By Sarah Calams
LOS ANGELES — After spending nearly four decades in prison for a crime he didn’t commit, Archie Williams was able to fulfill one of his lifelong dreams: auditioning for “America’s Got Talent.”
Williams, 59, was sentenced to life without parole for a 1982 rape and stabbing of a woman at her Baton Rouge, Louisiana, home. He was identified in a photo lineup, but there was no other evidence supporting his guilt, Today.com reported.
“At the trial, none of the fingerprints at the scene matched mine,” he said. “Three people testified that I was at home, but they wanted somebody to pay. I was sentenced to life and 80 years without the possibility of parole or probation.”
Last year, Williams was exonerated after fingerprint technology matched another man to the crime.
During his audition, he sang “Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me” by Elton John. After finishing, he received a standing ovation.
“Archie, I will never, ever listen to that song in the same way ever again after you sang that,” judge Simon Cowell said. “It took on a whole new meaning for me. By the way, you have a really good voice. This is an audition I will never forget for the whole of my life.”
You can watch his audition below.