Simon Cowell shared an emotional episode of America’s Got Talent featuring a man who was falsely imprisoned, delivering one of the most inspiring auditions ever.
Archie Williams was wrongly incarcerated for a crime he did not commit and spent 37 years in prison after a woman was stabbed and raped in her home in 1982.
For the audition, Archie performed the George Michael and Elton John hit Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me, moving the judges and audience to tears.
Archie sang the song in front of judges Simon, Howie Mandel, Heidi Klum and Sofía Vergara.
He told host Terry Crews, that he was incarcerated for more than three decades for something he did not do. He said: ‘I knew I was innocent, I didn’t commit a crime but being a poor black kid, I didn’t have the ability to fight the state of Louisiana.’
Archie explained that there were no fingerprints of his at the crime scene, and three different people testified that he was home at the time of the murder, but he was still sentenced to life without parole.
When Terry asked him how he stayed sane during the ordeal, Archie responded: “Freedom is of the mind. I went to prison, but I never let my mind go to prison.”
Archie said he would sing and pray to keep his spirits up behind bars at the Angola State Penitentiary and always dreamed of auditioning for the show.
Thanks to DNA evidence and The Innocence Project, Archie was finally released in March 2019. After a few months of freedom, he was able to audition for the show.
The judges unanimously voted “yes” to send Archie through to the next round, earning a delighted reaction from his loved ones.
Simon praised Archie and told him that he had a “really good voice.”
Simon later posted the preview, captioning it: “This is Archie Williams. I will never forget this audition for the rest of my life. And I’ll never listen to this song in the same way ever again.”
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