Heavy/ABC "American Idol" season 22 contestant Mackenzie Sol
When 23-year-old Mackenzie Sol successfully auditioned for season 22 of “American Idol,” which wrapped in May 2024 with Abi Carter as the winner, he hoped the show would help him become better known for his singing than for his popular prankster videos on TikTok, where he has over 12 million followers. So the British-born performer decided not to tell producers or even his peers on the show about his personal struggles, including living with ADHD, Tourette’s syndrome and high anxiety.
“I could have (shared) a lot of sob stories, I’ve gone through a lot,” Sol recently told Heavy. “But that’s not how I wanted to succeed. I wanted people to see me for my talents. That’s why I didn’t really have a sad story, because I genuinely just wanted…to make it without any kind of story behind me.”
But after making it all the way to the top 20 on the show and landing a Las Vegas residency as a result, the pop singer is ready to open up — and even sing — about the mental health challenges he’s quietly battled through for years, hoping it helps others who can relate to what he’s been through.
Mackenzie Sol Says He Was Frequently Bullied After Developing Tourette’s Syndrome
On June 3, 2024, Sol released the official lyric video for his new single, “Anxiety” — an ironically upbeat pop tune about the sometimes paralyzing disorder that’s plagued him for years.
Sol told Heavy his mental health challenges have been lifelong, beginning with an ADHD diagnosis at age five, when he was “just a jolly, hyper kid.” Five years later, things spiraled after Sol was accidentally hit in the face by a golf club and suffered a skull fracture.
Sol told Heavy, “The first six weeks I couldn’t go to school and I couldn’t leave the house because that’s how serious it was. It was pretty bad.”
Though his skull and face eventually healed, Sol believes the head injury triggered the development six months later of his Tourette’s syndrome, which Mayo Clinic defines as a “disorder that involves repetitive movements or unwanted sounds (tics) that can’t be easily controlled.” Incessant bullying from kids at school over his tics, including rapid blinking and rubbing his hands together, caused anxiety to take hold, he said.
“I believe the tics got worse the more kids were laughing and bullying,” he told Heavy, adding that stress, anxiety, and excitement still cause his tics to increase, though he’s doesn’t think they were obvious to viewers or his fellow contestants during “American Idol.”
“You can see (them) on TV, all of my audition,” Sol told Heavy of repetitive movements that were out of his control, from rubbing his hands together to fiddling with his sleeves, as he first met judges Katy Perry, Luke Bryan, and Lionel Richie. “I was definitely very nervous.”
During his run on “Idol,” from Hollywood Week to performing at Hawaii’s Aulani Resort & Spa to singing on the big “Idol” stage for viewers’ votes, Sol said he kept those challenges to himself, not even telling his fellow contestants about his anxiety and other issues.
“I just kept it to myself, just smiled,” he told Heavy. “I didn’t want people to feel bad.”
Making Music Has Become the Antidote to Mackenzie Sol’s Tourette’s Syndrome & Anxiety
Provided by Mackenzie SolA billboard for Mackenzie Sol’s residency at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas
Sol has found that one of the best remedies for his conditions is being engaged in what he’s passionate about, he told Heavy. When he was little, it was building with Legos. Today, it’s making music.
“Like, I sit in a writing room for eight, nine hours writing music, you won’t see me tic once,” he said. “You won’t see me freak out once. I’ll just sit back and I’ll write (a song) until that sounds finished. It stops the anxiety in its tracks. But if suddenly (I have to do), like, math or something I hate, I’m ticking like crazy. If I don’t enjoy it, it’ll trigger me.”
That makes Sol even more passionate about pursuing a career in music, which is beginning to take off After appearing on “Idol,” he landed a weekly residency at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas, playing a three hour concert every Thursday night in The Shag Room. It’s a gig he’d tried out for previously and came in second place, but once bookers saw his range on “Idol,” they invited him back indefinitely.
He’s also taken meetings in Nashville, performed concerts in multiple cities, and is developing a national “Boys’ Night” tour with fellow “Idol” alums KAYKO, Jordan Anthony and Blake Proehl.
Sol told Heavy he’s been amazed by the reaction to “Anxiety,” saying he’s received hundreds of comments from people “describing their anxiety, describing what they’ve been through in their life.”
“That’s what I wanted to bring out in this song,” he said. “And I believe I’ve done that…people (are) opening up and talking about what they’ve wanted to talk about for so many years.”
Including Sol, who told Heavy his “Idol” experience and his blossoming music career have proved to him that there’s some good to be found in his unique bundle of “tangled up” conditions and that it’s worth being honest about it all.
“I gotta see it as a superpower, not a disability,” he said.