'American Idol' favorite Wade Cota joined Luke Bryan onstage in Phoenix concert

Ed Masley
The Republic | azcentral.com
Luke Bryan and Wade Cota

Toward the end of his concert at Ak-Chin Pavilion Thursday night, Luke Bryan promised fans a special treat and made good on that promise when he introduced Wade Cota, the local singer who emerged as an audience favorite this year on “American Idol.”

Cota led Bryan’s band in a fiery cover of Lynyrd Skynyrd's “Simple Man,” a song that definitely played to Cota's strengths – as it did when he sang it on "Idol" – and had to leave a lot of people wondering how he didn’t win it all. 

Meanwhile, Bryan was all smiles, joining Cota on the chorus. And when it was over, he told the crowd, “That’s a singin’ fool right there.”

The 27-year-old Phoenix native made it to the Top 5 on a journey that started with Katy Perry responding to Cota’s audition, a gritty rendition of "Blame It on Me" by George Ezra, with "You're got one of the most unique voices I've ever heard in my life."

It is unique, a raspy baritone that lends a soulful quality to everything it touches.

Bryan was just as impressed by that audition, telling Cota, "I mean, I think you have your thing like Johnny Cash does," and adding, "I want there to be a 'No Country for Old Men II' and you sing every song."

READ MORE: Phoenix native Wade Cota reaches Top 8 on 'American Idol'

On a later episode, Perry responded to Cota's rendition of "Work Song," which earned him a spot in the Top 20, with "When that voice comes on the radio, we know exactly who it is."

In the meantime, the singer's next local performance is Saturday, June 29, a homecoming show at Tempe's Marquee Theatre at which he plans to lead his own band, Sugarwater, in a set that mixes covers and originals.

That is, unless some other superstar pulls him onstage before then.