Nene Royal wins America's Got Talent 2026 - Bangkok Post
Nene Royal, 16, wins the AGT final with 'Seven Nation Army' on Sept 23, 2026. (Photo: AGT) Nene Royal, the 16-year-old Thai rocker from Phuket, has been crowned the winner of America's Got Talent (AGT) 2026, after setting the stage alight with ‘Seven Nation Army’ in the final round.
The result was announced live on Wednesday night (US time), or Thursday morning in Thailand, after the local busker-turned-rock star shared the stage with American rock band Linkin Park.
Nene joined the rock band on stage, performing Linkin Park's 'The Emptiness Machine' from 2024 album From Zero.
“Incredible... incredible,” said Mike Shinoda, who co-founded the band in 1996, when asked how he felt about Nene’s performance.
Since her debut in the audition round of the NBC talent show, Rattikarn "Praew" Amloy, known by her stage name Nene Royal, has garnered enormous attention worldwide with a captivating live rendition of The Cranberries' ‘Zombie’.
Her guitar and singing talent drew more than 1.5 million views in a day for her video on AGT's official account -- a high number even by the show's standards.
The result was announced in only a few minutes, but the 16-year-old winner’s journey to this moment took almost a decade.
Nene has been playing guitar since the age of seven, teaching herself from online videos. Before appearing on the American TV show she was known in Phuket for busking at the Naka Weekend Market with her bands Ozone and Miniheart, mainly performing rock and metal covers.
The Thai teenager has since built a following of more than 3 million people across social media platforms.
Her breakthrough came on July 8, 2026, when a video titled "16-Year-Old Nene Royal Is Shy... Until She Starts Singing 'Zombie'" was posted on the AGT channel.
The Thai government has named her a tourism ambassador to help promote the country abroad and announced it would cover all her expenses related to her participation in America's Got Talent.
She followed up ‘Zombie’ with a cover of Muse's ‘Hysteria’ during the callbacks round, which gained more than 1 million views online within 14 hours of its release.
In the Grand Final on Sept 23, Nene once again lit up the stage with The White Stripes' rock anthem ‘Seven Nation Army’, earning rave reviews from the judges.
Following her performance, Nene said her dream had come true, recalling that she picked up a guitar at a young age and had always wanted to become a rock star. She said she was glad to have reached the show’s final and achieved her aspiration.
"That's my girl. I'm so proud of her," her father wrote in a comment on her final performance video.
