By Jeremy Gordon
This 16-year-old becomes the show’s first Thai winner, spotlighting the country’s music industry.
Nene Royal at LA International Airport. Joon’s Planet. CC BY 3.0.
For the first time in the “America’s Got Talent” 21-season run, the show has been won by someone from Thailand. That someone is Nene Royal, a 16-year-old with a penchant for heavy-metal renditions of Western alt-rock songs. Her winning act was an electrifying performance of the White Stripes’ heart-pounding anthem “Seven Nation Army.”
Royal, whose real name is Rattikarn Amloy, was born in Phuket, an island tourist hub known for its beautiful beaches and vibrant culture. She began playing guitar at seven years old and was mostly self-taught through YouTube videos. At age 12, she began playing in public, participating in various local talent programs and performing with her bands OZONE Band and Miniheart at the Naka Weekend Market.
In 2026, she was invited to audition for “America’s Got Talent.” She quickly emerged as a fan favorite after a video of her audition, a version of “Zombie” by The Cranberries, went viral. Over the course of the season, blasting out her own versions of Muse’s “Hysteria,” Soundgarden’s “Black Hole Sun” and finally Jack and Meg White’s “Seven Nation Army,” she captured the hearts of the show’s judges and fans all over the world. She brought home the $1 million prize, earned herself a spot opening for the band Avenged Sevenfold on their latest tour and amassed a legion of her own fans, including in her native Thailand.
Aed Carabao, Thailand’s most famous rock star, pledged 1 million Thai baht, roughly $30,000, to help cover Royal and her family’s travel expenses to California for the show. Thai conglomerate CP Group bought her a billboard spot in Times Square and gifted her a luxury condo in Bangkok. The Thai government released a statement calling her “an inspiration to anyone who dares to dream big.” The rest of the country has similarly gotten behind this teenage sensation, pouring out support in posts, comments and videos online.
Her breakout into the Western music scene is a new thing for Thailand. Although countries like South Korea, with their mega-groups BTS and BLACKPINK, have made huge impacts on worldwide pop charts, Thailand and other Southeast Asian countries are typically overlooked. But that is slated to change. There is an emerging T-POP scene, led by groups like the boy band ATLAS; a burgeoning indie rock scene driven by online streaming platforms; and a re-imagining of traditional molam and luk thung folk music with added electric guitars, drum kits and keyboards that has found a modern global audience.
Nene Royal’s success is sure to boost the Thai music scene in major ways. In a globally connected world, where kids from Phoenix can jam out to a teenage rock star from Phuket, the barriers that have long kept regional artists from international stardom have all but vanished. When some of the biggest artists across the world come from South Korea, Puerto Rico and Colombia, the sky is the limit on cross-cultural exchange. This 16-year-old rock star may be the one who finally brings Thailand into the global music conversation.
Jeremy Gordon
Jeremy is a graduate student at Johns Hopkins University studying Creative Writing. He graduated from the University of Maryland with a bachelor's in Criminology and Criminal Justice and worked for four years as an Investigative Specialist with the Public Defender Service for DC.