Darci Lynne

Darci Lynne Farmer (born October 12, 2004) is an American ventriloquist, singer, musician, and comedian.

Farmer has been credited with the revival of ventriloquism, earning praise and numerous accolades for her work.

Born in Oklahoma, Farmer developed an interest in singing from a young age, but was held back by her shyness before audiences.

Darci Lynne Farmer was born on October 12, 2004.

She is from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

Lynne's parents are Clarke and Misty Farmer, and she has three brothers, Nate, Dalton, and Nick.

Growing up, Lynne loved to sing, but was hesitant to perform in front of an audience.

Inspired by performances by ventriloquists including Terry Fator, she began to practice ventriloquism, performing in a local talent contest with her first puppet in 2014.

Following her success in the competition, Farmer received coaching and assistance from other performers, allowing her to win additional contests over the next two years.

Her parents encouraged her to overcome her shyness by participating in the 2014 International Cinderella Scholarship Program, where she was crowned International Mini Miss.

At the pageant, she met International Teen titleholder Laryssa Bonacquisti, a young ventriloquist who inspired her to try ventriloquism herself.

In 2014, after a month's preparation using tips provided by Bonacquisti, Lynne entered Edmond's Got Talent and won first prize.

Ventriloquy coach Gary Owen was so impressed by Lynne's performance that he offered to serve as her trainer and business manager.

Since then Lynne has worked with both Owen and vocal coach Tiana Plemons.

The following year, she won first place in both Oklahoma Kids and the junior division of Oklahoma's Got Talent.

She also won Broadway, Specialty Acts, and Entertainer of the Year at American Kids in Branson, Missouri.

Until she began homeschooling in eighth grade, Lynne attended Deer Creek Middle School near her home in Edmond, Oklahoma.

She missed the first day of seventh grade when she appeared live on America's Got Talent.

Farmer came to national attention when she appeared on Little Big Shots in 2016, but gained greater recognition and acclaim when she won the twelfth season of America's Got Talent the following year.

Since then, she has made numerous appearances on other television shows and has held several tours with her puppet characters, with Petunia Rabbit being her main character.

In March 2016, Lynne made an appearance on Little Big Shots, singing "I Want to Be a Cowboy's Sweetheart" with her puppet Katie, a cowgirl.

In July 2016, she became the first child ventriloquist to perform at an evening show in the 40-year history of the Vent Haven ConVENTion, where she fronted for ventriloquists Kevin Johnson and Todd Oliver.

In March 2017, she appeared on the British version of Little Big Shots, again performing "I Want to Be a Cowboy's Sweetheart" with Katie.

Lynne competed in the twelfth season of America's Got Talent in mid-2017.

During the first episode, which was broadcast on May 30, Lynne and her puppet Petunia performed "Summertime" from Porgy and Bess.

Judge Mel B praised the act and pressed her Golden Buzzer, allowing Lynne to bypass the judge cuts and go directly to the quarterfinals.

The video of the act became the most viewed in the show's history within 30 hours of its release and later placed fourth on YouTube's list of top 10 trending videos of 2017.

For Lynne's first live presentation after her Golden Buzzer performance, she performed "Who's Lovin' You" with her mouse puppet Oscar.

She sang "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman" in the semifinals with puppet Edna Doorknocker.

In her final round of competition, Lynne performed "With a Little Help from My Friends" with Petunia and Oscar.

Judge Simon Cowell predicted: "I think you're going to win."

During the finale in episode 22, Lynne sang "Anything You Can Do" with season two winner Terry Fator.

After she was announced the winner, NBC said that she had received the most votes out of any finale performance in the show's history.

Lynne was a guest on The Ellen DeGeneres Show in September 2017.

She appeared in Jeff Dunham's video, The Haunted House on Dunham Hill, in which she takes three of her puppets (Petunia, Oscar, and Edna) trick-or-treating at Dunham's home, where they encounter him and some of his puppets (Walter, Achmed, Peanut, and Bubba J).

In November 2017, she made a guest appearance at a Terry Fator performance at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Tulsa.

She also appeared alongside Pentatonix in A Very Pentatonix Christmas Special, performing "O Easter Egg" (an Easter-themed parody of "O Christmas Tree") with Petunia.

Lynne announced a national tour, Darci Lynne and Friends Live.

Starting with five locations and beginning in January and February 2018, it was later expanded to 52 dates taking place between January 2018 and January 2019, including nine Christmas performances in November and December called Rocking Around the Christmas Tree with Darci Lynne and Friends.

Lynne appeared as part of the charity event One Night with the Stars at Madison Square Garden the following month.