Maya Neelakantan: Indian girl hailed as ‘Rock Goddess’ after AGT performance
Who is Maya Neelakantan? A 10-year-old Indian origin girl delivered stunning performance on the latest episode of “America’s Got Talent,” demonstrating her love for rock classic with an Indian twist.
Neelakantan, who is well-known on Instagram for her metal renditions, mesmerised the crowd with Papa Roach’s “Last Resort”, which was filled with Carnatic elements. Everyone in the audience was enthralled by her stunning performance.
The Chennai girl stood out from other rock musicians, donning traditional Ghagra and the dazzling bindi on her forehead during the AGT audition.
All four judges gave her a standing ovation following her 100-second performance. A pleasantly surprised Sogia Vargera questioned, “Maya, are you sure you’re 10 years old?” Neelakantan answered, “I think so,” with a sly, apprehensive smile.
After watching her rocking performance, Simon Cowell had just one word to describe her head-banging artistry: “Whoa!”
According to Cowell, the Indian girl kicked off her performance by strumming slowly, but “turned into this rock goddess”.
“You know what I love about this audition, you just weren’t expecting this. You were so shy, and you’re 10! And then you turned into, like, this rock goddess,” he said. Cowell went on to share his personal guitar-learning experience, saying, “I gave up playing guitar, actually no my teacher gave up on me.”
Howie Mandel, a fellow panelist, precisely predicted, “I think you just picked yourself up a viral moment.” When Mandel asked her about her musical inspirations, she mentioned Adam Jones (Tool) and Gary Holt (Exodus, Slayer).
Heidi Klum also acknowledged Maya’s talent and praised her as “gutsy and incredible.”
Several media outlets have covered her electric audition and even the clip of her amazing performance has gone viral on social media.
Neelakantan has a YouTube channel which is run by her parents. She posted a video of her performance from the show on YouTube and wrote, “What an honor that I got to play for the first time on stage and it’s on America’s Got Talent! Thank you for creating an unforgettable memory for me!!”
Maya Neelakantan receives gift from Gary Holt
Neelakantan’s rock and metal covers, which include songs by Tool, Metallica, and Slayer, have made her popular on social media.
In 2022, she impressed Adam Jones, Tool’s guitarist, with her rendition of Tool’s “7empest.”
Neelakantan received a gift from Gary Holt when she first met with him at his residence in March. On her Instagram page, she posted a video to describe meeting her idol, jamming with her, and receiving a guitar from his collection as a gift.
She called their meeting “the greatest day of her life” in one of her YouTube videos. With the gifted musical instrument, she has created mashups of Tool songs.