Peoria native will sing on upcoming episode of NBC's America's Got Talent
PEORIA — She has shared a stage with Prince, collaborated with Heart's Nancy Wilson, sang on David Letterman, Arsenio Hall, Jimmy Fallon and "Good Morning America."
Now Peoria's LiV Warfield is going to appear in front of Simon Cowell and his fellow judges on "America's Got Talent." The Peoria-born and raised 1997 Notre Dame High School graduate will appear on the NBC network's hit show in an episode scheduled to air on Tuesday, June 4 at 7 p.m. central time.
UPDATED: Peoria native earns Golden Buzzer in 'America's Got Talent' debut
"In just a few short days!! I’ll be on AGT @agt @agtauditions June 4th. Ohh man … what is she doing? …" Warfield wrote on her Facebook page a few days ago "#LivingMyBestLife by just taking chances. Make sure you tune in. I couldn’t do this without my family by my side and some new fam as well."
She can sing … and run, too
Warfield is a singer-songwriter with nationally respected chops in rock and soul/R&B and has multiple albums to her resume.
Born Olivia Warfield, the daughter of a Pentecostal deacon began her journey in Peoria on a much smaller stage that uncovered her stunning voice when she sang at a Notre Dame High School mass one day in her senior year.
She graduated from Notre Dame in 1997, where her identity was established as an athlete, a track star who still holds school records in the 100- and 200-meters races and who later went on to Portland State on a track scholarship.
"I’m just a little girl from Peoria, Illinois," she said in a 2014 Journal Star story. "The thing about me is, singing is something I wanted to do since I was 7 years old. But I put on a pair of track shoes instead."
More: Review: Brassy and sassy, Liv Warfield show shines
Singing with her back to the crowd
That little girl fell in love with singing in public while attending karaoke establishments in Oregon. Her first attempt, she was so shy she sang with her back to the audience.
She left school to pursue singing full-time, and at one point slept in her car as she scratched out a career. She released her first album "Embrace Me" in 2006.
Superstar artist Prince chose her for his New Power Generation in 2009. She toured with the band for five years and is on his album Lotusflow3r.
#Prince Cool with Liv Warfield Don’t Stop 'Til You Get Enough - Le Zénith, Paris, France - Hit and Run Part II Tour - 2014 01th June 3RDEYEGIRLWelcome 2 The Sanctuary Of Prince
Posted by The Sanctuary Of Prince on Sunday, April 24, 2022
Warfield put out her second album "The Unexpected" in 2014, and it backed by the horns from the New Power Generation and executive produced by Prince, who also wrote or co-wrote two of the songs.
Heart's Nancy Wilson saw Warfield on "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon" and in 2015 chose her as the opening act for Heart's Hollywood Bowl concert. Wilson and Warfield went on to form Roadcase Royale in 2016, a band leaning on rock R&B and ballads.
VH1 Soul featured Warfield as a Soul You Oughta Know artist in early 2014. Warfield received a Soul Train Music Awards nomination in 2014 for Best New Artist and won for Stay — "Soul Lifted" from her album "The Unexpected" in the Best Contemporary Jazz Performance category.
She has a YouTube page with a wide collection of her performances.
Dave Eminian is the Journal Star sports columnist, and covers Bradley men's basketball, the Rivermen and Chiefs. He writes the Cleve In The Eve sports column for pjstar.com. He can be reached at 686-3206 or [email protected]. Follow him on X.com @icetimecleve.
This article originally appeared on Journal Star: America's Got Talent: Peoria Notre Dame alum to appear on hit NBC show