For 11 long years, he walked the halls of his school, a target for whispers and cruel jokes—bullied just because he looked different. But behind closed doors, in the quiet sanctuary of his home, another story was unfolding. Since the age of 4, his 70-year-old grandfather had been his guide, his mentor, placing a guitar in his tiny hands and teaching him the language of legends. Now, the moment has come. Stepping onto the stage, he takes a deep breath. The lights hit. The crowd watches. And then—BOOM. He doesn’t just play; he commands. His fingers fly, his soul ignites, and out pours a rock ‘n’ roll storm, channeling the spirit of Queen, Van Halen, and AC/DC. The judges? Frozen in awe. The audience? Roaring. And Amanda? She slams the Golden Buzzer, sending him straight to glory. The bullied boy has become a Rock God.
Olly Pearson, 11, impressed the Britain’s Got Talent judges with his guitar skills on last night’s show as he belted out epic rock solos but the youngster already has huge dreams
Schoolboy Olly Pearson has set his sights on getting the King rocking out after his Britain’s Got Talent success.
The 11-year-old wowed on tonight’s show with his impressive guitar skills, getting judge Amanda Holden’s golden buzzer. His first big gig, it’s given him the taste for performing as he shared his big dreams of performing for royalty as well as headlining 90,000 seater Wembley Stadium. “I’ve heard the King likes rock music,” Olly told the Mirror.
“I could get him to rock out. I’d love to perform for him at the Royal Variety Show. I saw my favourite band AC/DC perform at Wembley last year and I’d love to do the same one day.”
On his BGT performance, Olly said he overcame some initial nerves to step out on stage and enjoy every minute of it as he epic guitar solos to AC/DC, Van Halen and Queen in this rock ‘n’ roll audition. “It was just those rows and rows of people – it was just amazing,” he smiled. “It just felt like I was on top of the world. Every time I perform in front of lots of people, I just want to perform for even more.”
Picking up a guitar at seven, Olly started strumming with his grandad Lee over Zoom during the Covid lockdown and quickly showed he was a natural. “I always had his guitar around the house and then Olly decided he wanted to play,” recalled Lee. “We had an awful lot of fun doing it. The talent was in there.” “He was teaching Olly guitar while we were trying to teach a 70-year-old how to use Zoom – it was quite tricky!” laughed dad Simon.
Practising all the time, he began performing at guitar shows and local venues. Rock aficionado now Olly owns more than 20 guitars and loves listening to iconic bands like Metallica and Guns and Roses.
Dad Simon says he’s had a love of rock music since he was a baby. “I remember him dancing to Girls Girls Girls by Motley Crue when we were at soft play when he was around two or three,” he recalled.
With his long hair and headband, Olly has got the rock look down to a tee and has been inspired by some of the biggest names in music. “I love Slash and Jimi Hendrix! And Eddie Van Halen,” said Olly. “I’m going to see Guns and Roses at Villa Park this year.”
Olly says performing at the Royal Variety Performance if he won “would be even bigger than a dream, that would be so cool!” and vowed to treat his grandad if he picked up the £250,000 prize – “I’d buy his his dream guitar, a Fender Starcaster.”
