She told the America’s Got Talent judges she wanted to be a superstar on tour. Less than three months later, 16-year-old Nene Royal stood on the Pasadena Civic Auditorium stage, knees hitting the floor as confetti fell, the first Thai champion in the show’s 21-year history. Rock & Roll will never die. A kid from Phuket just proved it on national television, and the world is already answering back.
Born Rattikarn Amloy on March 14, 2010, and known at home as Praew, she picked up a guitar at seven after the computer club at school was full. The music room was the only spot left. She taught herself by ear from YouTube videos, starting with ambitious solos, “Hotel California” among the first, while family car rides played Deep Purple and Metallica.
By twelve she was busking under the stage name Nene Royal at Phuket’s Naka Weekend Market. By sixteen she was fronting OZONE, the young Phuket rock band that has been her foundation.
OZONE’s lineup is pure next-generation: Nene on lead vocals and guitar; Chopper (15) on bass; MK (13) on keyboards and chorus; and Boon (12) on drums. They cut their teeth on classic rock, hard rock, and metal covers at the night market, building chemistry long before any of them had a passport stamp for California. When Nene reached the AGT finals, the band traveled to Los Angeles.
They cheered from the room and, after the win, joined her for an aftershow. She has called them brothers. The support was mutual and visible.
Her AGT run was a four-song rock thesis. The July audition was The Cranberries’ “Zombie” — gritty vocals, roaring guitar, four yeses from Simon Cowell, Sofia Vergara, Howie Mandel, and Mel B. The clip became the season’s most-watched audition, tens of millions of views and counting.
Judges’ Callbacks brought Muse’s “Hysteria,” complete with body taps on the guitar. The live quarterfinal was Soundgarden’s “Black Hole Sun.” Mel B, who admitted the genre was not her usual lane, still hit the Live Golden Buzzer. “How could I not do this?”
That send-up skipped the semis. In the final she reimagined The White Stripes’ “Seven Nation Army,” then shared the results-show stage with Linkin Park on “The Emptiness Machine.” Mike Shinoda called her “incredible.” She also jammed with The Warning on “Kerosene” in rehearsal.
Host Terry Crews announced the result on September 23. Magician Geno Ploeger finished second. America voted for the guitar.
The clothes were part of the argument. For “Black Hole Sun,” the concept was “Let’s Rock to the World.” A sleeveless TiTA Style vest mixed leather with Thai textiles Dut Dao handwoven cloth from Nong Bua Lamphu, Chinese-key batik lining that nodded to Phuket’s Baba-Peranakan heritage, over a T-shirt her mother produced, zebra-print Blumarine jeans, and a Songket Samping waist wrap. The look was built in days and designed to carry Thai craft onto a rock stage without turning into costume.
For the final she wore the look her team named ROCK STRONG — RED COMMANDER. It began as a vision in her mother’s imagination: strong, confident, elegant, full of rock power. Designer P’Ice developed the concept; “P’Mor Ying” cut it into clothes. High collar, structured shoulders, leather belts, studs, chains, a front slit for movement, Dr. Martens on the floor, and handwoven Ban Krua silk from Bangkok’s Cham Muslim community along Khlong Saen Saep. The red silk was armor, not decoration.
Rounder Magazine was on the ground for the finale. New host Danielle Ruiz reported for Rounder TV from outside the Pasadena Civic Auditorium, where fans waved Thai flags and kept talking about the “Seven Nation Army” arrangement and the Linkin Park collab. The coverage marks Rounder’s sharper turn into fashion and entertainment. The same pages that have long tracked the casino industry, celebrity poker pros, and American nightlife are now following a Thai teenager who treated silk and studs as stage tools.
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