Darci Lynne

Darci Lynne Farmer developed an interest in singing at a young age but was hesitant to perform before an audience. Her parents, Clarke and Misty Farmer, encouraged her to participate in the 2014 International Cinderella Scholarship Program, where she met ventriloquist Laryssa Bonacquisti. Bonacquisti inspired her to try ventriloquism, and Darci began practicing with a puppet.

After about a month of preparation using tips from Bonacquisti, Darci entered Edmond's Got Talent and won first prize in 2014. Ventriloquism coach Gary Owen was impressed by her performance and offered to become her trainer and business manager. She also worked with vocal coach Tiana Plemons, while winning additional competitions including Oklahoma Kids and Oklahoma's Got Talent in 2015.

Darci attended Deer Creek Middle School near Edmond until she began homeschooling in eighth grade. Before focusing on ventriloquism, she had trained extensively in gymnastics and competed in pageants.

Darci made her national television debut on Little Big Shots in 2016, performing "I Want to Be a Cowboy's Sweetheart" with Katie, her cowgirl puppet. She also appeared on the British version of the program in 2017. In July 2016, she became the first child ventriloquist to perform at an evening show during the 40-year history of the Vent Haven ConVENTion, where she fronted for Kevin Johnson and Todd Oliver.

Darci competed on the twelfth season of America's Got Talent in 2017. For her audition, she performed "Summertime" from Porgy and Bess through her rabbit puppet Petunia. Mel B awarded her a Golden Buzzer, sending her directly to the quarterfinals. The audition video became the most viewed in the show's history within 30 hours of its release and later ranked fourth among YouTube's top ten trending videos of 2017.

During the live rounds, she performed "Who's Lovin' You" with Oscar, "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman" with Edna Doorknocker, and "With a Little Help from My Friends" with Oscar and Petunia. In the finale, she performed "Anything You Can Do" with season two winner Terry Fator. Darci won the season, with NBC stating that she received the most votes of any finale performance in the show's history.

After her America's Got Talent win, Darci made appearances on programs including The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Today, Little Big Shots, Pickler & Ben, Steve, All That, and The Kelly Clarkson Show. She also appeared with Pentatonix in A Very Pentatonix Christmas Special and performed at the Grand Ole Opry. Her television work included voice roles in Fancy Nancy and Scooby-Doo and Guess Who?, as well as a panelist role on Nickelodeon's Unfiltered.

Her first national tour, Darci Lynne and Friends Live, began in 2018 and expanded from five planned locations to 52 dates through January 2019. She later mounted Darci Lynne and Friends: Fresh Out of the Box, followed by My Lips Are Sealed (Except When They're Not), which ran from 2021 into 2022.

In December 2018, she hosted and starred in the NBC special Darci Lynne: My Hometown Christmas. The program featured Petunia, Oscar, Edna Doorknocker, and Katie, along with musical appearances by Lindsey Stirling, Toby Keith, Kristin Chenoweth, Pentatonix, and Hunter Hayes.

Darci returned to the franchise in America's Got Talent: The Champions in 2019. She performed a Tina Turner medley with Oscar in the preliminary round and later returned as a wildcard act. In the finals, she sang Puccini's "O mio babbino caro" with Petunia. She finished as the runner-up behind magician Shin Lim and performed "Can't Smile Without You" with Bill Barretta, who appeared as Rowlf the Dog from The Muppets.

Darci continued to return to America's Got Talent as a guest performer, including appearances with Petunia, Oscar, and Ivan, an Australian monster puppet. In 2022, she made her feature-film acting debut as Brooke Mays in A Cowgirl's Song, appearing alongside Cheryl Ladd, Savannah Lee May, and Jason Alan Smith. She also appeared with Terry Fator and Celia Muñoz during the seventeenth-season finale of America's Got Talent.

In America's Got Talent: Fantasy League, Darci competed on Heidi Klum's team. She advanced from the preliminary round after performing with Petunia and playing electric guitar, then performed her original song "Push Our Luck" without her puppets in the semifinals. She was eliminated before the finals.

Darci's success has been credited with helping return ventriloquism to the attention of the general public. Ventriloquists Terry Fator, Sammy King, and Jay Johnson praised her technical ability, singing, comedic timing, and potential influence on younger performers.

In 2020, the Edmond Historical Society and Museum opened an exhibit titled "Darci Lynne's Got Talent." It included clothing from her television performances, her first practice puppets, tour posters, and scripts.