When James Wright Chanel of Chicago burst into song last week during a funny video tasting of a sweet potato pie made by R&B diva Patti LaBelle, he seemed to just be having fun.
But then his hilarious review of the pie, which is sold at Wal-Mart, snagged more than 6 million views, pushing him to a whole new level of fame and prompting the pies to fly off the shelves. As a result, he got a call from LaBelle herself.
She called Wright on Friday morning to say thank you for his review, according to Fox 32. The station's Dawn Hasbrouck caught up with the new viral-video star via Skype Friday night to get his reaction to receiving a call from his longtime idol.
But first he took a bite of the pie and hit a note from "Somewhere Over the Rainbow."
"She kept thanking me and she just kept telling me how much she loved me," he told the news outlet. "She just kept telling me to be me and she was like, 'Boy, you can sang.' "
Indeed, he can sing. He told the station he plans to let God manage the outcome of his newfound fame and also plans to continue to review food—"if it's as good as this pie," according to Hasbrouck.
In case you missed his singing review, check it out here:
Read more at Fox 32.