At that time, Simon told him, “Richard, you are my hero because that was special. Genuinely special. I think America is going to love you.”
Tonight, he will again be singing an iconic song from one of his favorite groups, which he is not allowed to reveal, but he teases for us.
“The songwriter is a well-known songwriter and, yeah, it’s still in the Gen X wheelhouse,” Richard told Parade in this exclusive interview. “It’s a big one and that’s about all I can say. It’s a good one. It’s taken me a minute to get to where I am, but the AGT music team is phenomenal. They have been pulling stuff out of my backside I didn’t even know I had.”
Coming in as one of this season’s Golden Buzzers means expectations are high for Richard’s performance, but he says no more than any other Golden Buzzer with one caveat: the number of views his “Don’t Stop Believin’” performance has racked up on YouTube.
“That, I would say, is painting that target on my back,” He said. “I’ve eaten breakfast with quite a few [other artists] and they’ve not said anything. Everybody’s so nice. There is probably to me a little target because maybe I’m the one to beat, but I don’t think in those terms.”
Also during our chat, we spoke to Richard about he came to America’s Got Talent initially, his plans for the $1 million if he were to win it, being gifted a brand-new car by country pop star Walker Hayes, and more.
Congratulations on your Golden Buzzer. What inspired you to audition for AGT? Or did they find you?
It’s a combination of things. I’ve sung to the kids for years. I’ve been a janitor for 23 years just like I said on the video. 2022 was the first time ever the teacher said, “Do you want to sing this year? and I was like, “Yeah.” They said, “Well, this time whatever you want,” because usually it’s “God Bless the U.S.A.” by Lee Greenwood, especially on Veteran’s Day. So, I said, “Well, how about because I’m an ‘80s kid music wise what about ‘Don’t Stop Believin’” by Journey,” and they’re like, “Heck, yeah.”
So, I sang it and there was a teaching assistant out in the audience. She filmed it. That was a Thursday afternoon. Friday morning, I’m scrubbing the floor in the 1st grade, and they approached me and said, “Hey, we filmed you and put you on TikTok and it’s got 100,000 views.” I was like, “Is that good?” She said, “Uh-huh, yeah,” and by the end of the weekend, it was in a million. By the time it reached 3 million, Journey and Steve Perry commented.
Then Steve Perry, who’s a recluse and doesn’t say much at all, put me on all of his social media. His fans were commenting. Because if he’s on board, then it’s OK. If it was OK with Steve, then it was OK with them.
