AGT Deaths: Contestants We Lost on America’s Got Talent
NBC’s reality television show America’s Got Talent has been a part of our lives for nearly two decades, premiering in the summer of 2006. Season after season, viewers fall in love with countless auditionees, which is why it’s so heartbreaking when one of them finally passes away. In our photo gallery below, we take a moment to remember all the talented performers who left us too soon, including Nightbirde (real name Jane Kristen Marczewski). ‘AGT’ Deaths: Remembering the Contestants We Lost on ‘America’s Got Talent’ was originally published in March 2022. All names listed here are in alphabetical order. The reality show’s 19th season premiered in May 2024.
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Scott Alexander
Photo credit: NBC
This magician rose to fame during the sixth season of “AGT,” where he made it to the quarterfinals. After the show, Scott continued with his magic skills and even appeared in the second season of “Penn & Teller: Fool Us.” His wife announced that he died on February 5, 2023, at the age of 52 after suffering a stroke during a magic performance on a cruise ship.
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Bernie Barker
Photo credit: NBC
Bernie’s death in 2007 was the result of his lost battle with prostate cancer. Just a year earlier, during the show’s first season, he shocked the judges with his cheeky stripper performance to the song “She Bangs.” He received two “yes” votes, but was eliminated in the next round.
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Neal E. Boyd
Photo credit: NBC
Neal died in 2018 at the age of 42 from heart failure, kidney failure and liver disease. America couldn’t get enough of this opera singer and voted him the millionaire winner of the third season in 2008. His opera colleague Paul Potts dedicated one of his “AGT: The Champions” performances to Neal in 2019.
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Michael Paul Cathers (Geechy guy)
Photo credit: NBC
This low-energy comedian from Season 6 of AGT was ultimately eliminated in the quarterfinals after Piers Morgan eliminated him. He is in the Guinness Book of World Records for telling the most jokes (676) in one hour. Geechy Guy died on September 7, 2023.
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Tim Fort (The Kinetic King)
Photo credit: NBC
Tim died in 2016 at the age of 51 after suffering a series of strokes. His amazing chain reactions took him to the quarterfinals of AGT in 2011, where he was eliminated. The aptly named “The Kinetic King” then returned as a wildcard in the semifinals.
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Skilyr Hicks
Photo credit: NBC
Skilyr died in December 2021 of a suspected drug overdose. The singer and guitarist sang an original song during her 2013 audition (when she was just 14 years old) and received four “yes” votes from the judges. Skilyr was eventually eliminated before the live shows began.
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Jane Kristen Marczewski (Nightbird)
Photo credit: Trae Patton/NBC
Nightbirde lost her four-year battle with cancer in February 2022 at the age of 31. She became an instant sensation when she auditioned in 2021 singing her original song “It’s Okay,” winning Simon Cowell’s Golden Buzzer. “It’s important that everyone knows that I am so much more than the bad things that have happened to me,” she explained at her audition. Nightbirde withdrew from the show when her cancer returned, but the judges later checked in with her live via Zoom.
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Hannibal means
Photo credit: NBC
This deep-voiced singer made it to the quarterfinals of season five, where he was eliminated after mixed reviews. After his bombastic performance of “Circle of Life,” for which he made all the hats, Howie Mandel asked him what planet he was from. Hannibal Means died on February 10, 2021.
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Brandon Rogers
Photo credit: NBC
Brandon died in a tragic car accident in 2017 before his audition was even shown to an audience. AGT got permission from the family to air the 29-year-old doctor’s performance of “Ribbon In The Sky” on television anyway, and it has since gone viral.
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Frances Lee Strong (Grandma Lee)
Photo credit: NBC
Grandma Lee died in 2020, six months after falling and breaking her hip. The 85-year-old stand-up comedian made waves in 2009 with her cheeky act that took her to the season finale of “AGT.” She remains one of the show’s most popular (and original) comedians.
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