Neal E. Boyd

He went on a 10-city tour from Dallas to D.C. with Britain’s Got Talent winner Paul Potts.

In February 2019, the first-ever Britain’s Got Talent winner, Paul Potts, reminded viewers about the legacy of Boyd, after his performance on the America’s Got Talent: The Champions. “There’s an America’s Got Talent winner that isn’t here tonight: Neal E. Boyd. Like me, he came here as an underdog, he gave his all, he won, and one thing you could never take away is the fact that he is a champion,” Potts told viewers, adding, “He is a winner.”

On June 10, 2018, Neal E. Boyd died at the age of 42 in Sikeston, Missouri. His death was ruled as a combination of heart and kidney failure, compounded by liver disease. A private funeral was held on June 15, 2018.

On June 19, 2018 the Southeast Missourian newspaper published an editorial titled "Neal Boyd blessed us all with his God-given talent." It concluded with: "Boyd lived a short life, but he left behind a legacy of making the most of his God-given talent through hard work, dedication and passion. He used his gifts to inspire and lift others. He will be greatly missed."

On November 18, 2018, on what would have been his 43rd birthday, friends and family gathered for a public memorial inside Academic Hall on the campus of Southeast Missouri State University. The celebration included testimony from former Missouri Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder and included a video clip from America's Got Talent, music from his CDs, a live performance, personal stories, and an audio recording he made about what he would want to say to family and friends if he had to say goodbye.

A complete obituary ran in the Southeast Missourian on November 10, 2018 and an obituary ran in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch the following day just ahead of the public memorial service.

Boyd donated to many charitable causes, and created a permanent legacy at his alma mater, Southeast Missouri State University. In 2015, to celebrate his education and experience and to support future students, he created the Neal E. Boyd Endowed Scholarship in Performing Arts. The scholarship is awarded annually to a student majoring in performing arts who meets a GPA requirement and demonstrates financial need. Preference is given to students involved in leadership activities such as Greek Life and the Student Government Association. As an alumnus Boyd was a recipient of the university's "Distinguished Service Award."

He later worked for then–U.S. Sen. John Ashcroft.

He ran for a seat in the Missouri House of Representatives in 2012, but lost to Democrat Steve Hodges by 66 to 34%. On September 5, 2013 Boyd announced that he would again seek to be elected to the Missouri House of Representatives from the 149th district in 2014. He was defeated in the August 2014 Republican primary by Don Rone, who won the seat in the November general election.

On August 28, 2012, Boyd performed Lee Greenwood's "God Bless the U.S.A." at the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Florida.

Boyd headlined a second Las Vegas show at the Las Vegas Hilton in 2010, which also included other performers from the 2008 season of America's Got Talent. His dressing room was the dressing room of Elvis Presley.

On March 10, 2010, Boyd performed for the 44th U.S. President Barack Obama while visiting Missouri. He also performed for Presidents George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and George H. W. Bush.

Boyd signed to Decca Records and released his debut album, My American Dream, on June 23, 2009, the day of the fourth season premiere of America's Got Talent. It debuted at #195 on the Billboard 200 and #3 on the Top Classical Albums Chart.

While working as an insurance salesman in the spring of 2008, Boyd drove to Chicago, without telling his mother or best friend, and stood in line with 20,000 people auditioning for America's Got Talent. He performed Billy Joel’s “New York State of Mind,” then followed it up with Celine Dion and Andrea Bocelli’s “The Prayer.” The result? “I’m on a plane to L.A. four days later to show the judges that I’ve got talent,” he recalls.

On October 1, 2008, five contestants remained. The audience was filled with friends and family of Boyd and the other finalists, and 12.5 million people were watching the live broadcast. Jerry Springer announced the winner with a 20 second pause after "And the winner... is..." Boyd was declared the winner of the $1-million prize and a headline show in Las Vegas, Nevada. His hero Plácido Domingo then congratulated him via video, and Boyd performed one more time.

On October 2008, his hometown declared the month of October "Neal E. Boyd Month."

In 2005, he sang the National Anthem at the inauguration of Missouri Governor Matt Blunt.

In 2003, he was a guest of the Emerson family and part of the delegation and ceremonial opening of the new $100 million Bill Emerson Memorial Bridge. He sang the national anthem at the ceremony, and afterwards was one of the first Missourians to cross the new bridge in the parade that followed.

He earned a bachelor's degree in speech communications from Southeast Missouri State University in Cape Girardeau, Missouri (May 2001), a bachelor's degree in music from the University of Missouri School of Music in Columbia, Missouri (May 2001), continued his studies at the New England Conservatory of Music and later earned a master's degree in management from the online University of Phoenix. Boyd was president of the Student Senate at Southeast Missouri State University, where he was also a member of Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity. While in college, Boyd interned at the capitol in Jefferson City, Missouri.

After teaching music for the 2001–2002 school year in his hometown of Sikeston, Missouri, in 2002, he attended the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston to study opera. This led to a role as the slave "York" in Michael Ching's World Premier Opera "Corps of Discovery, A Musical Journey," commissioned by University of Missouri.

He was the winner of the Music Teachers National Association (MTNA) Vocal Collegiate Championship in 2000 while in the voice studio of Professor Ann Harrell of University of Missouri. This national win led to his solo debut at New York City's Carnegie Hall in March 2001.

In 2000, he sang at the memorial service for former Missouri Governor Mel Carnahan, who died in a plane crash during his U.S. Senate run against then Senator and later U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft.

In 1998, Boyd was selected for the Missouri Legislative Internship Program and moved to Jefferson City where he worked for State Representative Paula Carter. He was elected Speaker of the House in the interns’ legislative session.

Boyd was among the young people who worked for eight-term congressman Bill Emerson and then for congresswoman JoAnn Emerson. He sang at Bill's funeral in 1996.

Boyd grew up in Sikeston, Missouri, his father of African American descent, and a European mother. Boyd and his brother were raised solely by their mother, and, subsequently, endured poverty conditions. He discovered operatic music in junior high school when his older brother was doing a school project involving classical music and brought home a CD of the Three Tenors. Boyd was so enthralled by the passion and skill of the famous trio that he started learning to sing in Luciano Pavarotti's and Plácido Domingo's operatic styles. Boyd graduated from Sikeston High School in May 1994, where he was senior class president.

Neal Evans Boyd (November 18, 1975 – June 10, 2018) was an American pop opera singer. He was best known as being the winner of the third season of America's Got Talent.