Maya Neelakantan, a guitar prodigy from India, wowed the judges and the audience at America has talent on Tuesday night's audition episode (June 25), performing a dazzling version of Papa Roach's “Last Resort.”
Upon taking the stage, the judges were surprised to learn that Maya was only 10 years old at the time of recording (she already turned 11), as she showed great maturity when describing her musical career.
Keeping with the metal style, he used an Adam Jones-model Gibson Les Paul guitar given to him by Tool's guitarist in 2022. His performance began with a few seconds of playing traditional Indian music before launching into “Last Resort,” as the judges and audience watched. and they applauded in amazement at his amazing skills.
When Maya finished, she received a standing ovation from the four judges and the audience, and Sofia Vergara immediately asked, “Maya, are you sure you're 10?”, to which Maya smiled and responded, “I think so! “
When Howie Mandel asked her about her inspirations, Maya responded: “One is Adam Jones from Tool. Also, Gary Holt, who is the guitarist for Exodus and Slayer.”
The judges continued to praise her performance and all four enthusiastically voted “yes” for Maya to advance to the next round.
Weeks ago on Instagram, Maya had posted about her encounter with Holt during the time she was in Los Angeles auditioning for AGTwriting: “I had the best weekend here in Los Angeles. For the first time I met Mr. Gary Holt and his wife, Mrs. Lisa Holt. They came all the way from Sacramento just to see me play in America has talent.”
Strong consequences has reported on Maya in the past, including the aforementioned gift she received from Jones and a subsequent medley of 22 Tool songs she played on that same guitar (available here).
Watch Maya Neelakantan perform “Last Resort” by Papa Roach on guitar. America has talent in the video below, followed by her Instagram post detailing her experience meeting Gary Holt.
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