Jay Jay Phillips Dies: Two-Time ‘America’s Got Talent’ Contestant Was 30

Tom Tapp

December 3, 2021 at 2:33 p.m.·1 min read

Jay Jay Phillips, the heavy-metal keyboardist who rocked the America’s Got Talent judges like a hurricane in 2017, has died, his band announced on its Instagram page. He was 30, and reportedly succumbed, unvaccinated, from Covid.

“It is with great sadness we inform you all of the loss of our bandmate/brother/and friend @jayjayrocks,” read the band’s statement. “It still doesn’t feel real and we would give anything to change it. Please respect the family, as well as our wishes as we take our time to grieve and process this detrimental loss.”

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A post shared by Mettal Maffia (@mettalmaffiaofficial)

Phillips’ death was first reported by TMZ, which cited family sources saying the unvaccinated 30-year-old rocker died while suffering from Covid.

Phillips was eliminated early on 2009’s Season 4 of AGT. He came back to the show for Season 12 in 2017, but was eliminated prior to the quarterfinals.

In his last post to his own Instagram page, the keyboardist expressed enthusiasm about the progress his band was making.

“My band METTAL MAFFIA is making huge moves and anyone that’s a fan of me IT’S A MUST you check us out, i’m 50 million more times exited about this than the whole AGT thing and i’m so grateful to rock out with my brothers and sister and dude I love this band and them so much it’s rediculous [sic],” he wrote.

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A post shared by Jay Jay Phillips (@jayjayrocks)

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