Metro Voice News Celebrating Faith, Family & Community
Missourian and former “America’s Got Talent” winner Neal E. Boyd died Sunday. He was 42.
Scott County, Missouri Coroner Scott Amick says winner died of an array of diseases pertaining to his weight, including heart and kidney failure and liver disease.
HEAR HIS REMARKABLE PERFORMANCE OF ‘AMAZING GRACE’ BELOW
Boyd was found unresponsive by his mother at her Sikestown, Mo., home and was pronounced dead at 6:26 p.m.
The opera singer, who was a Christian, won “AGT” in 2008 and went on to record his debut album called “My American Dream” in 2009 and “My Christmas Wish” in 2013.
In early 2017 Boyd blacked out while driving and got into an accident that left him and his mother badly injured.
He opened up about the crash and his plans for new music in February.
“It was a very, very, very bad wreck … It’s a very slow progress. I shattered a lot of bones, and shattered my hip, which has left me almost unable to use that leg for now,” Boyd told the Southeast Missourian in February. “It’s been difficult, because you can’t get up on stage right now, you can’t perform for the audiences and you can’t really do too much recording or traveling.”
He told the outlet that he planned to release his third album “In the Middle of it All” in 2019. He called the album “uplifting.”
“Any time you’re in a moment of struggle, God has a way of coming in and uplifting you,” he said. “You have these ‘down moments,’ whether it be health or physical, like it is now, and it just feels like something great is about to happen once I get back on my feet and back in front of the audience again.
“You never know what’s going to happen next. Just be grateful that you survived. When God’s given you the time to rebuild your spirit and rebuild your body,” the singer said.
Boyd, who ran as Republican for the Missouri House of Representatives in 2011, also had political plans.
“You know, that’s up in the air. It was really about the tone of politics at the time, and I don’t see any opportunities right now to get involved again, but I would love to,” Boyd shared.
