America’s Got Talent has become a staple of NBC’s summer lineup over the years since its premiere in 2006, and grew into such a hit that it launched three spinoffs for U.S. audiences and is currently in the midst of Season 18. A big twist was added in Season 9 with the debut of the Golden Buzzer, which allows each of the judges and the host to automatically advance an act of their choosing to the next stage of competition. So, as Season 18 continues, let’s look at all the America’s Got Talent winners who won a Golden Buzzer first!
The Golden Buzzer was introduced on America’s Got Talent in 2014, and the show hasn’t been the same since, with many of the champions across the original series and its spinoffs over the years getting a boost early on, starting with a ventriloquist!
Paul Zerdin - AGT Season 10
Ventriloquist Paul Zerdin was the first AGT contestant to get a Golden Buzzer and then go on to win the whole season. The panel of judges for Season 10 in 2015 was a pre-Simon Cowell lineup of Howard Stern, Heidi Klum, Mel B, and Howie Mandel, with Nick Cannon as host, but Zerdin received his buzzer from guest judge Marlon Wayans in the Judge Cuts round of the competition after showing off his skills with his puppet baby. To date, he is the only winner to get the honor from a guest judge. He returned for America’s Got Talent: The Champions.
Grace VanderWaal - AGT Season 11
At the age of twelve in 2016, Grace VanderWaal and her ukulele won over Season 11 audiences early on, then went on to win the grand prize of $1 million and headlining a stage show in Las Vegas. She got a Golden Buzzer boost from Howie Mandel in the Audition round after singing an original song. Original songs for auditions don’t always fly with Simon Cowell, but he – in his first season as AGT judge – joked that he was annoyed he hadn’t hit the button himself instead of Mandel, and predicted that she’d be the next Taylor Swift.
Darci Lynne Farmer - AGT Season 12
Darci Lynne Farmer kept the Golden Buzzer streak running when she became AGT champion in 2017 at the age of 12. The young ventriloquist (who had been practicing the art for just two years) overcame her shyness with her puppet Petunia, and she took the stage with her dream of keeping ventriloquism alive. After Darci Lynne (as Petunia) sang George Gershwin’s “Summertime” in her audition, Mel B hit the buzzer and advanced her as a way of telling her how amazing the performance was. Following her Season 12 victory, Darci Lynne would go on to sing with a famous Muppet and appear in America’s Got Talent: The Champions.
Kodi Lee - AGT Season 14
Kodi Lee came to AGT in 2019 to sing and play the piano. Before he sat down at the instrument for his audition, his mom told his story: he’s blind and autistic but loved music from an early age and was meant to be an entertainer. Nobody could doubt his talents as an entertainer once he began to play and sing Leon Russell’s “A Song For You” so well that some of the judges’ jaws literally dropped. Gabrielle Union – in her first and only season as an AGT judge – hit the Golden Buzzer for him, and his victory in Season 14 was arguably one of the least surprising but most celebrated in AGT history. He would later return for AGT: All-Stars.
V.Unbeatable - AGT: Champions Season 2
Dance group V.Unbeatable originally came to America’s Got Talent for Season 14 and even got a Golden Buzzer from guest judge Dwyane Wade. That season was of course eventually won by Kodi Lee, but that wasn’t the end of V.Unbeatable's journey. The dance group from India returned in Season 2 of America’s Got Talent: The Champions in early 2020, when Britain’s Got Talent’s Alesha Dixon joined Howie Mandel, Heidi Klum, and Simon Cowell to judge. It was Mandel who hit the buzzer in Champions Season 2 to send them to the finale, and they ultimately came out on top of the competition.
Brandon Leake - AGT Season 15
Brandon Leake came to America’s Got Talent in 2020 as a spoken word poet in a season that would be disrupted by COVID-19 production changes, and made an immediate impression on Howie Mandel with his audition poem about his late sister. The judge hit the Golden Buzzer to send Leake to the Quarterfinals, where Leake would prove that the pandemic production challenges couldn’t slow him down. The spoken word poet won Season 15 with a series of emotional readings that hit home with the judges... and clearly, also the voters from home by the end. Leake returned to the AGT stage as a competitor for America’s Got Talent: All-Stars.
Alfredo Silva's Cage Riders - AGT: Extreme Season 1
America’s Got Talent: Extreme has only run for one season at the time of this writing, but Alfredo Silva’s Cage Riders guaranteed that Extreme would be unforgettable back in early 2022. Their specialty was motorcycle stunts, and their audition involved riders on motorcycles in a cage, swerving terrifyingly close to an unprotected Alfredo Silva time and time again, before he pulled off a motorcycle stunt known as the “kiss of death.” While Simon Cowell was stressed about the danger level, Terry Crews shouted that it was “the best thing I’ve ever seen in my life!” The cage riders got the Golden Buzzer from Crews, and went on to win the whole season.
Mayyas - AGT Season 17
The most recent Golden Buzzer winner to become AGT champion was the dance group Mayyas, who came from Lebanon with hypnotic movements and choreography that easily made them a favorite to win even among the top contenders in 2022. The dancers received their buzzer from Sofia Vergara, and managed to overcome some significant training challenges to come out on top in Season 17. According to Terry Crews, the vote was extremely close between Mayyas, country singer Drake Milligan, and pole dancer Kristy Sellars, but the dancers more than earned the $1 million prize.
Will A Golden Buzzer Winner Be The Season 18 Champion?
Of the thirteen seasons of America’s Got Talent and its spinoffs that have aired since the introduction of the Golden Buzzer in 2014, eight have been won by a champion who first earned a buzzer and shower of confetti. The odds are clearly in the favor of anybody who wins over one of the judges or host Terry Crews enough to get their buzzer. The judges and host made AGT history with a group Golden Buzzer for Mzansi Youth Choir in the Season 18 premiere, so there are still five left to go!
Keep tuning in to NBC on Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET for new episodes of America’s Got Talent Season 18 to see who else gets an extra boost like Mzansi Youth Choir did with their take on Nightbirde’s “It’s OK.” You can also stream episodes next day with a Peacock Premium subscription!
