7 Inspirational Auditions From America's Got Talent That Will Have You Sobbing in Seconds

The 11-year-old North Carolina native was diagnosed with cancer at the age of 4, and began playing the violin as he got older as a way to cope with bullying in school. "I just didn't want to be the kid with cancer, so now, I'm the kid who plays violin," Tyler, who has been in remission for four years, tells the judges during his audition. Fortunately Tyler's performance was just as awe-inspiring as his story, and earned a a golden buzzer from Simon Cowell.

During the NBC show's season 14 premiere, contestant Kodi Lee, a blind singer with autism, brought the audience to tears. After being introduced by his mother, who told everyone that music "saved his life," Kodi played piano and simultaneously belted out a chills-worthy cover of Donny Hathaway's "A Song For You." We haven't been able to stop thinking about his falsetto since, and clearly new judge Gabrielle Union was also fan — she awarded Kodi her first-ever golden buzzer!

Don't forget that host Terry Crews can also slam the golden buzzer! After hearing an exceptional performance of Macklemore and Ryan Lewis's "Can't Hold Us" by the Detroit Youth Choir, Crews sent them through to the next round. "I have to tell you, every young man and woman on this stage represents me and where I came from," he said, tearing up. "I remember sitting in my window in Flint, MI, dreaming 'I wanted to make it.' I wanted to be here." What's even sweeter? The group also got a standing ovation from all four judges.

We have to imagine that auditioning for a competition show like this would be nerve-racking, but you'd never know that by watching 12-year-old Ansley Burns. The pint-sized powerhouse wowed the judges wit her vocal chops during her America's Got Talent audition in June, where she sang Aretha Franklin's "Think." Following a slip-up with the backing track, Simon asked her to sing the song again a cappella, and unsurprisingly, she killed it.

A quartet of army veterans who make up the military singing group Voices of Service took the stage on AGT to sing their take on Katy Perry's inspirational anthem "Rise." Their harmony-filled performance left everyone in earshot in awe, but it was the touching message behind their group — which uses music as a form of therapy for service men and women struggling with post-traumatic stress — that really made hearts swell.

Howie Mandel awarded 21-year-old Texas native Joseph Allen with his golden buzzer after the talented young man sang and rapped an original song. While up on stage, the competitor said his desire to "make a major impact in the world" motivated him to try out, and by the end of his audition he was on his knees in tears while the judges gave him a standing ovation. Cue the waterworks!

A singer by the name of Mackenzie proved just how smooth of a crooner he is by performing Prince's "Nothing Compares 2 U," which had judge Gabrielle Union wiping her eyes by the end of it.