COURTESY ROSLYN AND RAY SINGLETON

Roslyn and Ray Singleton inspired millions on social media when a video of Ray serenading Roslyn before brain surgery went viral in 2020. Ray will compete on "America's Got Talent" July 13 on NBC.

Ray and Roslyn Singleton have overcome more in their first two years of marriage than some face in a lifetime.

You have seen the viral video of Ray serenading Roslyn before she underwent surgery for brain cancer. It landed them on the Ellen Show, which led to “America’s Got Talent” reaching out to Ray about auditioning for the show. While the COVID-19 pandemic delayed the initial process, a producer reached again, and he will perform on July 13 at 8 p.m. on NBC.

“The producer that reached out to me the first time, reached out to me and said, ‘are you still interested?’” Ray said. “I said, ‘Are you serious? Absolutely, I'm still interested.’”

Ray and Roslyn met in 2016 and she shared her battle on their first date. At the behest of her father, Roslyn went to a doctor for migraines and other symptoms.  The eight-year Navy veteran had a tumor the size of an orange on her brain while she was working in Afghanistan. She returned home for treatment and spent the next six years cancer free, but another tumor appeared a month before their first wedding anniversary.

Ray said he always commends Roslyn for how she delivers news to him, including difficult news like this. He recalled being at work when she called to share the news after a routine annual scan. Roslyn said the doctor saw something, which would require a follow-up appointment. She assured him they would be all right, and that she would see him when he got home.

“It wasn't something that I wanted to hear, and it definitely wasn't something I wanted to tell my brand new, almost one-year husband,” Roslyn said. “I literally commend Ray all the time for always being just such a happy, pleasant, amazing face with anything that I tell him, because I can't imagine how it feels to be somebody to have to take that news for somebody that you care about and not know what you can do, because of what their problem is. He is always so supportive and so loving. I really, really love Ray a lot. I really do.”

The second tumor, the size of a half dollar, was removed in January 2020.

“My only response was, ‘OK, let's do it,’” Ray said. “There was never a second thought of not being there or anything like that. I was going to support my wife from day one. To know the effect that I have on her, at least I feel like I do, has helped her and it's helped me, and it's helped millions around the world. It's unbelievable.”

The Singletons will celebrate their third anniversary on Nov. 4.

“I tell Ray all the time, if I have to go through a little brain cancer for him to get to the place where he needs to be, for the world to be loved and to see even though when you go through things, it's just the journey and it's just the process,” Roslyn said. “It’s just the test, but the other side of it is always so much better if you just keep going through it. I really hope our story – my story, Ray’s story – does that and shows that to the world.”

Ray and Roslyn intend to watch “AGT” with family and friends in Ray’s hometown of Charleston, South Carolina and Ray’s fraternity brother from Omega Psi Phi from his days at Winthrop University, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in theatre and a master’s in counselor education. He is the minister of music at First Calvary Baptist Church in Rock Hill and performed earlier this year at The Charlotte Post Foundation’s Post Best Banquet. Ray, a self-taught pianist, said his music journey likely began before birth.

“Music has been a part of my life since I opened my eyes from a child,” he said.

“I sat down at a piano at roughly 15 years old, and I taught myself how to play. “To this day, I've never had a music lesson. I don't know how to read music, but it's in my DNA. It runs through me. My wife can tell you that I am singing 24/7. She has a healthy love-hate relationship with my singing, but it gets me through everything. It gets me through sad moments and it enhances my happy moments. It's allowed me to develop relationships and put me in places that I've never thought were imaginable. It turned out to be medicinal for my wife. It's part of me. It is me.”

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