HOME / ENTERTAINMENT / TV

Is Simon Cowell angry with Harry Styles? 'AGT' judge praises Steel Panther's act dissing his protege on NBC show

'AGT' fans were left in shock after judge Simon Cowell praised Steel Panther's 'Death to Harry Styles' diss track

PASADENA, CALIFORNIA: Steel Panther was motivated to give their finest performance yet on the second qualifier of 'America's Got Talent', which aired on August 29. They stunned viewers and fans when they sang 'Death to Harry Styles' while Simon Cowell continued to laud the performance.

Steel Panther decided to boost the ante on their hit first audition by singing one of their favorite songs, which also happened to be one of their first.

For the show's family rating, "Death to All But Metal" had to be changed from its explicit original form, but they still managed to rock out for a full two minutes and had the entire theater clapping and singing the chorus with them.

Heidi Klum admitted that the entire room was clamoring for them and that she adores their complete look. Sofia Vergara was enthusiastic about the group and predicted that they would be one of the two favorites to proceed.

Simon Cowell loved that they take their act seriously, but not too seriously. He also stated that they were his favorite live act so far.

Fans quickly took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to share their astonishment after Simon praised the act that dissed his protege Harry Styles.

One viewer wrote, "Did this wannabe hair band just sing “death to Harry Styles”? This band is just f**king terrible."

Another person chimed in, "Watching #AGT and the rock band just called for death of Justin Bieber, Lady Gaga, and Harry styles during their song… and Simon said it was the best act yet, and Howie Mandel said it was in his top 10 AGT performances… and everyone clapped along in the audience! Wtf."

One quipped, "Death to Harry Stiles? @SimonCowell is not going to like that." While one viewer noted, "Simon love it? Nope. Harry Styles fans are going to be very mad."

One surprised fan tweeted, "Oooo, he just said, “Death to Harry Styles” on national tv. And in front of @SimonCowell."

Another person added, "Apparently Simon Cowell loved the song that featured the line "Death to Harry Styles." That may come back to bite him."

Steel Panther made minor changes to their lyrics for round two on ‘AGT'

Steel Panther created history last month when they went on the television show 'AGT' and cleared the first round of "auditions".

Andrew Daly of Metal Edge Mag recently interviewed Stix Zadinia about their plans for round two.

When asked whether Steel Panther is willing to change parts of their lyrics for their upcoming performance(s) on 'AGT', Stix said, "We’re going to do what we have to do to play within the sandbox of this situation."

"It’s just too good an opportunity for us to go, “We’re not going to do it because we don’t want to change this lyric.” So, if there are minor changes in lyrics that we have to make, none of us have a problem with it," he further said. 

"I don’t want to give it away, but we’re down to three songs we might play. You’ll have to see what we choose once we’re out for the second round," Stix added.

When will 'AGT' Season 18 Qualifier 3 air?

Eleven artists take the stage live from the Pasadena Civic Auditorium on September 5, 2023, with the audience voting for their favorite performance to advance to the final round.

'America's Got Talent' Season 18 now airs both Tuesdays and Wednesdays on NBC at 8 pm ET.