Jake Thistle on “American Idol.”
Jake Thistle performed his most rock-oriented song yet — a cover of Huey Lewis & the News’ 1985 hit ‘The Power of Love” — on tonight’s “American Idol,” and got a strong reaction from the judges.
The segment started with Thistle being coached by guest mentors Brad Paisley and Keke Palmer. “I had a record exec once tell me, ‘Make it look hard tonight,’ ” Paisley told Thistle. “And so I played a solo that’s not that hard (and grimaced). And the cover of the newspaper the next day was that shot.”
Thistle indeed grimaced during his very animated performance for judges Lionel Richie, Carrie Underwood and Luke Bryan.
“Did I detect this sexy Jake? … I’ve never seen you when you get the ugly face,” Richie said. “That means you’re singing your heart out, man. I mean, honestly, that’s what we’re looking for.”
“You always look like you’re in control of the moment, and you’re comfortable, and it looks professional,” said Bryan. “We’ve seen you do more laid-back stuff, so it was really fun to see you branch out, do kind of some rock ‘n’ roll.”
“You’re such an old soul and all that,” said Underwood. “But you just looked like you were having fun.”
You can watch Thistle’s performance below.
Click HERE for information on how to vote for Thistle — a 21-year-old Paramus native who recently graduated from Rutgers University — to advance to the next round.
Previous NJArts.net articles:
Jake Thistle, 16, makes surprisingly mature music in the spirit of Petty, Springsteen and Browne (1/22/21)
Jake Thistle, recording artist and Rutgers freshman, juggles studying with gigging (12/7/22)
Jake Thistle, a veteran rock artist at 21, will celebrate milestone birthday with Wonder Bar concert (4/10/25)
NJ native Jake Thistle will compete on ‘American Idol’ (1/16/26)
‘You’re so ready for this,’ says ‘American Idol’ judge Luke Bryan about Jake Thistle (WATCH HERE) (2/23/26)
Jake Thistle gets Golden Ticket on ‘American Idol’ (WATCH HERE) (2/26/26)
Carrie Underwood compares Jake Thistle to ‘young Bruce Springsteen meets Bob Dylan’ (WATCH HERE) (3/9/26)
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