At 16, Nene Royal has gone from playing guitar in her hometown of Phuket to winning one of television’s biggest talent competitions.

The Thai teenager was crowned the winner of America’s Got Talent Season 21, becoming the first Thai contestant to win the long-running show. Her victory came after a season built around heavy rock performances, a viral audition and a run that steadily pushed the young guitarist from an early fan favourite to the final result.

Nene, whose real name is Rattikarn Amloy, defeated nine other finalists and took home the show’s $1 million grand prize. During the finale in California, she performed The White Stripes’ “Seven Nation Army”, earning a standing ovation from the judges. …

But her journey to the AGT title began years before she stepped onto the American stage.

Who is Nene Royal?

Nene Royal is a 16-year-old guitarist and rock performer from Phuket, Thailand.

She began playing guitar when she was seven and has spoken about wanting to become a touring musician. Before her international breakthrough, she was known locally for busking at Naka Weekend Market in Phuket, where people in the community had seen her perform from a young age. That local connection remained part of her story even as her audience expanded far beyond Thailand.

Following her AGT win, Naka Weekend Market publicly congratulated the teenager, saying people there were proud to see her performing on one of the world’s biggest stages. Nene’s school, Kajonkiet International School in Phuket, also celebrated the result, sharing footage of students and staff watching her final performance and chanting her name.

The audition that introduced Nene Royal to AGT viewers

Nene made an immediate impression during her audition with a performance of “Zombie” by The Cranberries.

The audition quickly travelled beyond the programme itself. A clip of the performance accumulated about 20 million views, helping establish her as one of the competition’s most visible contestants early in the season.

Her AGT run did not rely on a single viral moment.

She returned during the Judges’ Callbacks round with Muse’s “Hysteria”, a performance that sent her through to the live shows. In the quarterfinals, she performed Soundgarden’s “Black Hole Sun”, after which judge Mel B used the Golden Buzzer to move her into the finals.

That sequence gave Nene a recognisable musical identity throughout the competition. Rather than moving between unrelated styles, she kept returning to guitar-driven rock songs and heavier material.

From “Zombie” to “Seven Nation Army”

By the time Nene reached the finale, her performances had become one of the central stories of the season.

For her final competitive appearance, she performed “Seven Nation Army” by The White Stripes. The performance received a standing ovation from the judges.

During the results show, she also appeared on stage with Linkin Park, performing the band’s 2024 song “The Emptiness Machine”.

The judges had been particularly enthusiastic about her finale. Howie Mandel described her as “the biggest, most talented, most viral talent to be on that stage”, while Mel B called her “unique”. Sofia Vergara told Nene, “We can’t get enough of you.” The moment Nene Royal won America’s Got Talent

When host Terry Crews announced the result, Nene collapsed onto the stage and covered her eyes as confetti fell around her.

“I’m very happy,” she said after her name was revealed. “I’m emotional right now. I just want to say thank you to all you guys supporting me and voting.” Her victory made her the first Thai winner of America’s Got Talent.

The result was closely followed in Thailand, although fans there were unable to watch the live NBC television broadcast. Many turned instead to a YouTube livestream. The stream was reportedly cut during the results announcement, leaving viewers waiting until news of Nene’s victory began spreading online.

Thailand celebrates a historic AGT win

Nene’s victory quickly became more than a television result in Thailand.

Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul congratulated her, saying she had “brought honour to Thailand” and “instilled pride in the Thai people”.

Thailand’s government public relations department also highlighted the teenager’s background, saying Nene had carried her Thai identity confidently onto an international stage and pointing to her journey as “a young girl from Phuket with a guitar and a big dream.”

For people who had watched her perform in Phuket before AGT, the scale of the achievement was particularly striking.

Tour guide Piyarat Na Songkhla, who said he had seen Nene perform since she was young, described feeling elated at how far the teenager had come.

Who finished behind Nene Royal?

Magician Geno Ploege finished as runner-up.

The competition had begun the finale with 10 acts still in contention. The field was reduced to five, with Nene Royal, Geno Ploege, Royal Lasers, Hundred Fingers and Veronika Goroshkova advancing.

The final three were Nene, Ploege and South Korean magic-and-dance group Hundred Fingers, before Nene ultimately received the most votes and was announced as the Season 21 winner.

For Nene Royal, the result marks an extraordinary distance travelled in less than a decade of playing guitar: from starting the instrument at seven, to performing at a weekend market in Phuket, to standing under the confetti as the first Thai winner of America’s Got Talent.

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