A 10-Year-Old Girl on America’s Got Talent Slayed “Master of Puppets” with Metallica’s Blessing
If you’ve never felt the rush of performing the music you love on stage, whether it’s your own music or someone else’s, then you’re seriously missing out. The potent mix of the fear of fucking up and the high of knowing you’re about to absolutely kill it can be incredibly intoxicating. It’s a feeling I’m willing to bet was coursing through 10-year-old Maya Neelakantan’s veins when she ripped through parts of Metallica‘s iconic song, “Master of Puppets” for the America’s Got Talent quarterfinals last night.
As you can see in the clip below, Neelakantan deftly made her way up and down the fretboard on her silver Gibson ‘Flying V’, at times mimicking the vocal melody that James Hetfield sings before ripping into Kirk Hammett‘s solos. Backed by the show’s house band, the girl is grinning from ear to ear throughout her performance as members of the audience throw up the horns and rock out.
Given the fact that Metallica’s infamously protective of their music and where it’s performed or distributed, Simon Cowell revealed that the performance wouldn’t have happened at all without the band’s explicit approval.
“I gotta say a big, big thank you to Metallica for giving you that song. That doesn’t happen very often.”
Neelakantan also acknowledged Metallica’s involvement, adding the Burton family in her thanks for making the performance a possibility.
“It was just amazing. I’m so happy I had the honor of playing ‘Master of Puppets’ by Metallica for the first time on AGT. So thank you Metallica and thank you to the Cliff Burton family for making this possible.”
Leading up to her performance in the quarterfinals, Neelakantan spent some time with Slayer and Exodus guitarist Gary Holt and his wife. They gifted the girl with gear and merch, and Holt also helped Neelakantan tape her audition for the show. In the past, other rock stars like Testament’s Alex Skolnick and Tool’s Adam Jones have heaped praise on the girl for picking up the instrument and improving her skills over time.
