Watch 9-year-old guitarist shred Guns N’ Roses classic on US TV

Taj Farrant (Image credit: Lester Cohen - Getty)

A nine-year-old guitarist appeared on The Ellen Degeneres Show this week and surprised everyone with a blistering performance of Guns N’ Roses classic Sweet Child O’ Mine.

Taj Farrant from Australia showed no nerves as he shredded through the Slash guitar solo on national TV – and then admitted to the host that he’d only been playing guitar for two and a half years.

He said: “My dad took me to an AC/DC concert two and a half years ago, and I was on my pop’s shoulders and I said, ‘I want to do that for the rest of my life.’”

Taj says he took guitar lessons for two years and that his dad now teaches him – and he can now hear a song and start playing it almost immediately.

He adds: “Every note really makes a different emotion for my face and sometimes I start crying because the music starts taking over me.”

Taj has his own YouTube channel which shows him playing solos from artists including Pink Floyd, Bon Jovi, AC/DC, Queen and Prince.

A bright future awaits.

Scott Munro
Louder e-commerce editor

Scott has spent more than 30 years in newspapers, magazines and online as an editor, production editor, sub-editor, designer, writer and reviewer. Scott joined our news desk in the summer of 2014 before moving to the e-commerce team in 2020. Scott maintains Louder’s buyer’s guides, scouts out the best deals for music fans and reviews headphones, speakers, books and more. He's written more than 11,000 articles across Louder, Classic Rock, Metal Hammer and Prog and has previous written for publications including IGN, the Sunday Mirror, Daily Record and The Herald, covering everything from daily news and weekly features, to video games, travel and whisky. Scott's favourite bands are Fields Of The Nephilim, The Cure, New Model Army, All About Eve, The Mission, Cocteau Twins, Drab Majesty, Marillion and Rush.