Stay-at-home Payson mom juggles family, success after video goes viral


2 photos
Save Story

Show 1 more video

Leer en español

Estimated read time: 4-5 minutes

This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.

PAYSON — Stepping into Shannon Abbott's house is a bit like visiting a Disney store. She conducts her family orchestra, meeting the demands of 3-year-old Paige and 6-month-old Adam.

She's a stay-at-home mom — what happens here is her life, and social time means playing hide-and-seek.

"That's my job, and this is my boss," said Abbott, referring to her son.

She quit teaching to be here.

"It was a transition at first, for sure," said Abbott. "There were definitely days when I wished that I could've been the one to go to work, and my husband could stay home with the kids."

She'll be the first to tell you she loves it, even if it meant putting her dreams on hold.

"I thought about being a singer, but it was never really anything that I really pursued," said Abbott.

Singing was kept to the stage of the local talent show and her daughter helped select this year's performance.

"She was like, 'I want to listen to this song,' and just clicked on one of the songs that was there, and it happened to be 'Hallelujah.'"

The hit song by Jeff Buckley was a good choice for Shannon, but she decided to change the lyrics.

"I just didn't want to sing about a bathing lady, and getting tied to a chair," she said. "The original song is beautiful, but I didn't want to sing that kind of stuff in front of my daughter."

Like they say, write what you know. Abbott sang about her life — a life with two small children. She shot a video of her singing the song with her iPad, and threw it up on Facebook.

Related Story

"I had a lot of friends who couldn't make it to the talent show, like my mom couldn't come," she said.

Something about those words struck a chord. The next day, the unthinkable began to happen.

"I was like, 'Babe. This has 4,000 views,'" said Abbott, recounting what she said to her husband. Her video spread like wildfire.

"Every time I would refresh, there was another thousand, and another thousand," Abbott said.

The end result was over 3 million views, but the real tipping point came when a radio station in Michigan posted the video on its Facebook page.

"I never imagined that it would get up to 30 million views," said Abbott.

Yes, 30 million views. People from all over the world have reached out to her.

"'Where can we buy your music?'" said Abbott, speaking of the response to her video. "'Where's your CDs? Like, why are you not a professional?'"

She's been flooded with attention and support. Abbott's trying to strike while the iron is hot, singing new songs and uploading new videos. She recently recorded a version of the Beatles' "Yesterday," with lyrics that detailed her past.

"Just a mommy remembering what it was like before she had kids," said Abbott. "Not regretting having kids, by any means, but remembering those days when you didn't have your fingers chewed on."

Abbott's even gone to a professional recording studio in Alpine to record her version of "Hallelujah," which she plans to make available on iTunes. She said she's been excited to take a tiny step into the music world.

"It was super cool to go in there and see the thousands of buttons and lights, and to have the real microphone," she said.

> [Shannon Abbott Surprise from Detroit](https://www.facebook.com/JayTowersInTheMorning/videos/10153138337216200/)The Hallelujah Mommy is headed to America's Got Talent! > > Posted by [Jay Towers](https://www.facebook.com/JayTowersInTheMorning) on Thursday, October 1, 2015


Her success may reach even greater heights, as that radio station in Michigan said it has secured her a spot at the front of the line for an audition with NBC's "America's Got Talent."

Despite all this unexpected attention, she's not quitting her day job. Abbott has no plans to stop conducting the family orchestra.

"I have a newfound respect for working moms," said Abbott. "Because even though I'm not necessarily 'working,' I do feel like I have to balance. I think it's possible for myself and for women in general to be mommies and to still have something that's fulfilling."

Photos

Related stories

Most recent Utah stories

Related topics

UtahFamily
Ray Boone

    STAY IN THE KNOW

    Get informative articles and interesting stories delivered to your inbox weekly. Subscribe to the KSL.com Trending 5.
    By subscribing, you acknowledge and agree to KSL.com's Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

    KSL Weather Forecast