On Tuesday, May 28, 2024, Richard Goodall received the Golden Buzzer during the season 19 premiere of America’s Got Talent after delivering a rousing performance of the 1981 Journey classic “Don’t Stop Believin‘.” Before his AGT breakthrough, the 55-year-old janitor from Terre Haute, Indiana had been singing for himself and his students at a local middle school but never took his big voice to a larger stage.
Goodall first tried out for AGT in 2009 in Chicago, but never made it past the open auditions. Before his 2024 audition, he had never even been on a plane but made the trip to Los Angeles to give it another try.
“When I took off from Indianapolis, I felt that front wheel come off the ground and you have this floating [feeling], you’re no longer stable,” said Goodall of the experience during an AGT pre-taped interview “And that’s what this whole experience is like right now. It’s a good off-balance but until you actually do something, you don’t know if it’s right for you or not.”
He added, “I’m not a fancy person. I take out the trash. I wipe off the tables, I sweep the floors. I’m just having fun and I’m trying to make people happy. The kids would hear me sing and they tell me that I’ve got talent. That’s why I’m here, that’s why I got on a plane.”
Before Goodall returns for America’s Got Talent Live Shows, which begin Tuesday, August 13, here are some things to know about the singing janitor from Indiana.
1. He’s Been a Janitor for 23 Years
Goodall has worked as a janitor for 23 years. When the time came to find a job, Goodall found himself working as a janitor at Chauncey Rose Middle School, which was only three blocks his home in Terre Haute. Today, Goodall is employed by the West Vigo Middle School.
“I was that kid up in my bedroom with the Radio Shack stereo,” said Goodall in his AGT interview. “My favorite thing was just to sit up and listen to my music, and I just belt it out. Eventually, I was like ‘I gotta find me a job,’ so I became a janitor at Chauncey Rose Middle School, which is only three blocks away from my house.”
