Simon Cowell was left deeply moved after watching a performance from America’s Got Talent contestant Archie Williams, who was wrongly incarcerated for 37 years.
In a clip shared by Cowell on Twitter, Williams explained how he was imprisoned for nearly four decades after he was accused of attacking a woman in 1982 before he was freed thanks to the efforts of the Innocence Project, a non-profit organisation that aims to end wrongful convictions.
“I was just incarcerated for 37 years for someone else’s crime,” he told judges Cowell, Howie Mandel, Heidi Klum and Sofia Vergara.
“DNA freed me. On the morning of December 9 1982, a 30-year-old white woman was raped and stabbed in her home. I was arrested on January 4.
“I couldn’t believe it was really happening. I knew I was innocent and 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.”
He added that “none of the fingerprints” at the crime scene were found to match his and that three people testified that he was at home at the time of the incident.
Williams was eventually sentenced to life without parole or probation and described his time in jail as “like a nightmare.”
Williams wowed the judges with his performance (AGT)
When asked by host Terry Crews how he managed to cope, he said: “I went to prison but I never let my mind go to prison.”
He also revealed that he would “pray and sing” during “dark times,” and would watch American Idol on television, hoping that he could compete one day.
Williams then spoke of how the Innocence Project used new DNA technology to re-examine the case.
It was eventually found that the fingerprints at the scene matched with those of a serial rapist, he said, prompting the aspiring singer to be released from jail in March 2019.
Williams then delivered a powerful rendition of Sir Elton John and George Michael’s Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me, which all four judges praised effusively.
“I will never ever listen to that song in the same way after you sang that, it took on a whole different meaning for me,” Cowell said.
“You’re a very, very courageous person. This is an audition I will never forget for the whole of my life.”
The performance resonated deeply on social media, with many Twitter users admitting that they had been moved to tears by Williams’ vocals.
