Image courtesy of I AM PAIGE PHOTOGRAPHY
It was a little over a week ago when Adam Lasher first appeared on American Idol. Lasher's pre-audition interview with Ryan Seacrest revealed that he is the nephew of guitar legend Carlos Santana, but his famous uncle was just the beginning of what would be a rather strange and wonderful audition.
The next three minutes were a whirlwind of oddities that culminated in Adam performing his original song 'These Shoes' and a golden ticket to the American Idol Hollywood round.
Adam wore a bright blue headband that appeared to be more functional than style oriented. His face and dark beard instantly reminded Jennifer Lopez of Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon -- her comments must have made it back to New York because the next day Fallon was dressing up like Lasher on his show.
After the Jimmy Fallon frivolity came to an end Keith Urban asked, thinking it was Lasher's phone, about a small case clipped to his guitar strap. It wasn't a phone in the case, rather Adam has type 1 diabetes and was wearing his Dexcom continuous glucose monitor (CGM) so that he could watch his blood sugar level.
When the time came for Adam to play, the judges finally realized that the thumb on his playing hand was broken and wrapped in what Harry Connick Jr. called, "a raggedy-ass lookin' cast" but none of that mattered because soon, despite his broken thumb, tossed hair, type 1 diabetes and an only so-so Fallon impression, Adam Lasher's music is revealed to be as soulful as it gets, and he earns a ticket to Hollywood Week.
During Hollywood Week a rabid base of Idol viewers, many who live with type 1 diabetes in their lives, cheered for Adam as he moved on to the next round with his rendition of 'Wicked Games'. Judge Harry Connick Jr. was heard saying, "I think he's a superstar... I think he's got something."
To find out more about Adam you can listen to him on The Juicebox Podcast talking about his Idol experience, diabetes, how he broke his thumb and much more.