Here’s a complete list of which talented act won at the end of every ‘AGT’ season.
NBC’s America’s Got Talent is one of the country’s leading talent competition shows, and Billboard is looking back at the many gifted winners who’ve made history on the series so far.
Created by former American Idol judge, X Factor mastermind and Syco Entertainment founder Simon Cowell, the global talent competition premiered in the U.S. on NBC in 2006. The idea was to find the best talent of any age in the country — whether they specialized in singing, dancing, performing magic tricks, acting as a ventriloquist or even training dogs to do tricks — and then have them headline a show on the Las Vegas Strip on top of winning a $1 million cash prize.
The show has seen a number of stars grace its judges’ panel, with the just-wrapped season 20 featuring Cowell alongside Mel B, Sofia Vergara and Howie Mandel, as well as host Terry Crews. Each of the judges recruits viewers’ votes to help crown the most talented contestant, and each season’s top pick runs the gamut of skill sets.
A handful of musicians have come out on top in the past, including the show’s first-ever champ, then-11-year-old singer Bianca Ryan, whose tiny frame belied her massive pipes on the Dreamgirls showstopper “And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going.” Other musical winners include late opera singer Neal Boyd (season 3), jazz singer Landau Eugene Murphy Jr. (season 6), then 12-year-old singer/songwriter Grace VanderWaal (season 11), and blind and autistic singer Kodi Lee (season 14) — plus the latest champ, 55-year-old singing janitor Richard Goodall. Two singing ventriloquists have taken home the prize too, with Terry Fator winning season 2 and then-12-year-old performer Darci Lynne winning season 12.
Below is a complete list of which talented act won at the end of every season.
Season 1
Winner: Bianca Ryan
Date Crowned: Aug. 17, 2006
At only 11 years old, the Philadelphia-based singer performed the Dreamgirls‘ showstopper “And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going” for her viral audition — and the only place she was going after that was straight to the finale.
Season 2
Winner: Terry Fator
Date Crowned: Aug. 21, 2007
With more than 20 years of experience and opening gigs for country superstars like Reba McEntire and Garth Brooks, the Dallas native became the first ventriloquist to win the talent competition series.
Season 3
Winner: Neal E. Boyd
Date Crowned: Oct. 1, 2008
The Sikeston, Missouri-based classical opera singer won the competition in its third season and eventually landed a top 10 classical album with 2009’s My American Dream. He sadly died a decade after his victory on June 10, 2018.
Season 4
Winner: Kevin Skinner
Date Crowned: Sept. 16, 2009
The Kentucky-based country singer and guitar player quickly became a fan favorite in the fourth season with his stirring cover of Garth Brooks’ “If Tomorrow Never Comes.” The judges compared him to a diamond in the rough, and his unique ability carried him all the way to the end of the competition.
Season 5
Winner: Michael Grimm
Date Crowned: Sept. 15, 2010
The Colorado-born, Mississippi-raised blues singer had love on the brain during the competition and revealed that his girlfriend at the time, Lucie Zolcerova, inspired his finale performance of Percy Sledge’s “When a Man Loves a Woman.” Not only did he win the fifth season, but he also got the girl at the end: He proposed to Zolcerova during a taping of Ellen just a day after he claimed victory (and she said yes!).
Season 6
Winner: Landau Eugene Murphy Jr.
Date Crowned: Sept. 14, 2011
The Logan County, West Virginia, native and jazz singer let the spirit of Frank Sinatra guide him all the way to the end of the competition, starting with his audition performance of “I’ve Got You Under My Skin” to covering “My Way” in the finale.
Season 7
Winner: Olate Dogs
Date Crowned: Sept. 13, 2012
Richard and Nicholas Olate, the Houston-based Chilean-American father-son duo of dog trainers, and their crew of rescue pups had the judges flipping out at the sight of all their tricks.
Season 8
Winner: Kenichi Ebina
Date Crowned: Sept. 18, 2013
The Japanese dancer might have been a solo act, but he immersed himself so well with his surroundings that he acted as each of the characters in the video screen behind him.
Season 9
Winner: Mat Franco
Date Crowned: Sept. 17, 2014
The Johnston, Rhode Island, native became the first magician to win the talent competition series. But his sleight-of-hand style of magic didn’t just secure him an AGT victory. His ongoing Las Vegas show, Magic Reinvented Nightly, earned him the best magic show award at the Las Vegas Review-Journal’s Best of Las Vegas Awards and is the top-rated magic show in Vegas.
Season 10
Winner: Paul Zerdin
Date Crowned: Sept. 16, 2015
The internationally renowned British comedian and ventriloquist, who had even performed in front of the Queen, had the judges giving him (and his puppet Sam) standing ovations round after round.
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