Richard Goodall Opens Up About His ‘Beyond Surreal’ Journey to Winning ‘America’s Got Talent’

Six months in the past, 55-year-old Richard Goodall used to be a janitor in Terre Haute, Indiana, whose soul-filled vocal skill stuck the eye of fanatics on TikTok. On Tuesday (Sept. 24), Goodall used to be formally topped the winner of The us’s Were given Skill season 19.

“Being who I am, a janitor for 23 years, now singing songs on TV and singing with Journey. I mean, you can’t make that stuff up,” he tells Billboard of his response to the finale, the place he carried out onstage with the enduring rock band’s guitarist Neal Schon. He took house the trophy over his fellow gifted acts, together with Roni Sagi & Rhythm, a dog-and-human dance duo; Solange Kardinaly, a sorcerer, Sky Components, a drone luminous display and extra. “This is beyond surreal. I couldn’t dream up everything that’s happened to me. I mean, there’s a bucket list, and then there’s a bucket list that you didn’t even know existed.”

From his audition, Goodall received The us’s middle together with his on a regular basis guy demeanor and down-to-earth viewpoint on age. Past his cute character, pass judgement on Heidi Klum used to be so blown away through Goodall’s easy vocal talent, that she gave him the coveted Blonde Buzzer that despatched him instantly to the are living displays. “She just loved hugging my neck and telling me, ‘Well, what a wonderful job you’re doing’ every single time I’ve seen her. She’s an amazing lady,” Goodall stated of the fashion.

Then again, profitable AGT is solely the cherry at the cake of an exhilarating era for Goodall, who additionally married his longtime love Angie simply earlier than the finale. “It was long overdue. I had proposed to her a very long time ago, and she had the ring and everything. We’re a little bit older, and we didn’t really need a piece of paper to say that we’re married,” he explains. “The thought had just crossed both our minds at the same time that it was just the time to do it. We didn’t videotape it or anything, just a photographer. So, as far as the show goes, it wasn’t about trying to get votes or anything like that. It was because we both decided that it was time that we did it for real.”

Life Goodall is openminded to musical alternatives going forward, he says he’s centered being “smart” in regards to the $1 million prize cash and going with the stream of his improbable accomplishment. “[Angie and I] are already talking with a financial advisor, making sure that we’re being smart about all this,” he finds. “We’re not just two kids that are just flying by the seat of our pants. This popularity, this fame thing is new, but we want to be smart about it, and whatever comes in the near future, we can decide together as adults and as a man and wife and figure out what path we want to take.”

For now, Goodall extra an inspiration to society international who’ve a dream. “When you see me, I just scream regular person. You could see me standing at the bus stop or going to Ralph’s to pick up your groceries and pick out my groceries. I don’t look like something, you know, that’s extraordinary or supermodel-ish,” he says, earlier than concluding with those phrases of knowledge: “Nothing is out of reach in this world, but you got to work at it. You gotta put the time in if you want it bad enough. Sky’s the limit.”