Archie Charles Williams (born March 23, 1961) is an American singer who appeared on

season 15 A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's axial tilt, tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperat ...

of ''

America's Got Talent ''America's Got Talent'' (often abbreviated as ''AGT'') is an American talent show competition, and is part of the global ''Got Talent'' franchise created by Simon Cowell. The program is produced by Fremantle (as well as distributed by) and ...

''. He was wrongfully incarcerated for 37 years in prison and released on March 21, 2019.

Early life

Williams was born in

Baton Rouge, Louisiana Baton Rouge ( ; , ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It had a population of 227,470 at the 2020 United States census, making it List of municipalities in Louisiana, Louisiana's second-m ...

Wrongful incarceration

On April 21, 1983, he was convicted in a case of rape and attempted murder four months earlier. Williams was 22 at the time and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole in the

Louisiana State Penitentiary The Louisiana State Penitentiary (known as Angola, and nicknamed the "Alcatraz of the South", "The Angola Plantation" and "The Farm"Sutton, Keith "Catfish".Out There: Angola angling. ''ESPN Outdoors''. May 31, 2006. Retrieved on August 25, 2010. ...

at Angola. The

Innocence Project Innocence Project, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit legal organization that works to exonerate the wrongly convicted through DNA testing and other forms of post-conviction relief, as well as advocates for criminal justice reform to prevent futur ...

fought for him for decades to get access to evidence that could prove that he was innocent. On March 21, 2019, after a judge ordered a review of the fingerprints found at the scene, Williams was found to be innocent and was released from prison.

''America's Got Talent''

Williams sang "

Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" is a song with music written by English musician Elton John and lyrics by songwriter Bernie Taupin. It was originally recorded by John for his eighth studio album, ''Caribou (album), Caribou'' (1974), and was ...

" by

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, songwriter and pianist. His music and showmanship have had a significant, lasting impact on the music industry, and his songwriting partnership with l ...

for his first performance on ''

'' on May 26, 2020. All four judges voted for him to move to the next level and he received a standing ovation from the audience and the judges. John said that he was "moved to tears" by the performance. As a result of Williams' story,

Simon Cowell Simon Phillip Cowell (; born 7 October 1959) is an English television personality and businessman. He has judged on the British television talent competition shows ''Pop Idol'' (2001–2003), ''The X Factor (British TV series), The X Factor UK ...

became an ambassador for The Innocence Project. Williams sang "

Flying Without Wings "Flying Without Wings" is a song by Irish boy band Westlife, released on 18 October 1999 as the third single from their self-titled debut studio album (1999). It is the band's fourth-best-selling single on both paid-for and combined sales in t ...

" by

Westlife Westlife are an Irish pop group formed in Dublin in 1998. The group consists of members Nicky Byrne, Shane Filan, Kian Egan and Mark Feehily. Brian McFadden was a member before leaving in March 2004. The group disbanded in 2012 and later reun ...

during the semi-finals. He moved ahead to the finals with four other acts. Archie finished as a Bottom 5 finalist of the top 10. Archie Williams came back to compete in '' America's Got Talent: All-Stars'' singing "Ain't No Sunshine" by

Bill Withers William Harrison Withers Jr. (July 4, 1938 – March 30, 2020) was an American singer and songwriter. He is known for having several hits over a career spanning 18 years, including "Ain't No Sunshine" (1971), "Grandma's Hands" (1971), "Use Me ( ...

, but failed to secure a spot in the finale.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Archie Living people 1961 births American male singers America's Got Talent contestants American people wrongfully convicted of murder American people wrongfully convicted of rape American prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment Singers from Louisiana Musicians from Baton Rouge, Louisiana Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by Louisiana

Early life

Wrongful incarceration

''America's Got Talent''

See also

References