Neal Boyd, the popular opera singer who won America’s Got Talent Season 3, was found dead on Sunday in Sikeston, Missouri.
He was 42 years old.
According to the Scott County Coroner, per E! News, Boyd passed away at his mother’s home at 6:26 p.m. yesterday.
His mom reportedly found him unresponsive and call 911.
Paramedics later arrived on the scene and performed their tests, only pronounce him deceased a short while later.
Having delved into the issue of this artist’s health, E! News reports that Boyd had been seeing numerous doctors over the past few months and week.
He was in heart failure, kidney failure, and had liver disease.
E! also writes that has been cremated.
“Neal was on a CPAP machine and when EMS got there, they put the monitor on him and confirmed he was deceased,” the coroner continued told People Magazine, adding that “Neal had some medical issues.”
Born and raised in Sikeston, Boyd developed his surprising passion for opera music when he was in middle school.
He graduated from high school in 1994 and proceeded to earn a degree in speech communications at Southeast Missouri State University, along with a degree in music at the University of Missouri—Columbia.
In 2009, after coming out on top on America’s Got Talent, Boyd released his debut album, “My American Dream.”
The album debuted at number three on the Top Classical Albums chart.
Boyd also ran for an empty seat in the Missouri House of Representatives as a Republican in 2011 and actually sang the national anthem at the 2012 Republican National Convention as well.
The Scott County Coroner told People that given “the history of his medical condition, there was no reason” to perform an autopsy.
“Like I said, he had a number of health issues, and a lot of that would be attributed to Neil’s weight,” the coroner added.
Tweeted former America’s Got Talent judge Piers Morgan upon learning of Boyd’s fate:
“Very sad to hear that Neal Boyd, Season 3 winner of @AGT, has died at 42 from heart failure. Lovely guy with a wonderful voice. RIP.”
In an interview with the Southeast Missourian published in February, Boyd described a serious car accident in which he had recently been involved as being “a very, very, very bad wreck,” adding that he “shattered a lot of bones and shattered my hip, which has left me almost unable to use that leg for now.”
But the singer tried to remain hopeful.
In addition to focusing on his “slow” recovery, Boyd told this publication that he was writing “uplifting” music for a new album, which was scheduled to be released in 2019.
May he rest in peace.
