America’s Got Talent winner Richard Goodall has announced that he is quitting his job as a school janitor after 23 years to focus on his music career, and he also gave a sneak peek at a surprising artist he hopes to collaborate with.
Since stepping onto the AGT stage, Richard, 55, from Terre Haute, Indiana, has continued to wow audiences and judges alike.
On Tuesday evening he was officially crowned winner of the 19th season of the singing competition.
Ahead of the final, he reflected exclusively on his emotional journey to DailyMail.com, explaining that he always dreamed of becoming a musician but life always ‘got in the way’.
He recalls spending years thinking he was “not good enough” to be a star, working as a high school janitor to “pay the bills.”
America’s Got Talent winner Richard Goodall has announced that he plans to quit his job as a school janitor after 23 years to focus on his music career.
Richard, 55, of Terre Haute, Indiana, was officially crowned the winner of the singing competition’s 19th season Tuesday night
But the aspiring singer, who was joined on the red carpet by his wife, Angie Vanoven, vowed that if he won AGT, he would quit his job as a janitor to focus on music full time.
“We’ve talked about it. And when the opportunity comes, he’ll be done with school and continue with his music,” Angie said.
“That’s what I want him to do. Terre Haute will always be home. Those kids will always be home… but [going back to that job] would be like him going backwards. And I’m not going to let him do that.’
Richard agreed, adding: ‘It’s surreal. It’s exciting. Six months ago I would never have thought about any of this. [could happen]. Never.’
When asked why he decided to audition for the show now, at age 55, the Indiana native explained that it was his wife and children who pushed him to do it.
“I guess sometimes life gets in the way. You spend your time trying to get a paycheck and pay the bills,” he mused.
‘And sometimes most people don’t even think they’re good enough. But eventually it got to the point where [Angie] and the kids saying, “You’ve got to do it. You’ve got to do it.”
Richard said his next step is to make an album. “I’m willing to take on anything.”
Before the final, he reflected exclusively on his emotional journey to DailyMail.com, explaining that he always dreamed of becoming a musician but life kept ‘getting in the way’
But the aspiring singer promised that if he won AGT, he would quit his job as a janitor to focus on music full-time
Just days before winning the show, Richard walked down the aisle with his fiancée, Angie Vanoven
He named rock legend Steven Tyler and country star Jelly Roll as his dream collaboration partners.
“That would be great,” he teased. “Oh, I have a country side too.”
As for his dream collaborations, he named rock legend Steven Tyler, as well as country star Jelly Roll (seen)
During his winning performance, Richard sang Journey’s hit Faithfully.
Beforehand, he received a pre-recorded shoutout from Journey singer Neal Schon.
Afterward, judge Howie Mandel was so impressed that he said he thought he had won.
“Not only is he a hero, but I’m going to make a prediction right now: I think you just sang $1 million to yourself,” he said.
“You are such an amazing man,” added Heidi Klum, who used her Golden Buzzer to pick Richard back up during the audition.
“You’re so humble and so kind. You’re also a little quiet, but not when you’re behind that microphone, then you’re a big rock star.”
“We all need a hero right now and you are a hero,” agreed Simon Cowell.
Just days before winning the show, Richard walked down the aisle with Angie.
She told DailyMail.com that they decided to get married after finding out Neal had given his approval.
“When we met Neal, we thought, this is our week of dreams coming true,” she explains.