Singer who lost hearing while attending CSU wows America's Got Talent judges

Mandy Harvey's voice was heard around the world Tuesday night, but her story starts back in a CSU music class.

The 29-year-old Florida singer wowed judges on NBC's competition show "America's Got Talent" and her performance, featured on the show's Facebook page, garnered more than 1 million reactions and shares overnight into Wednesday. 

A singer since she was 4, Harvey unexpectedly lost her hearing to a connective tissue disorder at 18. At the time, she was a music education student at Colorado State University and, on the show, she recounted the last day she was able to attend a music class as her condition worsened during the 2006-2007 school year.

"Everything that I'd ever wanted was just going away, and I couldn't stop it," she said, in tears, on the show. 

After trying different paths, according to an article in the Los Angeles Times, Harvey found her way back to music in 2008. As she described her situation to judges Tuesday, her shoeless feet were planted on the stage, letting her pick up vibrations. She also uses muscle memory from her years as a singer and visual tuners to help her sing.

Harvey sang an original song titled, "Try" while playing the ukulele. The song, she told judge Simon Cowell, was about not giving up on music after going deaf. 

"I want to do more with my life than just give up," she said. 

After her performance, Cowell pressed the golden buzzer for Harvey, sending her straight to America's Got Talent's live shows.

"I don't think you're going to need a translator for this," he said as he slammed the button — using his sole golden buzzer push of the season as gold confetti rained down.