America’s Got Talent Richard Goodall, the humble singing janitor, is the clear breakout star of AGT 2024. His audition in late May where he performed a cover of Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin'” earned him a coveted Golden Buzzer from judge Heidi Klum, catapulting him straight to the live shows. The video of his AGT performance on YouTube has been viewed over 15 million times (and it’s climbing!), leading fans to wonder what happened to him, where he is today, whether he can sing songs other than Journey covers, and when his next performance will be on the NBC talent show. Here’s everything we know so far about Richard Goodall on America’s Got Talent Season 19.
Where is America’s Got Talent Richard Goodall now?
The 55-year-old Richard Goodall from Terra Haute, Indiana continues to be a janitor at West Vigo Middle School and performs with his band ManOpause.
[Update 8/11/2024: Richard Goodall received a send-off party in Terra Haute, according to WTWO, where he performed several songs and received various gifts that include a free car. Goodall has been confirmed by Gold Derby to appear in the first AGT Quarterfinals episode on August 13.]
[Update 8/14/2024: Goodall was voted through to the semi-finals after his performance covering Michael Bolton’s “How Am I Supposed to Live WIthout You?”]
In an interview with news outlet WTWO WAWV on May 31, he explains that he isn’t letting the fame go to his head and is seen changing lights in the school. “I’m still me. I’m at West Vigo Middle School right now,” Goodall said. “How could I possibly become a diva, a type of person that I’m not? It’s never going to happen. I’m not a fancy person, never have been and never will be.”
This isn’t the first time Goodall has been an internet sensation. In May 2022, a Tiktok video of him performing “Don’t Stop Believin'” in front of a crowd of elementary students went viral. His performance earned the attention of Steve Perry, the lead singer of Journey, who commented on the video with “I love this” in a post on Twitter.
When is Richard Goodall’s next performance on AGT 2024?
Goodall is slated to perform next on AGT 2024 during the live shows in August.
For America’s Got Talent Season 19, the live shows will begin airing on August 13, though it’s unclear which episode Goodall is slated to appear in. This part of the competition will run from August 13 to September 18, so we will see him perform at least once in a semi-final and then see if he makes it through his bracket to the finals.
The janitor will need to earn enough votes to secure one of two places in his semi-final to reach the AGT 2024 Final, where he has the shot to win the $1 million grand prize and a shot at a residency spot in Las Vegas. If he does make it to the finale, there’s a chance we might see him perform with a legend, like Steve Perry, in a live results show.
America’s Got Talent will hopefully reveal the lineup of which acts will be performing in each live show soon. This will likely happen after the first phase of auditions finishes, so we’ll update this guide with any new information we come across about Goodall’s future appearances on the show.
What songs can Richard Goodall sing?
Goodall has a large repertoire of songs that he might sing on AGT that isn’t just Journey covers, though he is best known for them.
On Tiktok, where Goodall uploads videos as user “rg69rich” and calls himself the “Janitor with pipes!”, he is capable of singing a lot of different songs. This includes covers of “Old Time Rock & Roll” by Bob Seger, “Biggest Part of Me” by Ambrosia, and “More Than Words” by Extreme. Goodall has also been seen singing more songs in various YouTube videos. He was on stage singing a cover of “Daylight” by Shinedown as well as another cover of “Anything Goes” by Randy Houser.
Considering Goodall’s impressive range of classic rock songs to country music, he has a lot of choices to pick from for his semi-final and final performances on AGT. Whatever song he chooses, it will hopefully showcase his powerful and soulful voice without pigeonholing him into a particular genre.
