Neal E. Boyd was an opera singer from Season 3 of America's Got Talent. He was the winner of the competition, winning $1,000,000 and the headlining of a show at MGM Grand Garden Arena.
Over the years, Neal E. Boyd has developed a diverse music style. He can sing and write almost anything, but his main love has always been Opera. Despite being raised in Motown, he fell in love with the great Tenors (Luciano Pavarotti & Placido Domingo) when he was only 13 years old.
There in his little room, in his little white house, in his little Missouri town of Sikeston, a lifelong dream began to take root. Of course, growing up, he was told over and over that he shouldn't aspire to be a great singer...that he should never dream so big. Thankfully that is advice he never took. 1
Neal E. Boyd was one of the Music Acts in the Vegas Round. He was sorted into the "Opera Singers" category. His performance in Episode 308 consisted of singing an Italian version of Todd Duncan's "Unchained Melody." Neal's audition was strong enough for the judges to include him in the Top 60 shortlist and to later send him to the Top 40 Quarterfinals in Episode 309.
Opera Sing
Vegas Round
Music Elim
Vegas Round Results 1
Top 40 Results Full Episode - Part 6 - America's Got Talent
Vegas Round Results 2
Quarterfinals[]
Neal E. Boyd's Part 1 Quarterfinals performance in Episode 310 consisted of singing West Side Story's "Somewhere." Neal received enough votes to be sent to the Semifinals in Episode 311 instead of Derrick Barry.
Neal E. Boyd America's Got Talent Top 40 Performance
Quarterfinals
Elimination 1st 5
Quarterfinals Results
Semifinals[]
Neal E. Boyd's Part 1 Semifinals performance in Episode 314 consisted of singing Il Divo's "Mama." Neal received enough votes to be sent to the Top 10 in Episode 316 along with Queen Emily.
Neal E. Boyd America's Got Talent Top 20 Performance
Semifinals
Americas got talent top 10 results part1
Semifinals Results
Top 10[]
Neal E. Boyd's Top 10 performance in Episode 317 consisted of singing Eric Carmen's "All By Myself." Neal received enough votes to be sent to the Final 5 in Episode 318 instead of Kaitlyn Maher.
Neal E. Boyd Sings All By Myself - Top 10 Performance
Top 10
America's got Talent 2008 Top 5 Results Part 2
Top 10 Results
Final 5[]
Neal E. Boyd's Final 5 performance in Episode 319 consisted of singing "Nessun dorma" from the opera Turandot again.
Neal E. Boyd Sings Nessun Dorma America's Got Talent Finals
Final 5
Finale[]
During the finale in Episode 320, Neal E. Boyd was revealed to have finished in first place in the competition, in front of Queen Emily, Donald Braswell, Nuttin' But Stringz, and Eli Mattson, winning one million dollars and the headlining of a show on the Las Vegas strip.
America's got Talent 2008 (Finals) Results Part 2
Finals Results
Death[]
Neal E. Boyd passed away on June 10, 2018. He was 42. [1]
Trivia[]
Neal E. Boyd was the first opera singer, and African-American, to win America's Got Talent.
Neal E. Boyd beat Eli Mattson by less than 0.5% of the vote in the final 5.
Neal is the first and currently the only America's Got Talent winner to pass away.
