‘AGT’ had seen many rock performances but this 11-year-old guitarist’s act was truly one-of-a-kind
Every now and then 'America’s Got Talent' gets a person who completely owns the floor and has the audience stumped. Such was the case with Maya Neelakantan, an 11-year-old guitar player born in India to an Australian mother and an Indian father. Maya was part of the Season 19 auditions of 'America’s Got Talent' broadcast on 25 June 2024. She performed a mesmerizing Carnatic-metal fusion performance of 'Last Resort' by Papa Roach that had the audience's and the judges' eyes glued to Maya as they were in awe of her lightning-fast fingerwork.
She started with gentle guitar notes reminiscent of a sitar, but then, as the background drums thundered in, Maya launched into a blistering guitar shred, tearing through the cover of 'Last Resort'. The electrifying transition left both the audience and the judges utterly stunned. The performance quickly went viral, amassing 3.9 million views on YouTube and catapulting Maya to global fame. Even Papa Roach themselves were impressed, commenting on Instagram, “Let’s gooo!! Absolutely killed it, Maya!” Gibson Guitars' official Instagram account also celebrated her success, posting, “CONGRATULATIONS MAYA!! YOU ROCK.”
Oh My God
— anand mahindra (@anandmahindra) June 29, 2024
Maya Neelakantan is only 10 years old. 10!
Yes, Simon, she’s a Rock Goddess.
From the land of Goddesses.
We have to get her back here to do her stuff at the @mahindrablues !@jaytweetshah @vgjairam pic.twitter.com/sRNHPBondg
Meanwhile, Maya’s rising stardom resonated deeply in her home country of India. Anand Mahindra, chairman of an Indian multinational conglomerate, Mahindra Group, posted her performance on Twitter while calling her a “Rock Goddess. From the land of Goddesses.” He even extended an invitation for her to perform at the Mahindra Blues Festival, an annual music event held in Mumbai, India. Despite being loved by judges and the audience alike, sadly Maya did not win Season 19 of ‘America’s Got Talent.’ She progressed to the quarterfinals and delivered an explosive performance there as well. However, she got eliminated in that round and didn’t make it to the semifinals.
That said, Maya’s performance in the quarter-finals was nothing short of historic, as she got permission from none other than the actual Metallica band to perform ‘Master of Puppets,’ which is one of the most famous songs by Metallica. Simon Cowell was really impressed with her performance, giving her the name ‘Rock Goddess,’ as he said, "I gotta say a big, big thank you to Metallica for giving you that song. That doesn't happen very often." Since her appearance in 'America's Got Talent', Maya has gone on to perform with some of the most legendary guitarists on the planet. She met Gary Holt, the guitarist of Exodus and Slayer before she even came to 'AGT', Yahoo Entertainment reported.
She performed live with Testament in their Las Vegas concert and met Jason Becker, who’s a legendary guitar player and composer. She even jammed live on stage with Exodus, as per MetalSucks. She has been documenting her experiences and honing her guitar skills, uploading everything on her YouTube channel and Instagram. As of writing, she has 116,000 subscribers on YouTube and 104,000 followers on YouTube. She continues to post various guitar covers while documenting her life’s journey.