Steel Panther Pass The Audition Round & Receive Standing Ovation On 'America's Got Talent'

Steel Panther starred on the season 18 premiere of America’s Got Talent this week, and no, the show hasn’t suddenly become R-rated.

The American rockers teased their appearance on Tuesday (30 May), promising to “rock Simon Cowell’s balls off,” per their Facebook post.

They managed to do that and more during their audition, receiving standing ovations from all four America’s Got Talent judges – Cowell, Heidi Klum, Sofia Vergara, and Howie Mandell – and four affirmative yeses, sending Steel Panther to the next round. Even host Terry Crews was getting into it.

On their America’s Got Talent audition, Michael Starr and Satchel paid homage to David Lee Roth and Eddie Van Halen with Starr’s explosive vocals and Satchel’s eye-watering guitar squeals and solos.

Steel Panther auditioned for America’s Got Talent with their 2009 Feel The Steel classic, Eyes Of A Panther (a PG Steel Panther song in their NSFW catalogue). 

Keeping things family-friendly, the band put on a stellar performance, with Satchel offering Klum and Vergara tickets and backstage passes “for life”. You can check out their audition below.

Satchel (lead guitar), Starr (lead vocals), Stix Zadinia (drums), and Spyder (bass) released their sixth studio album, On The Prowl, on 24 February.

From the opening synth intro of Never Too Late (To Get Some Pu**y Tonight) to the thunderous outro of Sleeping On The Rollaway, Steel Panther returned with the infectious riffs, pounding drums, and unforgettable vocals alongside the witty humour that has earned them a global audience.

In March 2021, the band released their cover of Beautiful Girls by Van Halen, something Starr was initially apprehensive about.

Their drummer, Stix, made the suggestion. "I was like, 'Really? You want to record a Van Halen song?' Because to me, Van Halen is like Led Zeppelin – if you cover them, you better be good at it," Starr explained in a Kill Your Stereo interview. "Once I came around, it felt like a natural thing to do since we usually include a Van Halen song in our sets. Good thing Satchel sounds just like EVH!"

You can check out Kill Your Stereo's October 2022 review of Steel Panther and Airbourne live in Brisbane here.