On Thursday night’s episode of American Idol, the judges and the world got to meet a very special singer.

At the age of 8, Lazaro Arbos, developed a debilitating stutter. His parents sought help from speech therapists, but none were able to help their son.

During his pre-audition interview, Lazaro said, “We don’t know where my stuttering came from, ‘cause …it’s just something that goes on and no one really knows why.”

His mother says that when the family moved from Cuba to Florida, his stutter appeared to get worse, “to the point where he couldn’t speak.” His mother says she had to say everything for him.

Growing up, Lazara said he had no friends because no one would talk to him, so he hid away at home.

Lazaro turned to music, and said that since he was little he “always wanted to sing.”

Once he discovered he could sing without a stutter, it seemed as though he had finally found a way to communicate his emotions and thoughts. His mother now often tellls him, “Sing it to me,” when he has trouble speaking.

“You can’t let things get you down,” Lazaro said. “You have to keep going.”
Watch his moving audition here as he sings Simon and Garfunkel’s “Bridge Over Troubled Water.”