Indiana Janitor Wows Students & the World With His Golden Pipes

The odds are very good that on any given night, at any given karaoke bar across the great nation, there will be somebody, or a group of somebodies, that tries to sing the Journey song "Don't Stop Believing." The odds are also very good that their performance will NOT be very good. The fact is, Steve Perry is an amazing singer, a once-in-a-generation kind of talent, and he is not easy to sing along with, and most people should not try. Richard Goodall, however, is not most people.

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Richard is the janitor at Davis Park Elementary School in Terre Haute, Indiana. The 53-year-old has been keeping schools clean and students entertained for over 20 years. And now, people outside of Vigo County, and all around the world are hearing his amazing voice for the first time thanks to TikTok. Richard has even gotten the attention of Steve Perry, himself.

[I couldn't live with myself if I didn't take advantage of this opportunity to share the following from 1998's Baseketball. There are a couple of cuss words, just so you know.]

Richard stepped on stage during a recent school assembly, rocking a pair of jeans, sneakers, a ball cap, and a stereotypically large set of keys hanging from his belt. He grabbed the microphone as the music for "Don't Stop Believing" started to play. When you see/hear what followed, you will understand why the video has gone viral.

@mdenehie #fyp #schooljanitors #blowhimup #blesshissoul #amazing ♬ To use this video in a commercial player or in b - Mariah Elizabeth Den

I think my favorite part of the video comes right after the first line of the song, when someone near the camera says "Oh, God" (or something like that). You can hear the surprise in her voice.

And just for some comparison to the original...

Richard has an amazing voice, there is no doubt about that, but I think the fact that such an amazing voice came from such an unassuming-looking fella is what made the clip go viral. Nobody expected that, and that's why we all love it. Richard chose the 1981 Journey song for a reason, he says, “I just wanted them (the group of graduating 5th graders) to not stop believing and thinking they can do whatever they want.”