Aussie boy, 9, blows Ellen DeGeneres away with incredible talent

When people think of guitarists, chances are the likes of Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix or Keith Richards come to mind. Turns out an Aussie school boy by the name of Taj Farrant also has some impressive skills.

At the age of just nine, little Taj appeared on The Ellen Show earlier this week, impressing host Ellen DeGeneres and her millions of viewers with an impressive performance of ‘Sweet Child of Mine’ by Guns N’ Roses.

“Y’all are about to get your minds blown,” Ellen told her audience before Taj made his way onto the stage. “We meet a lot of talented kids on this show. Our next guest is truly something special.”

Taj, from Long Jetty in the Central Coast region of New South Wales, then took to the stage. Complete with dreadlocks, a stylish hat, electric guitar and denim jacket, the primary school student looked every inch the rock star as he effortlessly performed for the crowd.

Following the performance, the nine-year-old sat down with Ellen for a chat about his impressive talent.

“You’re incredible. You’re amazing,” Ellen told her young guest.

Taj explained that he’d only been playing guitar for two-and-a-half years and said he didn’t play any other instruments before the guitar.

“All I did was just probably play video games on the PS4 [Play Station 4] and that was it,” he said to roars of laughter from the audience. “My dad took me to an ACDC concert two-and-a-half years ago and I was on my pop’s shoulders and I said, ‘I wanna do that for the rest of my life’.”

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Hilariously, he explained that he waited a month until he turned seven to begin playing.

“When I was seven, my parents didn’t take me to ACDC,” Ellen later joked.

Taj explained he took lessons for two years before his dad started to teach him. He’s become so talented that he can now listen to a song and almost instantly start playing it.

“It takes me, like, a couple of tries to play it, but yeah,” he told the 61-year-old, before he revealed the facial expressions he makes when he performs reflect a different note he’s playing on the guitar.

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

Ellen ended the segment by surprising Taj and his family with a trip to Disneyland, while fans at home praised the young musician on social media.

One person tweeted: “This kid blew my mind! WOW! Glad I turned Ellen on for my background, instead of listening to shows I’ve seen a million times.”

Another message read: “This kid was just on Ellen. Taj Farrant, nine years old–imagine what he’ll play like when he’s eighteen!”

Ellen herself later tweeted: “This child o’ mine from Australia is pretty sweet.”

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Do your grandchildren have any special talents? What did you think of Taj’s performance?