For those who grew up in Nepal during the 1980s and 1990s, Arthur Gunn’s choice of songs fills our heart with a strange sense of nostalgia. Creedence Clearwater Revival, John Denver were the go to tracks for us as we shared either cassettes, or mp3 files much later. For many who took a liking to the six-string, Denver’s Country Roads was one of the first track to learn.
We don’t know how Gunn’s childhood was, but we believe it was something similar. Him, with a couple of friends, meeting up at a rooftop terrace or an alley, with a guitar, and then everyone taking turns to either sing or play.
And then, Gunn aimed for the stars, and landed in the top 10 of American Idol.
Well, technically top 11 because judges chose to use their one-time-only power to save one competitor from elimination. Judges gave an opportunity to Makayla Phillips, 17, a Temecula, California native who previously competed on Season 13 of “America’s Got Talent”. Therefore, American Idol has 11 finalists in its top 10 in the 2020 edition, which includes Gunn.
Arthur Gunn (Dibesh Pokhrel) was born and brought up in Kathmandu, Nepal, and has credited the soulful city to developing his passion for music. He moved to Kansas six years ago, and has been living in the US since.
His rendition of CCD’s ‘Have you ever seen the rain’ impressed the judges of American Idol, Katy Perry, Luke Bryan, Lionel Richie. He continued his progress with other impressive performances, and on Sunday, stunned his fans with a reggae rendition of John Denver’s classic Country Roads.
His performance allowed him to reach the Top 10 of American Idol 2020, with judge Lionel Richie commenting “when you take John Denver’s song with a reggae twist on it and it’s all believable, my friend, it’s all the way to a hit record for you, I’m telling you I love what you did”.
