and just realize you are here to sing and do what God brought you here to do. Don’t worry about all this other stuff that is around, like all the lights and the confetti and the judges, forget about that. He said to just sing and enjoy yourself. I really didn’t understand what he was talking about until tonight and I really got up there and enjoyed myself and performed. What was it like to perform with Luke Combs? To perform with Luke Combs was a dream come true. Before singing all these songs, I was doing Luke Combs covers and I would post them on my Instagram. So, to be able to see him come in here, give him a big old hug, and to be able to sing with him, that is what dreams are made of. To like somebody so much and then to be able to sing with them, what a dream come true. I am at a loss for words. I think I might be the most grateful person on the planet right now. Next, Watch What Happened on American Idol Celebrity Duets and Solo Nights!
