Singer Neal Boyd dies after struggle with health issues

Neal Boyd, who rose to stardom with his robust, operatic voice, died Sunday night at his mother�s home in Sikeston, Missouri, where he had been struggling with numerous health problems. He was 42.

Scott County Coroner Scott Amick said Boyd died at 6:26 p.m. Boyd�s mother found him unresponsive and he was pronounced dead at the scene, Amick said.

Amick said Boyd died of natural causes.

A Sikeston native, Boyd was the winner of �America�s Got Talent� television show in 2008 and its $1 million prize.

Amick said Boyd suffered from heart failure, kidney failure and liver failure.

His death sparked an outpouring of sympathy on social media. Former �America�s Got Talent� judge Piers Morgan wrote on Twitter, �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.�

Boyd released the album �My American Dream� in 2009, and performed at the 2012 Republican National Convention in Tampa, Florida.

Boyd also ran unsuccessfully as a Republican for a Missouri House of Representatives seat, losing in the general election in 2012 and in the primary in 2014.

The talented singer was seriously injured in an auto accident in January 2017 that put his singing career on pause.

But in February, Boyd told the Southeast Missourian his health was improving and he was using his recovery time to write and work on his next album.

�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 said at the time. �We�re talking with an orthopedist about possibly replacing the hip.�

Boyd added, �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 said he was focused on getting better and writing music with his writing partners in California.

�In the Middle of it All,� Boyd�s third album, was still in production in February. Boyd told the Southeast Missourian the album would be �uplifting.�

Jason LeGrand was a friend and fellow fraternity brother at Southeast Missouri State University.

�I have been devastated by this,� said LeGrand, who heads up fundraising efforts at the University of California-Davis veterinary school.

LeGrand said Boyd was �a very genuine person� who was �happy and positive.�

LeGrand added, �In addition to being a talented performer, he had the ability to make people feel they were the most important person in the room.�

Boyd readily talked about growing up poor and being �mixed race,� LeGrand recalled.

Winning the nationwide talent show didn�t change his personality, LeGrand said. �He genuinely cared about people.�

Boyd graduated with degrees from Southeast Missouri State University and the University of Missouri-Columbia in 2001.

He earned his bachelor�s degree in speech communication from Southeast with minors in music and political science. He received more vocal training and earned a degree in music from the University of Missouri.

At Southeast, Boyd studied voice under Southeast music faculty member Chris Goeke. Boyd was �a wonderful student and, of course, immensely talented,� Goeke said.

He added Boyd was �a really nice person. He cared about people.�

His talent led him to perform at Carnegie Hall in New York City and the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.

Boyd, despite the acclaim, was �a private person� in many ways, particularly when it came to his health, LeGrand said. �He put on a brave front.�

State Rep. Holly Rehder, a Scott County Republican, described Boyd as a friend.

�We were both raised in Sikeston,� she said, adding she and Boyd came from humble homes.

Boyd was raised by a single mother.

�He loved his mother more than the world,� Rehder said.

�He had such a big heart,� Rehder said. �He was such a genuine spirit,� she recalled.

In 2013, Boyd proposed state lawmakers adopt his operatic song as the official state anthem. Missouri has an official song, the �Missouri Waltz,� which received its designation in 1949.

Boyd�s �Missouri Anthem� is a three-minute song referencing the state�s �courage and strength,� its rivers, eagles, dogwoods and pine trees and proclaims �Missouri�s the heart of a grateful nation,� The Associated Press reported five years ago.

Rehder sponsored legislation to designate the song as the state�s anthem, but lawmakers never adopted the measure.

Rehder said Monday she may raise the issue again in the next legislative session in memory of her late friend.

State Rep. Donna Lichtenegger, R-Jackson, was a longtime friend of Boyd.

�I first met him when he was in choir in Sikeston,� she said.

�I just kept up with him,� she said, adding Boyd was active in the College Republicans group as a student at Southeast.

�I have followed his career for a long time. I know people know him for his voice,� said Lichtenegger, but she added he was �an extraordinary person.�

Said Lichtenegger, �He not only was a good entertainer, he was a great person. �He cared about his family and he loved the Lord.�

The Republican lawmaker remembered Boyd�s infectious smile.

�He had a smile that could bright up a room,� she said. �He will be greatly, greatly missed.�

mbliss@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3641

---

Neal E. Boyd is a musician from Sikeston, Missouri, who in 2008 earned national fame and adoration after winning the talent competition show �America�s Got Talent.� Here is a timeline of some of his life�s key moments and stories.

November 1975

Boyd was born to mother Esther Boyd in Sikeston. Esther would raise Neal and his older brother, Michael, as a single mother.

May 1994

Boyd graduates from Sikeston High School after winning awards as a high school choir student and becoming high school class president.

November 1994

Boyd wins his first college singing award as a freshman at Southeast Missouri State University � a second place in the College Men Lower Division of the National Association of Teachers of Singing Missouri Student Auditions. While at Southeast, Boyd studied voice under Chris Goeke.

August 1999

Boyd transfers to the University of Missouri-Columbia to continue his vocal studies under teacher Ann Harrell.

June 2000

Boyd takes first place in the National Collegiate Artist Voice Competition of the Music Teachers National Association in Minneapolis. Boyd took first place with a 40-minute, 12 song performance.

October 2000

Boyd sings a solo at the memorial service for former Gov. Mel Carnahan, who was killed earlier that month in a plane crash while campaigning for the U.S. Senate. While in college, Boyd interned at the Capitol in Jefferson City, Missouri.

2001

Boyd graduates from both Southeast Missouri State University and the University of Missouri-Columbia.

March 2001

Boyd makes his debut at Carnegie Hall in New York City, something former voice teacher Goeke calls a significant event in the career of any singer hoping for a career in music.

June 2001

Boyd sings The National Anthem at a St. Louis Cardinals home game.

2001-2002

Boyd spends a year teaching music appreciation as an assistant director of three vocal ensembles in the Sikeston public school system.

June 2002

Boyd begins a graduate program at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston. It was during his studies the tenor would be temporarily sidelined with a vocal infection that threatened to end his singing career.

March 2002

Boyd performs for a second time at Carnegie Hall and also is featured at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.

May 2003

Boyd portrays York, William Clark�s slave during the famous exploration of the American west, in the premiere of the musical �Corps of Discovery� at the University of Missouri-Columbia. The play was commissioned by the university to celebrate the Lewis and Clark expedition�s bicentennial.

August 2003

A few Sikeston residents organize a concert at which Boyd performs to raise money for his studies at the New England Conservatory of Music.

January 2005

Boyd sings the national anthem at the inauguration of Gov. Matt Blunt.

June 2008

Boyd sings Puccini�s �Nessun Dorma� before a national audience on the first episode of season three of NBC�s talent competition show �America�s Got Talent.� The show�s three judges and host Jerry Springer praised Boyd�s ability and the producers made his story and performance the climax of the two-hour show.

Oct. 1, 2008

Boyd is declared the winner of �America�s Got Talent,� taking home a grand prize of $1 million. After months of tension as Boyd performed in preliminary rounds, he chose to return to his roots, again singing �Nessun Dorma,� the Puccini aria he sang on the first episode of the season.

Oct. 25, 2008

Boyd receives a Distinguished Service Award from Southeast Missouri State University at the All Alumni Breakfast. He also rides in the university�s homecoming parade.

Nov. 25, 2008

Boyd speaks about his experiences on �America�s Got Talent� in front of family and friends at the Clinton Building in Sikeston during an event sponsored by the Sikeston Area of Chamber of Commerce. Boyd receives plaques from Sikeston, the Missouri House of Representatives and the chamber of commerce.

Dec. 3, 2008

Boyd is a featured performer on NBC�s Christmas special �Christmas in Rockefeller Center.� Boyd, along with Beyonce, Tony Bennett, the Jonas Brothers, Harry Connick Jr., David Cook and Rosie O�Donnell, perform from Rockefeller Center�s Art Deco plaza in the heart of Manhattan.

June 24, 2009

Boyd opens a benefit concert for the Kenny Rogers Children�s Center with Kenny Rogers at the Sikeston Field House.

September 2009

Boyd is briefly hospitalized in St. Louis for exhaustion. He experiences shortness of breath and a fever after returning from Las Vegas, where he performed two days earlier on the Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon. He checks himself into St. Luke�s Hospital.

Oct. 17, 2009

Boyd comes to Poplar Bluff, Missouri, to help tear the roof off Rodgers Theatre with his powerful tenor voice. Literally. Boyd donates all proceeds of his concert toward restoring the roof of the historic theater, estimated to cost $150,000.

December 2009

Surprising those attending Christmas at La Croix, an annual concert at Cape Girardeau�s La Croix United Methodist Church, Boyd sings several songs and stays after the concert to meet attendees and sign copies of his album �My American Dream.� Boyd has a history of friendship with the church dating back to 1994.

Feb. 5, 2010

It was cold and snowing outside, but Boyd is welcomed with warm applause when he appears with the Southeast Missouri Symphony Orchestra at a sold-out crowd of 940 at the Bedell Performance Hall on the River Campus.

March 10, 2010

Boyd sings for President Barack Obama at a fundraising event for Sen. Claire McCaskill in St. Louis.

May15, 2010

Boyd sings the alma mater and national anthem at Southeast Missouri State University�s spring commencement exercises.

Aug. 5, 2010

Boyd makes a guest appearance, presenting an area teenager with a diploma during the second annual graduation ceremony for the Missouri Division of Youth Services Southeast Region at Poplar Bluff. Unaware Boyd was waiting nearby to surprise him, Matthew Taylor, 17, of the Echo Day Treatment Center in Cape Girardeau, delivers the opening speech about how Boyd was his role model.

Oct. 3

At a red, white and blue decorated Arena Building, more than 200 people gather to support U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson and U.S. Rep. Roy Blunt, Republican candidate for U.S. Senate. Boyd is a surprise guest at the event and opens the annual picnic singing �Proud to be an American.�

September 2011

Boyd announces he had formed an exploratory committee and he plans to run as a Republican for the 160th House District seat being vacated by state Rep. Ellen Brandom, R-Sikeston, in 2012 due to term limits.

Oct. 27, 2011

Boyd backs out of his bid for a Missouri House seat, saying he needs to focus instead on getting his weight under control.

March 10, 2012

For a second time this election cycle, it was announced that Boyd would run for a seat in the Missouri House. Boyd decides to seek election as a Republican to the newly drawn 149th District.

Aug. 28, 2012

Boyd sings �God Bless the USA� at the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Florida.

Nov. 6, 2012

Boyd�s bid for the 149th House seat falls short, as he lost to Democrat Steve Hodges.

March 16, 2013

Boyd is the special guest at the second annual P.R.O.M. � People Rising Over Muscular Dystrophy � is an evening of dinner and dancing with a silent auction and raffles at the Isle Casino Cape Girardeau conference center.

Sept. 5, 2013

Boyd announces plans to run again for the 149th House District seat.

December 2013

Boyd releases his first Christmas album, �My Christmas Wish,� which he says is a tribute to faith, family and friends.

March 25, 2014

Boyd files for the 149th House District seat on the last day for filings. His primary opponent is Don Rone, former mayor of Portageville, Missouri.

Jan. 22, 2017

Boyd and his mother, Esther, are severely injured in a car accident in Scott County, Missouri.

June 10, 2018

Boyd dies from natural causes at the age of 42.