This Woman Busked In The Subway For 25 Years, Now She's About To Release Her First Album

Getting noticed in today's music industry is a challenge many great artists face. There's no magic formula to help you succeed, nor a handy playbook with tricks on how to stay at the top once you get there.

But with enough passion and courage anything's possible.

62-year-old New Yorker Alice Tan Ridley is living proof of that. After losing her job teaching special needs children, Ridley had to face a harsh reality: As a single mother of two with no source of income, she needed to find a way to provide for her family.

So Ridley turned to music. She started performing in the New York City subway stations and steadily built a living out of donations from total strangers who loved her strong, uplifting voice. She did this for 25 years.

Listen to Ridley sing Tina Turner's "What's Love Got To Do With It" in one of her powerful subway station performances.

In 2010, Ridley decided to try her luck on the reality show "America's Got Talent." Her audition blew everyone away and Ridley made it to the semifinals. Although she didn't win the title, she walked away with a bunch of new fans and opportunities within reach.

But even after making her way from the subway system to the grand stage, Alice Ridley still had one lifelong dream to be achieved: a studio album.

"I was overwhelmed by the love and support of so many people from America and the world [...] They helped me realize that my dreams were not over [...] I was hoping that the national exposure that I had received would lead me to be offered a record deal. Unfortunately, it didn't happen," Ridley writes.

Watch the performance that scored Ridley a place in the "America's Got Talent Semi finals."

To turn her wish into a reality, Ridley started a Kickstarter campaign where she hoped to turn her dream into a reality and fund her album. She's finally made enough and is in the process of making it now!