top of page

People: Spoken Word Artist Brandon Leake Opens Up About 6-Year-Old Daughter’s Health Diagnosis in New Poem ‘Fear’ (Exclusive)

  • 1 hour ago
  • 2 min read


The AGT winner’s now 6-year-old daughter Aaliyah was diagnosed with juvenile dermatomyositis, an incurable autoimmune disorder affecting muscles.


Brandon Leake.

Credit : MilaJo Photography


NEED TO KNOW


  • Brandon Leake reveals his daughter Aaliyah was diagnosed with juvenile dermatomyositis, an incurable autoimmune disorder affecting muscles.

  • Leake faced multiple challenges, including financial struggles, medical bills and relocating due to black mold in their home.

  • The spoken word poet’s new album Intimacy explores his family’s hardships and resilience, with his wife and daughter’s support shaping its creation.


It was the fall of 2023, and Brandon Leake’s life was slowly unraveling.


Mere months after the season 15 winner of America’s Got Talent made the difficult decision to step away from touring in hopes of finding some much-needed peace at home, Leake and his young family received devastating news.


“My daughter Aaliyah was diagnosed with juvenile dermatomyositis (JDM),” Leake, 34, tells PEOPLE from a poetry workshop he recently led at Miami Country Day School. “It is an autoimmune disorder that attacks large muscular groups.”


And just when they thought it couldn’t get worse, it did.


“My daughter lost her ability to walk for an extended period of time,” the California native recalls of the devastating effects of his daughter’s autoimmune disorder, which Leake says is “incurable.” “You have all these ideas and visions and hopes for your children, and then it’s like, ‘Oh man, this wasn’t a part of the plan.’”


Brandon Leake.

Credit: MilaJo Photography


At the very same time, Leake was forced to face an onslaught of other challenges, including the loss of a hefty work contract at a time when his family needed the money the most.


“The medical bills start piling up and it became like, when it rains, it pours,” Leake remembers. “And then we had to move out of our house because we discovered there was black mold around our walls, which was making our daughter’s situation worse. We also had to replace all the piping under our house because there were trace amounts of lead in the water.” He pauses before adding, “There was a lot all happening at once.”


But as longtime AGT viewers may remember, life has never quite gone according to plan for Leake, who endured the tragic loss of his sister when she was just 8 months old. It was this pain that Leake infused into the emotional poem he shared during his AGT audition back in 2020 — a poem that ultimately changed his life.


“If my mom could survive losing a daughter at 24, I knew I could survive my daughter’s life just being different at 31,” recalls Leake, who remains the first spoken-word poet to win AGT.


Today, after one hospitalization, various medications and much bloodwork, Leake says his now 6-year-old daughter is doing much better these days. “She is running, riding bikes and doing softball,” he tells PEOPLE. “She is even getting ready to go back into gymnastics shortly.”



Comments

Featured Posts
Archive
bottom of page