Courtneys Got Talent Hit songwriter and America's Got Talent producer Courtney Harrell's seemingly impossible path from hardship to hard-won success.
By
Kimberly Ashton
June 9, 2023
Courtney Harrell
Image courtesy of the artist
Courtney Harrell '01 remembers being about 11 or 12 years old when her mother, a gospel singer, started calling her up to the front of church congregations: She would point to me, and just say, Come up here,' while she was singing, and toss me the mic.
Her mom would do this at Faith Tabernacle Assembly, the Dorchester church where she and Harrell's father were co-pastors, and at the many churches where she was a guest singer. That was her way: She just threw me in the deep end, Harrell says. Her mother expected her not to just keep her head above water but to be able to plunge into its sonic depths and glide atop its buoyant surfaces. It's like, You're not learning, you're doing it, and you need to sing it like you wrote it,' Harrell remembers.
The message-this is your moment, take it-was one Harrell internalized as an invaluable lesson that has helped her have a successful career as a songwriter for some of the biggest names in the industry, as a teacher at Boston Public Schools, as a performer who's toured with John Legend '20H and landed in the top 10 on The Voice, and as a casting and lead producer for America's Got Talent (AGT).
It's a r sum many musicians would envy, and Harrell built it after becoming a mother at 17, while also often working jobs in retail and trying to become self-sufficient enough to get off welfare.
This spring, Harrell returned to Berklee to receive one of the handful of Alumni Achievement Awards the college gives out every year (see p. 8) and to participate in Career Jam. Berklee is home, she says. In March, while she was at her current home in Los Angeles as the next season of AGT got under way, she talked with Berklee Today about her unlikely path to success, her tips for songwriting, what she looks for in musicians she's casting for AGT, and what she calls the big fear.
The interview below has been edited and condensed for length and clarity.
I want to talk a little about how you grew up. What was your early exposure to music? Was your family musical? My parents are pastors. My mom-incredible singer. Voice like Patti LaBelle ['96H] that soars through the air. She was the first one that I saw that was like a superhero in music. She would sing at the Gospel Night at the Pops. What is now TD Garden was the Fleet Center at one point, and the opening night they requested my mom to come and open the Fleet Center.
Everything I know about music, like songwriting, delivering emotion in song, comes from my father. He was a songwriter, too. I have memories of him calling me into a room where he's listening to Motown or whatever. [He'd say,] Do you hear phrasing? Do you hear how they delivered this line? The rhythm in this line?
There were times that a song would come to him at like 2, 3 in the morning, and he'd get me and my mom up and say, Wake up, wake up! I hear this! Sing this part! And then he'd record it in a tape recorder.
In addition to that, your dad was a social worker? Yes, he worked for-I think the name has since changed in the last two years-but at the time it was DARE Family Services.
Did your mom have a profession other than being a pastor? She was a homemaker. She had a home daycare for a while, and then started teaching in Boston Public Schools. She's still there to this day. She teaches children who are challenged, in fourth grade.
You were 15 when you entered Berklee's City Music program. Did you enroll at Berklee right after high school? I started at 20. [Before that] I thought, Oh, I don't want to do this anymore. I'm so tired of music. I wanted to study sociology, so I went to Brandeis University for a year. [Then] I was like, Ooh, no, I miss music. So I came back.
Tell me about your choice to major in music business if your passion was to be a performer and a writer. I wanted to be equipped, businesswise, to pursue the goal that I had of being a singer and a songwriter. Oftentimes, you'd find songwriters and singers who would get shafted because they didn't know the business. And I had a child; I couldn't afford that.
I wanted to ask about that. You had your son in high school, then you went to Brandeis, and then to Berklee. How did you manage that? I don't know. Jesus and family. And holding on to what was in my gut, that there's more, and now I have a reason to do it. My son was my reason to do it.
You're saying that your son motivated you in going to Berklee and in succeeding at Berklee? Absolutely, my son saved me. Most people would think, Oh, 17! You had a kid. Oh, how unfortunate! You know, your life is over. Dylan gave me my life. Because prior to him I was talented, but I was terrified of the world. my esteem or belief in myself was it wasn't there. But [after his birth] I had someone I had to do it for.
I hid my pregnancy for seven months. I was just afraid. But I would talk to him in my womb, I would tell him I loved him. I didn't see a doctor until I was almost eight months, and then I went into silent labor at eight months.
What is silent labor? You're having a baby but you don't feel it. So I would tell him, Dylan, you are born to do the impossible, because this is crazy. But I can't tell you that if I'm not able to do what's possible for me, which looks impossible to most. So now I have to do it to show you who you are.
What part of it do you think looks impossible to most? Teen mom, going to college, full scholarship, raising your kid, putting your kid through college, touring the world, writing for some of the bi
Most recent headlines
11/12/2025
Dalet, a leading provider of cloud-native, end-to-end media workflow solutions, ...
06/12/2025
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. A new survey from Pixitmedia by Datacore revealed a major shift in the Media & Entertainment industry in media archiving, with 85% of resp...
06/12/2025
HACKENSACK, N.J. LiveU has announced that the national public broadcaster Czech Television has completed one of the largest LiveU live production deployments fo...
06/12/2025
NEW YORK The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) presented the Excellence in Production Technology Emmy Award to NASA+ and Dr. Tom Leight...
05/12/2025
2025 Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame: Curt Gowdy Jr. - Master Storyteller, Nati...
05/12/2025
SVG Sit-Down: Veritone's Sean King on the Power of Mining Video, Audio DataThe company's Data Refinery offers users total control and governance over da...
05/12/2025
Platinum White Paper: Inside the Nashville Predators' Unified, Flexible, Sca...
05/12/2025
Netflix Reaches Agreement To Acquire Warner Bros. Following Planned WBD SplitThe deal does not include WBDs sports assets like TNT Sports (US, UK, LatAm), Euros...
05/12/2025
FOX Sports Returns to Indianapolis for Primetime Broadcast of Big Ten Championsh...
05/12/2025
SVG Summit 2025 Preview: Digital Engagement & Monetization Workshop Tackles the ...
05/12/2025
Atlanta United Lights Up New Emory Healthcare Studio With First Live Broadcast f...
05/12/2025
As Messi Takes the Pitch, MLS, Apple, NEP Roll Out Largest MLS Cup Production Ev...
05/12/2025
ESPN Enters College Football's Most Intense Month With Elevated Workflows fo...
05/12/2025
It's about that time! Awards season is in full swing, and the Film Independe...
05/12/2025
Every year, Spotify Wrapped offers a personalized look back at the audio that defined your year. It's a snapshot of your listening habits, designed to tell ...
05/12/2025
In 2025, Spotify's EQUAL, GLOW, and RADAR programs celebrated women, LGBTQIA , and emerging artists who turned moments into milestones. From breaking record...
05/12/2025
In our latest blog, we explain how Wi-Fi 7 rollouts can drive consumer loyalty with value-add services such as consumer cybersecurity. We also explore how this ...
05/12/2025
LOS ANGELES Netflix announced it has entered into an agreement to acquire the assets of Warner Bros. for $82.7 billion....
05/12/2025
NEW YORK Nielsens Gracenote has launched Gracenote Content Connect, a new ad platform that provides agencies, brands, supply-side platforms (SSPs) and demand-si...
05/12/2025
NEW YORK In an most important update to the workings of deal-based programmatic advertising, IAB Tech Lab has released version 1.0 of its Deals API for public c...
05/12/2025
NEW YORK Pass the turkey. Pass the stuffing. Pass the cranberry sauce. All are common requests of Americans celebrating Thanksgiving Day with family and f...
05/12/2025
NEW YORK Iris, the new cloud-connected camera control platform, has officially launched with features that turn virtually any PTZ camera into a software-connect...
05/12/2025
HOLLYWOOD, Calif. Netflix announced today that it has entered into an agreement to acquire the assets of Warner Bros. for $82.7 billion....
05/12/2025
NEW YORK Iris, the new cloud-connected camera control platform, has officially launched with features that turn virtually any PTZ camera into a software-connect...
05/12/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission has approved AT&T's $1.02 billion acquisition of spectrum from UScellular in a decision that was issued sho...
05/12/2025
The Best Coldplay Songs: 21 Tracks That Shoot for the Stars From Yellow to Viva La Vida, Fix You to Paradise, this playlist goes back to the start.
December ...
05/12/2025
Zafris Lecture Series Brings Nabil Ayers to Berklee The 32nd annual James G. Zafris Distinguished Lecture series was held on Thursday, November 13, with guest...
05/12/2025
Friday 5 December 2025
A new Game of Thrones Tale: Official trailer for Sky Exc...
05/12/2025
Back to All News
Don Lee, Lee Jin-uk, and Lalisa Manobal to Star in Netflix Act...
05/12/2025
Tis the season of giving once again and this year we've taken our Give Back Fridays' concept and turned it on its head.
In the autumn we were approach...
05/12/2025
Brayden Gogis doesn't remember a time when he wasn't completely fixated on games in all forms. In preschool, when they asked us to dress up as what we ...
05/12/2025
The Grinch steals the spotlight as the theme for The Late Late Toy Show 2025
Tune in tonight at 9:35pm on RT One and worldwide on RT Player
#LateLateToyShow...
05/12/2025
RT Announces New Presenters of Flagship News Programmes
New RT Six One News co-presenter Tommy Meskill
Sarah McInerney & Justin McCarthy join Morning Ir...
04/12/2025
ToolsOnAir Blackmagic Design HyperDeck Event Presets for just:in mac pro 2025 & ...
04/12/2025
ToolsOnAir AJA Ki Pro Event Presets for just:in mac pro 2025 & just:in linux
More Details:Starting with version 5.5, both just:in mac pro and just:in linux sol...
04/12/2025
Wangu Kanuri from Kenya and Godwin Asediba from Ghana are two of this years finalists for Thomsons Young Journalist of the Year Award. The pair are runners-up i...
04/12/2025
SVG Sit-Down: ProximaVision's Claudio Lisman on Why Tethered Drones Could Be...
04/12/2025
SVG Campus Shot Callers: Imry Halevi, Senior Associate Director of Athletics, Co...
04/12/2025
Platinum White Paper: LiveU Lightweight Sports Production: A Step Change in Spor...
04/12/2025
London to Riyadh: DAZN brings the boxing glamour to new production levels for Be...
04/12/2025
Analysis: Paramount bets on the battering ram' with Champions League play By Callum McCarthy, Editor-at-Large
Tuesday, December 2, 2025 - 10:12
Print ...
04/12/2025
Space City Home Network Launches SCHN DTC App for Astros and RocketsThe Rockets and Astros were previously the lone NBA and MLB teams without a DTC appBy Jason...
04/12/2025
SVG Summit 2025 Preview: Content Workflows Workshop Spotlights Evolution of Spor...
04/12/2025
New Sponsor Spotlight: Geotech's Patrick Wambold On the Unreal Engine Revolu...
04/12/2025
Curt Gowdy Jr. - Master Storyteller, Nationally and RegionallyBy Jason Dachman, Editorial Director, U.S.
Thursday, December 4, 2025 - 1:52 pm
Print This Sto...
04/12/2025
(L-R) Rebecca Lichtenfeld, Mohammadreza Eyni, Sara Khaki, and Judith Helfand att...
04/12/2025
SBS launches Future Frames initiative to support emerging First Nations video ed...
04/12/2025
Coronal mass ejections caused by eruptions on the surface of the sun can have fa...
04/12/2025
Gracenote Content Connect enables media ecosystem to precisely align ad campaigns and programming based on rich content signals
NEW YORK - December 4, 2025 - N...
Courtneys Got Talent Hit songwriter and America's Got Talent producer Courtney Harrell's seemingly impossible path from hardship to hard-won success.
