As America’s Got Talent kicks off its 20th season, fans still remember former contestant Archie Williams. Life & Style reflects on the wrongfully convicted prisoner-turned-singer’s journey on the show and shares an update on where he is now.
Archie Williams Competed on ‘America’s Got Talent’ Shortly After His Release From Prison
“I was just incarcerated for 37 years for somebody else’s crime,” he told the judges during his AGT audition in 2020. “DNA freed me.”
Archie went on to reveal how singing got him through hard times while incarcerated at the Louisiana State Penitentiary after being sentenced to 80 years to life in prison for a rape and assault he didn’t commit.
“When you’re faced with dark times, what I’d do was I would pray and sing,” he said. “This is how I got peace.”
What Happened to Archie Williams From ‘America’s Got Talent’?
Archie initially appeared on AGT season 15 in 2020. He made an unforgettable debut with a cover of Elton John’s “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me,” moving all four judges to tears and earning a standing ovation from the studio audience.
Judge Simon Cowell told the talented artist, “This is an audition I will never forget for the whole of my life, Archie.”
All four judges voted to advance Archie, who went on to wow viewers with such songs as The Beatles’ “Blackbird” and Stevie Wonder’s “Love’s in Need of Love Today.”
Archie made it all the way to the top 10 but failed to make it to the top of the finalists. The season was won by spoken word poet Brandon Leake. Second place went to the singing duo Broken Roots, while singer Cristina Rae placed third.
Archie Williams
The Baton Rouge, Louisiana, native returned to compete in AGT: All-Stars 2023. Once again, Archie sailed through to the top 10 but didn’t advance to the finals.
Simon Cowell Became a Ambassador The Innocence Project During Archie Williams’ ‘AGT’ Season
After hearing about Archie’s plight, Simon became a voice for the organization that helped exonerate the singing contestant.
“What happened to Archie is tragic. While his voice is extraordinary, unfortunately his experience of being sent to prison for a crime he didn’t commit is more common than people realize,” Simon wrote on X in 2020, about becoming an ambassador for the Innocence Project.
Archie Williams Has Kept a Low Profile Since Competing on ‘America’s Got Talent’
Archie hasn’t updated his Instagram page since 2020 and appears to lead a quiet life away from social media.
Archie Williams
Why Was Archie Williams Sent to Prison?
Archie was wrongfully convicted in 1982 of rape and stabbing of a woman in her Baton Rouge home, despite none of the fingerprints and blood smears matching his. He was identified from a photo shown to the victim on different occasions.
The Innocence Project fought for years to have the fingerprints tested in the FBI’s Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System (IAFIS). After the request was granted in 2019 by Commissioner Kinasiyumki Kimble of the 19th Judicial District Court, the prints came back to Stephen Forbes, who committed at least five other rapes in the same neighborhood in the years following the 1982 sexual assault.
Forbes died in prison in 1996, and Kimble ordered Archie’s release from prison on March 21, 2019. At the time, he had been incarcerated for 36 years, two months and 18 days for a crime he didn’t commit.
