It is a weird feeling when the confetti cannon goes off and Terry Crews—or Nick Cannon, if you’re old school—screams a name that changes someone's life forever. Most of us just see the tears, the hug, and the shiny trophy. Then we change the channel to the local news and go to bed. But for the people on the winners of agt list, that moment is basically the start of a very strange, very public experiment in fame.
I’ve spent way too much time tracking these careers. Honestly, it's fascinating how one person ends up with a billion-dollar residency while another goes back to their day job within eighteen months. It isn't always about who was the most talented. Sometimes, it is just about who could actually handle the Vegas machine.
The Reality of the Million Dollar Prize
Before we get into the names, let's kill one big myth. Nobody actually gets a giant $1,000,000 check they can just go buy a private island with the next morning. If you read the fine print at the end of the episodes—it's there for like three seconds—the prize is an annuity paid out over 40 years. That is roughly $25,000 a year before the IRS takes their cut.
You can take the "present cash value," which is usually closer to $300,000. It is life-changing money, sure, but it isn't "retire on a yacht" money. That’s why the real winners are the ones who turn that Vegas residency into a long-term career.
Every Season Winner: The Complete List
Looking back at the winners of agt list, you can see how the show’s taste has shifted from singers to magicians to... well, a lot of dogs and ventriloquists.
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- Season 1 (2006): Bianca Ryan. She was 11. She had a voice that sounded like it belonged to a 40-year-old soul singer. She’s still making music today, though she had a scary health struggle with a paralyzed vocal cord a few years back.
- Season 2 (2007): Terry Fator. Probably the most successful winner in the history of the show. He signed a $100 million deal with The Mirage in Las Vegas. He basically proved that ventriloquism wasn't just for birthday parties.
- Season 3 (2008): Neal E. Boyd. The opera singer with a massive heart. Sadly, Neal passed away in 2018, but he’s still remembered as one of the kindest souls to ever grace the stage.
- Season 4 (2009): Kevin Skinner. The country singer. His story is a bit quieter; he struggled with the spotlight and mostly stepped away from the public eye after his win.
- Season 5 (2010): Michael Grimm. He famously beat out Jackie Evancho in a massive upset. Michael is still a Vegas staple, playing soulful blues and roots music.
- Season 6 (2011): Landau Eugene Murphy Jr. The car wash worker who sounded exactly like Frank Sinatra. He actually hit #1 on the Billboard Jazz charts after the show.
- Season 7 (2012): Olate Dogs. Our first non-human winners. Richard and Nicholas Olate led a troupe of rescue dogs that did backflips and rode scooters.
- Season 8 (2013): Kenichi Ebina. This guy was a "matrix-style" dancer from Japan. His audition is still one of the most-watched clips on YouTube.
- Season 9 (2014): Mat Franco. The first magician to win. He’s got his own theater at The LINQ in Vegas now.
- Season 10 (2015): Paul Zerdin. Another ventriloquist, this time from the UK. He brought a very different, slightly edgier vibe than Terry Fator.
- Season 11 (2016): Grace VanderWaal. The girl with the ukulele. Simon Cowell called her the next Taylor Swift. She’s since moved into acting, starring in Disney’s Stargirl.
- Season 12 (2017): Darci Lynne. The third ventriloquist. She was a kid who could sing opera without moving her lips. Just wild talent.
- Season 13 (2018): Shin Lim. Sleight-of-hand magic. No big boxes, no tigers, just cards. He’s so good he won the first season of AGT: The Champions right after his regular win.
- Season 14 (2019): Kodi Lee. A blind and autistic musical prodigy. There wasn't a dry eye in the building when he played. He’s still performing at the AGT Live show in Vegas.
- Season 15 (2020): Brandon Leake. The first poet. This was a huge shift for the show, proving you don't need a "spectacle" to win hearts.
- Season 16 (2021): Dustin Tavella. A magician who used storytelling and his family’s adoption journey as part of the act.
- Season 17 (2022): The Mayyas. An incredible all-female dance troupe from Lebanon. Their precision was honestly terrifying.
- Season 18 (2023): Adrian Stoica and Hurricane. Another dog act! Hurricane is a border collie with better comedic timing than most humans.
- Season 19 (2024): Richard Goodall. The "Singing Janitor." He won everyone over with his rendition of "Don't Stop Believin'." Despite the win, he famously said he was keeping his job as a school janitor for the benefits. Talk about staying grounded.
- Season 20 (2025): Jessica Sanchez. A familiar face for reality TV fans. She won the landmark 20th season, beating out freestyle rapper Chris Turner in a tight finale.
Why Certain Acts Dominate the List
If you look at the winners of agt list, you’ll notice a pattern. Magic and ventriloquism do exceptionally well. Why? Because you can’t get that anywhere else.
If you’re a great singer, you go to The Voice or American Idol. But if you’re a guy who can make a puppet sing "At Last" or a magician who can make a card appear inside a sealed orange, America's Got Talent is the only stage for you.
Vegas producers love these acts because they are "resident-ready." You can build a whole theater around Shin Lim or Terry Fator. It’s a lot harder to build a 90-minute nightly show around a singer who only has one or two original songs.
The "Curse" of the Singer
Kinda funny, right? The show started as a search for the next big star, and usually, that meant a singer. But singers often have the hardest time after the show. Bianca Ryan and Kevin Skinner struggled to find a lane in a crowded music industry.
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The ones who survived, like Grace VanderWaal, had to pivot. Grace basically rebranded herself as an indie artist, distancing herself from the "cute kid with a ukulele" image. It’s a tough transition when millions of people remember you as a 12-year-old.
What Really Matters: The "Champions" Effect
In the last few years, the winners of agt list has become a bit more complicated with spin-offs like All-Stars, The Champions, and Fantasy League.
Shin Lim is widely considered the "GOAT" (Greatest of All Time) because he won Season 13 and then immediately beat out other winners in The Champions. It’s one thing to beat a bunch of amateurs. It’s another thing to beat Terry Fator and Darci Lynne.
The Richard Goodall Phenomenon
Richard Goodall’s win in 2024 changed the vibe of the show again. People were tired of "polished" professionals. They wanted the underdog. Richard, a guy who had been a janitor for 23 years, represented that "it could be you" dream that the show was originally built on.
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Even though he's on the official winners of agt list, he’s one of the few who didn't immediately move to a mansion in Malibu. He went back to Terre Haute, Indiana. He’s playing shows, sure, but he’s still the same guy.
The Lessons We Can Learn
If you're looking at this list and thinking about auditioning, or if you're just a superfan, here is the takeaway. Winning is just the "Golden Ticket." What you do with the next six months determines if you stay on the list or become a trivia question.
- Vegas is the goal. If you can’t do a 90-minute show, your win might fizzle out.
- The contract is heavy. NBC and the production companies have a lot of control over winners for the first year or two.
- Audience connection beats technical skill. Some of the most "talented" people on the show lost because the audience didn't "know" them. People vote for stories, not just high notes.
Actionable Next Steps:
To really understand how these careers evolve, go watch the "Where Are They Now" specials on Peacock. Specifically, look for the Season 2 episode featuring Terry Fator. It’s the blueprint for how to turn a reality show win into a literal empire. If you're a fan of the newer winners, follow Richard Goodall on social media; he’s surprisingly active and shows the "real" side of what happens after the show ends.