RICHARD Goodall tried out for America's Got Talent back in 2009, but failed to make it past the first round of open auditions in Chicago. The small-town Indiana janitor took another chance and auditioned for the show's 19th season , where his rendition of Journey's Don't Stop Believin' received two standing ovations, unanimous support from the judges, and secured a Golden Buzzer from Heidi Klum . Richard Goodall was born and raised in Terre Haute, Indiana.
During the show's 19th season premiere , Goodall revealed that growing up, he would listen to music in his bedroom on his "Radio Shack stereo." "I just belt it out," he said. "Eventually, I was like, I got to find myself a job, so I became a janitor at Chauncey Rose Middle School, which is only three blocks away from my house.
” "The kids would hear me sing, and they tell me that I've got talent," he explained. "That's why I'm here. That's why I got on a plane," he told the judges.
The 55-year-old has been a janitor for 23 years, first at Chauncey Rose, and now at West Vigo Middle School. Despite his seemingly overnight fame as a result of his America's Got Talent performance, this isn't the first time Goodall has achieved fame outside of his hometown. Back in the summer of 2022, he went viral for his performance at Davis Park Elementary School's year-end program, where he performed the same hit song – Journey's Don't Stop Believin' .
Journey's former frontman, Steve Perry , even gave Goodall a shoutout for his performan.
