Remember When Kane Brown Was on ‘The X Factor’?
It nearly feels like a lifetime has passed since Kane Brown announced he'd "probably go clubbin'" to celebrate a successful audition for the U.S. version of Simon Cowell's music competition show, The X Factor.
The singer tried out for the reality TV series on )ct. 27, 2013. And while Brown didn't end up as a finalist on X Factor, it's still a trip to look back at the video of the burgeoning star reveling in his audition triumph as a wide-eyed 19-year-old from Tennessee.
Above, watch the star-in-the-making recount his X Factor run-through for the show's judges, which for Season 3 included Destiny's Child's Kelly Rowland. In fact, it seems like Rowland played a large part in Brown's success regarding his initial selection to compete on the program.
"It didn't even seem real when I first walked out there," Brown says. "Then Kelly just started smiling at me, and that's what got me is the smile. When I started singing to her, she put her leg up on the desk. … I walked down, and I held her hand, and after that, I don't even remember singing, honestly."
Alas, as TV viewers might recall, Brown didn't end up making a big splash on The X-Factor. It was around that time that reports emerged that Brown decided to take himself out of the running when the show's producers wanted to include him in the lineup of a boy band. Can you imagine Brown performing as part of a One Direction or BTS-styled of outfit? Clearly, that type of trajectory wasn't part of the singer's vision for his ascent to stardom.
After his involvement in The X-Factor, Brown started making YouTube covers of popular country songs, and the rest is history.
7 Country Artists Who Were Rejected by 'American Idol'
This Idol Outcast Became a ToC RISER!
More From Taste of Country
![Kane Brown Checks in With Fans Amid Season of ‘Ups and Downs’](http://townsquare.media/site/204/files/2024/07/attachment-Untitled-design-2024-07-22T065241.066.jpg?w=980&q=75)
![Kane Brown Show Halted After Stage Rig Catches Fire [Watch]](http://townsquare.media/site/204/files/2024/07/attachment-KaneBrown.jpg?w=980&q=75)
![Kane Brown Donates Music Studio to Boys & Girls Club in Texas [Pictures]](http://townsquare.media/site/204/files/2024/07/attachment-Kane-Brown-Donates-Music-Studio-to-Boys-Girls-Club.jpg?w=980&q=75)
![9 Country Stars Who Are Hiding Shocking Tattoos](http://townsquare.media/site/204/files/2019/03/Tattoos.jpg?w=980&q=75)
![Kane Brown Issues a Challenge to Jason Aldean: Will Aldean Accept? [Exclusive]](http://townsquare.media/site/204/files/2024/07/attachment-Untitled-design-2024-07-16T081157.915.jpg?w=980&q=75)
![Kane Brown Admits He Won’t Be Able to Do This With His Son [Watch]](http://townsquare.media/site/204/files/2024/07/attachment-Untitled-design-2024-07-15T062759.117.jpg?w=980&q=75)
![See How Your Favorite Country Artists Celebrated Fourth of July This Year](http://townsquare.media/site/204/files/2024/07/attachment-Chris-Young-Lainey-Wilson-Kane-Brown.jpg?w=980&q=75)
![Kane Brown’s Daughters Meet New Baby Brother for the First Time [Watch]](http://townsquare.media/site/204/files/2024/07/attachment-Untitled-design1.jpg?w=980&q=75)
![The Only 8 Country Songs to Ever Sell More Than 10 Million Copies](http://townsquare.media/site/204/files/2024/07/attachment-Untitled-design-2024-07-02T075436.307.jpg?w=980&q=75)