Biography
AMERICA’S GOT TALENT SEASON 19 WINNER RICHARD GOODALL COMES FROM modest beginnings IN THE EQUALLY UNPRETENTIOUS MIDWEST.
The longtime school custodian didn’t grow up seeking recognition for his incredible vocal talent—but like any great underdog story, it took personal fortitude and the faith of loved ones to boost him toward his chance at the spotlight. When he took the AGT stage for the first time, Goodall faced the judges in an unassuming manner, but he lit up with the opening piano riff of Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believing.”
Goodall’s challenging song selections showcased his strong, clear baritone as he advanced through the season, transporting television audiences and showing the world what his family and friends back in Terre Haute, Indiana, knew all along: this undiscovered star just needed a chance to shine.
Prior to his AGT appearance, a 2022 video of Goodall singing at an educators’ event went viral on TikTok and fortified his dream of singing to an even bigger audience on national television. The timing wasn’t right for Season 18, but chance stepped in for Season 19. Goodall was 54 years old and had never been on an airplane—had not even been west of the Missouri River—before he found himself alone in Burbank, California, about to perform at one of world’s biggest talent competitions. “I was nervous as hell,” he said. “It’s a lot to put yourself out there.”
The anxiety subsided with his first note.
“The thing that centers me is music,” he said. “‘Don’t Stop Believing’ is a song that speaks for itself. With that song either you got it or you don’t… I guess I got it.”
Goodall always sang, whether in choirs, at karaoke or in Gospel trios through the years. The music was put aside when the professional caretaker also became a personal caregiver to his first wife as she fought terminal kidney cancer. Patty Goodall died in 2021.
“It nearly broke me,” he said. “I’d never been through anything like that and it’s hard to be a caregiver. What brought me out of my funk, a fellow custodian posted on Facebook about a bar that was hosting karaoke.” Singing helped ease his heartache.
A few years later when Goodall was at his hotel contemplating what song to sing in his semifinal round at AGT, he happened to catch a “Rocky” movie marathon. On the phone with his now-wife, Angie, he pitched the idea of singing Survivor’s “Eye of the Tiger.” The song’s high notes and vocal range were demanding, but the lyrics spoke to him.
“She told me not to do it,” he said. “We argued over it – but I told her that I have to do it my way, I’m going to do it my way. I had to use a fight song.”
Goodall went the distance. As the gold confetti fluttered on the AGT stage, he gave a shout-out to his biggest fan—“Ang, we did it!”—and showed the world that while you may get knocked down when fighting for a dream, you always pull yourself up to take your shot.
Goodall’s authenticity and sheer joy of music enrich a performance that includes hits from Journey, Foreigner, Michael Bolton, Survivor, Bruno Mars, Michael Bublé and more, for an amazing night of iconic songs from America’s “singing janitor.”