For Anand Mahindra, This 10-Year-Old America's Got Talent Contestant Is 'Rock Goddess'

10-year-old Maya Neelakantan has been making headlines worldwide with her incredible performance on America’s Got Talent. The young and rising rock star amazed judges Sofia Vergara, Howie Mandel, Heidi Klum and Simon Cowell with her guitar cover of Last Resort by Papa Roach. Her talent didn’t just catch the attention of the AGT judges and audience, Indian business tycoon Anand Mahindra was also stunned by her act. Anand praised Maya’s performance and invited her to play at the Mahindra Blues Festival in Mumbai, an annual music event featuring prominent artists hosted by the Mahindra Group. He even agreed with Cowell’s words, who called Maya a ‘rock goddess.’

Neelakantan added a unique Indian touch to the AGT stage by performing in traditional attire and jewellery, which set her apart from a typical rock musician. But once she started playing the Last Resort on her electric guitar, she wowed everyone with her impressive skills and confidence. Her energetic performance saw the crowd cheering and dancing. Sharing the clip on X, Anand Mahindra wrote, “Oh My God. 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 Mahindra Blues.”

Soon after Anand Mahindra’s post went viral, Maya Neelakantan thanked the business tycoon and noted, “It’s an honour hearing that from you. I’m very happy to see that people enjoy my version of merging Carnatic Music with Heavy Metal since I love both of them. Thank you for all the love and support. It really means a lot.”

Reacting to the video, a user wrote, “What control, focus and sheer understanding of music.”

“Indians got talent,” a comment read.

One more added, “I love the Indian classical blend.”

Simon Cowell praised Maya Neelakantan’s performance and shared that even he tried to learn guitar when he was young but claimed it was very challenging for him. He further admitted that even his teacher gave up on him. Cowell was surprised by Maya’s audition, as despite being shy, she transformed herself into a “rock goddess” and saw this as the start of her promising career.

During her chat with judge Howie Mandel, the 10-year-old claimed that she was inspired by Adam Jones from Tool and Gary Holt, the guitarist of Exodus and Slayer, to play the instrument.

Since Anand Mahindra shared the video on X, it has gone viral and garnered over 1 Million views.