Neal E Boyd

Early life

Neal E. Boyd grew up in Sikeston, Missouri, the son of an African American man and a white woman. Boyd and his brother were raised by their single mother in poverty. He discovered operatic music in junior high school when his older brother was doing a school project involving classical music and brought home a CD of the Three Tenors. Boyd was so enamored by the passion and skill of the famous trio that he started learning to sing in Luciano Pavarotti's and Plácido Domingo's operatic styles. Boyd graduated from Sikeston High School in May 1994, where he was senior class president.

He has a bachelor's degree in speech communications from Southeast Missouri State University in Cape Girardeau, Missouri (May 2001), a bachelor's degree in music from the University of Missouri–Columbia in Columbia, Missouri (May 2001) and a master's degree in management from the online University of Phoenix. Boyd was president of the Student Senate at Southeast Missouri State University, where he was also a member of Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity. While in college, Boyd interned at the capitol in Jefferson City, Missouri.

He was the winner of the Music Teachers National Association (MTNA) Vocal Collegiate Championship in 2000 while in the voice studio of Professor Ann Harrell of University of Missouri–Columbia. This national win led to his solo debut at New York City's famed Carnegie Hall in March 2001.

After teaching music for the 2001–2002 school year in his hometown of Sikeston, Missouri, in 2002, he attended the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston to study opera. This led to a role as the slave "York" in Michael Ching's World Premier Opera "Corps of Discovery, A Musical Journey," commissioned by University of Missouri–Columbia.

America's Got Talent

Boyd was the winner of America's Got Talent in 2008, and was awarded the $1-million prize and a headline show in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Post Talent

Neal was awarded the $1-million prize and a headline show in Las Vegas hosted by Jerry Springer.

On October 2008, Neal's hometown declared the month of October "Neal E. Boyd Month."

Neal signed to Decca Records and released his debut album, My American Dream, on June 23, 2009, the day of the fourth season premiere of America's Got Talent. It debuted at #195 on the Billboard 200 and #3 on the Top Classical Albums Chart.

On March 10, 2010, Neal performed for the 44th U.S. President, Barack Obama while visiting Missouri. Since 2000, Boyd has also performed for Presidents George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush.

Neal is the co-owner of Cox & Boyd Insurance Solutions, an insurance agency with locations in St Louis and Sikeston Missouri, and the Vice President of sales for Voluntary Benefit Services which is located in St. Louis, Missouri.

Politics

Boyd is a Republican. He ran for a seat in the Missouri House of Representatives in 2012, but lost to Democrat Steve Hodges by 66 to 34%. On September 5, 2013 Boyd announced that he would again seek to be elected to the Missouri House of Representatives from the 149th district in 2014. He was defeated in the August 2014 Republican primary by Don Rone, who won the seat in the November general election.

In 2000, he sang at the memorial service for former Missouri Governor Mel Carnahan who died in a plane crash during his U.S. Senate run against then Senator and later U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft.

In 2005, he sang the National Anthem at the inauguration of Missouri Governor Matt Blunt.

On August 28, 2012, Boyd performed Lee Greenwood's "God Bless the USA" at the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Florida.

Various Missouri state and local officials nicknamed Boyd "The Voice of Missouri" due to his appearances at many prominent statewide events.