This week’s episode of “America’s Got Talent” will feature a Postal Service retiree who is part of a 1960s soul group on the comeback trail.
Harold “Sundance” Thomas is a member of the Masqueraders, a group that hit the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1968 with “I Ain’t Got to Love Nobody Else.”
The Masqueraders eventually parted ways, and Thomas began a 15-year postal career as a mail handler in Memphis, TN.
“The Postal Service was a good experience for me,” Thomas said. “It settled me down after those years in the entertainment world.”
Thomas retired in 2000. He has now reunited with fellow Masqueraders Sam Hutchins and Robert “Tex” Wrightsil for a second shot at fame.
The trio recently completed an on-air audition for “America’s Got Talent,” NBC’s weekly talent competition, where they wore matching black cowboy hats and sang Sam Cooke’s “A Change is Going to Come.”
The performance received enthusiastic praise from the show’s celebrity judges — Simon Cowell, Howie Mandel, Heidi Klum and Mel B.
“All our lives, that’s the moment we wanted,” Thomas said. “It’s a dream come true, and it’s not over yet.”
The Masqueraders are scheduled to perform again in the “America’s Got Talent” installment airing Tuesday, July 18, at 8 p.m. EDT. The trio is a contender for the show’s $1 million prize, which will be awarded at the end of the season.
“We believed we had the talent to go places,” Thomas said. “This kind of exposure — it’s what we always dreamed of.”