Where Are Past ‘America’s Got Talent’ Winners Now?
Press The Golden Buzzer!
For exclusive news and updates, subscribe to our America's Got Talent Newsletter:
America’s Got Talent has crowned a new champion, with spoken word poet Brandon Leake winning the NBC show’s pandemic-disrupted 15th season on Wednesday, September 23.
“This is a huge win for the spoken-word community,” Brandon said per USA Today. “For an art form that has not been on the mainstream ever to have a chance to win America’s Got Talent is bigger than anything.”
But what about AGT’s past victors? We’ve rounded up updates on 10 of them below, so scroll on for the details.
Terry Fator (Season 2)
The ventriloquist and impressionist headlined a show at Las Vegas’ Mirage casino until the show ended its 11-year run earlier this year.
Michael Grimm (Season 5)
This country singer has only released one major-label album, 2011’s Michael Grimm, but he’s still making music: He released an Otis Redding tribute in September 2019, for example.
Landau Eugene Murphy Jr. (Season 6)
The jazz singer put his COVID-19 timeout to good use, earning his high school equivalency diploma during the shutdown. Now he’s gearing up for scheduled performances in his native West Virginia this December.
Olate Dogs (Season 7)
Richard and Nicholas Olate—the father-son dog-training team behind Olate Dogs—took their act on the road last year, performing throughout Texas with their Circus Olate show.
Mat Franco (Season 9)
After AGT, this magician headed for the bright lights of Las Vegas, where he’s been headlining a show at The LINQ Hotel and Casino’s Mat Franco Theater since 2015.
Paul Zerdin (Season 10)
This magician also headlined a Vegas show—hosted at Planet Hollywood—but it closed after a four-month run in 2016. In 2019, Zerdin competed in Britain’s Got Talent: The Champions.
Grace VanderWaal (Season 11)
Since her time on the show, the singer-songwriter released her debut studio album, headlined two concert tours and opened for Imagine Dragons and Florence and the Machine. Earlier this year, she starred as the title character in the Disney+ film Stargirl.
Darci Lynne (Season 12)
In recent years, AGT’s third champion ventriloquist has appeared on Nickelodeon’s All That and made two appearances on The Kelly Clarkson Show. She’s currently a panelist on the game show Nickelodeon’s Unfiltered.
Shin Lim (Season 13)
Following the end of Fator’s aforementioned show, this magician took over the Terry Fator Theatre at the Mirage Casino Hotel, and he went on tour with his LIMitless show earlier this year.
Kodi Lee (Season 14)
This singer-songwriter, who is legally blind because of his optic nerve hypoplasia, just treated viewers to a virtual performance in support of Siskin Children’s Institute in Chattanooga, Tennessee. “We want our children that we serve to see him and to know that anything’s possible,” Siskin Children’s Institute CEO Derek Bullard told WRCBtv.
