Richard Goodall’s song choice in the “America’s Got Talent” finals had a secret meaning for at least one person in the audience Tuesday night.
Goodall told reporters with Terre Haute’s WTWO-TV following the show that he choose to perform a cover of Journey’s 1983 hit, “Faithfully” because that’s his song with fiancée Angie Vanoven.
“I wanted my journey to be like a bookend,” he told WTWO, “I started with Journey, I’m gonna finish with Journey, close the book.”And that’s not all Goodall shared: The Season 19 favorite and Terre Haute native said he and Vanoven planned to get married in Pasadena, California, on Sept. 18.
Richard Goodall and Angie’s love story started with music
Goodall told IndyStar in May that he started performing at karaoke nights in the ’90s and eventually moved to the contest circuit with local radio stations. Then the COVID-19 pandemic put the world on pause, and in June 2021, his longtime wife, Patty, died of cancer.
“When you’re married for so long and they pass away and you’ve got that void there, your biggest concern is figuring out who you are without them,” he said. “And music was the bridge again.”Goodall said a karaoke night a few months after his wife’s death was the catalyst for a new phase of his life — and finding new love. A fellow janitor posted to Facebook that he was going to be at a bar with his karaoke system, and it prompted Goodall to start singing publicly again.
