John Wines said he kept waiting for the red Xs of rejection to appear as he performed a guitar solo on Tuesday’s “America’s Got Talent.” (Watch the video below.)
By the end, though, the 59-year-old contestant had morphed into a rock god who wowed the judges and had the audience chanting for more.
“I was not expecting that,” Simon Cowell said after Wines absolutely shredded a rendition of Queen’s “We Will Rock You.”
“You did become a rock star,” Heidi Klum said.
An overwhelmed Wines, an electrician-turned-music teacher from the U.K., was still feeling a little creaky.
“My legs are going,” he said.
Wines’ skills are no secret to his 1.3 million “Old Grey Guitarist” followers on TikTok.
But his virtuoso audition on television might elevate his profile a bit more. He’ll get another shot, too. All four panelists gave him a “yes” to advance to the next round.