Wrongly incarcerated man on ‘America’s Got Talent’ says prayer got him through 37 years

Archie Williams told millions watching
“America’s Got Talent” this week that
prayer and singing got him through 37
years in prison for a crime he didn’t
commit.
Williams was featured on the talent
competition for his singing gift and
performed Elton John’s song “Don’t Let the
Sun Go Down on Me.” The wrongfully
accused man was convicted for rape 37
years ago despite the lack of forensic
evidence. Now 59 years old, Williams
recalled that he was arrested at age 22 for
this crime, sentenced to life in prison and
served a lot of his time in Angola state
penitentiary, one of the deadliest prisons in
America.
“Freedom is of the mind, I went to prison
but I never let my mind go to prison,”
Williams told show host Terry Crews.
He said on AGT that music and his faith
helped him persevere.
“When you’re faced with dark times, what I
would do is I would pray and sing; this is
how I got peace,” he said.
“I couldn’t believe it was really happening,”
he recalled. “I knew I was innocent. I didn’t
commit a crime. But being a poor black
kid, I didn’t have the economic ability to
fight the state of Louisiana.”
Despite being behind bars, Williams
explained to AGT judges Simon Cowell,
Howie Mandel, Sofia Vergara, and Heidi
Klum that watching “AGT” helped him
survive the decades he was in prison.
Williams was finally given a shot for justice
after the Innocence Project took on his
case and found DNA evidence to help
exonerate him. The nonprofit legal
organization specializes in exonerating
individuals who have been wrongly
convicted. They found a fingerprint
analysis in 2019, which led to Williams’
freedom. The evidence identified Stephen
Forbes, a man guilty of a string of sexual
assaults, as the suspect.
Williams told Crews that he is still “trying to
digest that freedom that I have right now.”
AGT’s Tuesday episode was recorded just
before the coronavirus pandemic forced
lockdowns around the nation. Williams’
performance was emotion packed and
noticeably moved the judges.
Cowell called the performance “the single
most important” achievement in the show’s
history.
“What happened to Archie is tragic,” Cowell
added in a statement, according to People .
“While Archie’s voice is extraordinary,
unfortunately, his experience of being sent
to prison for a crime he didn’t commit is
much more common than most people
realize. There are thousands of innocent
people in jails and prisons. I’m honored to
become an Ambassador for the Innocence
Project and want to do what I can to help
more people like Archie.”
“This has really opened my eyes, my
family’s eyes, and my friend’s eyes to
this,” Cowell added. “So, I hope some good
will come from this.”
Elton John shared about Williams’
performance and tweeted that he was
“moved to tears.”
“The courage and forgiveness shown by
him is truly inspiring,” John wrote. “The
same spirit that the world found so
inspiring with Nelson Mandela.”