Earlier this week on America’s Got Talent, 16-year-old guitarist Nene Royal earned the Golden Buzzer from judge Mel B for her cover of “Black Hole Sun” by Soundgarden. Vicky Cornell, wife of the band’s late frontman Chris Cornell, commented on the incredible performance.
AGT‘s Nene Royal Earns Praise from Vicky Cornell
During Tuesday night’s live performance episode of AGT Season 21, Nene Royal strummed her electric guitar for an incredible performance of “Black Hole Sun” that inspired Mel B to press the Golden Buzzer and send her straight into the Finals.
On Wednesday, Vicky Cornell (wife of Soundgarden frontman Chris Cornell, who passed away in 2017) reposted a video of Nene’s performance on Instagram stories, writing, “I have never heard anyone do so an incredible rendition – INCREDIBLE! YOU DID HIM PROUD!! What an incredibly talented young woman truly just WOW!!”
Nene later reposted Vicky’s comments about her performance (which were also shared on the official Chris Cornell Instagram account) on her own Instagram story, writing, “OMGG!!!!!!! THANK YOU!”
After Nene Royal’s performance on Tuesday night, AGT judge Howie Mandel said, “I know I’m not supposed to say this. NBC, give her the million right now.” Fellow judge Sofia Vergara agreed that Nene could win the entire competition.
Thanks to Mel B’s Golden Buzzer, Nene will now get to skip the Semifinals round and go straight into the Season 21 Finals — joining last week’s Quarterfinals Golden Buzzer Hundred Fingers, a magic group who wowed Howie Mandel.
Meanwhile, six acts have been put through to the Semifinals so far — Royal Lasers, Olivia Befus, Luke Taleno, Veronika Goroshkova, Come Here, and Geno Ploeger. They’ll have one more chance to make it into the finale.
What did you think of Nene Royal’s performance of “Black Hole Sun” during this week’s AGT performance episode? Did she deserve the Golden Buzzer? Let us know in the comments below.
Words by:
Jill O'Rourke Jill O’Rourke is a contributor at Talent Recap, writing news stories and recaps for shows like ‘AGT,’ ‘The Voice,’ and ‘American Idol.’ She graduated from the University of Georgia with a degree in English and Film Studies, and has been writing about pop culture since 2012, with previous bylines at Crushable and A Plus. Jill spends her free time binge-watching sitcoms and daydreaming about life as a hobbit
