Tyrese Gibson’s life was changed for the better thanks to a Coca-Cola commercial.

As AFROTECH™ previously told you, Gibson garnered a lot of attention, which would spark a bidding war with 20 record labels, due to his appearance singing in a 1994 Coca-Cola commercial while a student at Locke High School in Los Angeles, CA.

He learned about the commercial opportunity through his late music teacher, Reggie Andrews, who received a call that the company was hosting national auditions scouting for new talent, specifically a male between the ages of 16 and 18, Gibson explained while on the podcast “Club Shay Shay.”
It would also be Andrews who took Gibson to the audition because he did not have a car and money was tight at the time.

“I was broker than broke. My stomach was touching my ribs. I didn’t have a car. I didn’t have a ride,” Gibson recalled. “It was no way I was getting on the bus, especially with a transfer ’cause it was like close to downtown LA, and I was living in Watts South Central LA. So, he literally had to work a full day at school, and he ended up taking me to this audition.”

Gibson nearly missed out on the Coca-Cola commercial all together as they arrived three hours late and the audition window had closed. However, the woman who was moderating the audition was also delayed because her ride was stuck in traffic.

After some back-and-forth, Gibson managed to sing a few songs and earned a callback for a follow-up audition, which ultimately led to him securing the commercial. He earned $100 for the gig.

“I wanted to know for the first time ever what having over $100 in my pocket would be,” he expressed.

Gibson later added, “That’s all I wanted from the audition. I was like I’mma finally get $100… As you can imagine, almost 30 years later everything about my life literally feels like Christmas to this day.”