When Archie Williams took the stage during the first America’s Got Talent live show, Simon Cowell was missing. The judge broke his back just days before the live show, and Kelly Clarkson came in as a temporary replacement. For Archie, having Kelly as a new judge for a short time is an incredible opportunity.
“It’s very exciting,” Archie told HollywoodLife EXCLUSIVELY. “I love Kelly. I always watch Kelly, and I watched it when she first won her show [American Idol]. She was very touching. I love Simon and hate to see what happened to him, but with Kelly, I can learn a lot from her.”
Archie wowed the judges with his performance of Stevie Wonder’s “Love’s In Need Of Love Today.” Sofia told him after his performance, “You deserve this more than anyone.” Kelly said it was a “blessing” to be able to see a storyteller like Archie perform in front of her. Having the judges’ support means so much to the singer.
“It just brought me to tears, and it really showed me a lot,” Archie said about Sofia’s comment. “I was really excited. There were a lot of tears this time around for real.”
Archie is ready to make his name known in the music industry. The singer spent 36 years in prison for a crime he didn’t commit. He was arrested in 1983 after a woman was raped and stabbed in her home. He was sentenced to life in prison plus 80 years with no possibility of parole or probation, even though the fingerprints at the scene did not match his. He was released in March 2019 after DNA technology proved his innocence.
Archie would love to perform with Stevie Wonder someday. The singer revealed that Stevie got Archie through some tough times when he was in prison. “That is my king of soul,” Archie said about Stevie. “He really got me through a lot, especially in the place that I was in. If not listening to Stevie Wonder I don’t think I would have survived.” America’s Got Talent airs Tuesdays and Wednesdays on NBC.