Matt Mauser has been dealing with grief after losing his wife back in January 2020. He is the widower of Christina Mauser, the basketball coach who died in the helicopter crash that also took the life of Kobe Bryant, his 13-year-old daughter, and six other people

The 51-year-old stunned the judges when he gave a memorable and emotional audition for “America’s Got Talent.”

During his audition’s pre-taped interview, he shared that his wife coached the girls’ basketball team with Bryant. He said, “Before Jan. 26, me and Christina lived this dreamy kind of life.” He also explained how they met back in 2004. He said that she saw him performing in a bar. And before her death, they would have been married for 15 years sharing three kids.

Talking about the day of the accident, Mauser shared, “She was just this very humble, powerful, beautiful human being. When she left that day, she kissed me and she said, ‘I love you.’ That was the last thing my wife ever said to me.”

After his wife passed away, his focus went on their children. He said, “You start to say, ‘Alright. She would want me to carry on. She would want our kids to have happy lives.’ If I had it my way, I would have my wife and I’d be supporting her, but that’s not what happened. It’s been a rough year, but here I am.”

And during that performance on the AGT stage, he gave it his all. He sang an amazing version of Phil Collins’ “Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now).”

His performance was so emotional not only to him but to the judges too. He could not help but get teary-eyed after he received a standing performance. The judges can’t also help but express how impressed they were with his performance.

Howie Mandel said, “We felt your emotion. There aren’t words to describe it.”

Heidi Klum commented, “It was beautiful. It was sad and as a man, as a strong man standing there, I don’t know. It was very special.”

Sofia Vergara said that she felt his emotions during the performance, saying, “It was very emotional, very touching. Thank you. Thank you for being here.”

Simon Cowell who was known to be an AGT judge who was very hard to please asked about his goals. He wanted to know what Mausers’ plans are if he did well on the show. Mauser replied, “That’s a good question. I haven’t gotten that far. I would like to make sure that my children see that in spite of the grief that we’ve been through this year, that that grief is not going to define who we are as a family and that my children see that you have to find joy in life and you have to continue. If this can in any way help my children chase their dreams, then I’ll take it.”

All the judges gave him a “yes” giving him the chance to advance to the next round!

His kids all came onto the stage to give him a huge hug that he deserved. While backstage, Terry Crews said to Mauser and his kids, “You guys have the best example of courage I have ever seen.”

But according to Mauser, when he was on stage singing, he was singing to his wife. All he wanted was to make her proud.