Grace Avery VanderWaal (born January 15, 2004) is an American singer-songwriter and actress.Spanos, Brittany. "Hear Grace VanderWaal's "Today and Tomorrow" Ahead of Stargirl Release: Teenage singer-songwriter returns to her ukulele for song featured in film debut", Rolling Stone, March 6, 2020 She is known for her distinctive voice and has often accompanied herself on the ukulele.
VanderWaal began her musical career by posting videos of her original songs and covers on YouTube and performing at open mic nights near her home in Suffern, New York. In September 2016, at age 12, she won the eleventh season of the NBC competition show America's Got Talent (AGT), performing her original songs. In December 2016, with Columbia Records and Syco Music, she released her debut EP Perfectly Imperfect, which became the best selling EP that year. Her first full-length studio album, Just the Beginning (2017), debuted at number 22 on the U.S Billboard 200. She released a second EP, Letters Vol. 1, in 2019.
She has performed at the Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, Madison Square Garden, the opening and closing of the 2017 Special Olympics World Winter Games in Austria, various benefit concerts, the Austin City Limits Music Festival and on various television talk shows. VanderWaal conducted her first concert tour in 2017 in support of Just the Beginning. She next toured in mid-2018 with Imagine Dragons in their Evolve World Tour, and in 2019, after opening in a tour for Florence and the Machine, she conducted her own Ur So Beautiful tour. She made her acting debut in 2020, starring as Susan "Stargirl" Caraway in the Disney+ musical drama film Stargirl, followed by its 2022 sequel Hollywood Stargirl. VanderWaal released her second full-length album, Childstar, in April 2025, which she followed with a Childstar Tour in May.
VanderWaal has received two Radio Disney Music Awards (including a Best New Artist award), a Teen Choice Award, the 2017 Billboard Women in Music Rising Star Award, and the 2018 MTV Europe Music Award for Best Push Act. She has been named to Billboard magazine's 21 Under 21 list of fast-rising young music stars five times (2016–2019 and 2021) and is the youngest person ever included in the Forbes 30 Under 30 music list.
Early life
Family and education VanderWaal was born near Kansas City, Kansas, to Tina and David VanderWaal, who lived in Lenexa at the time. Her father is of Dutch descent."Half-Nederlandse Grace VanderWaal wint America's Got Talent" , rtlnieuws.nl, September 15, 2016. Retrieved October 7, 2017 Her mother, a silversmith and glass artist, died in 2025 at age 53.DeSantis, Rachel. "Grace VanderWaal’s Mom Tina Dies of Cancer at 53: 'Don’t Know How to Move Forward Without You'", People, October 21, 2025 When her father became a vice president of marketing at LG Electronics in 2007,"Hall of Fame Profile: David VanderWaal", Shopper Marketing, April 24, 2015. Retrieved December 21, 2018; and Wolf, Alan. "She Did It: Industry Daughter Grace VanderWaal Wins Top Prize on America's Got Talent", Twice, September 15, 2016. Retrieved January 8, 2017 the family moved to Suffern, New York.Izadi, Elahe. "America's Got Talent winner Grace VanderWaal, 12, has Lenexa roots", The Kansas City Star, September 16, 2016. Retrieved September 16, 2016 She has an older brother and sister. After winning America's Got Talent in 2016, VanderWaal was home-schooled and enrolled in online courses for 7th gradeD'Zurilla, Christie. "Grace VanderWaal performs 'I Don't Know My Name', shares her age-related angst on Today", Los Angeles Times, November 28, 2016 but later attended public schoolKaufman Gil. "Grace VanderWaal, Parkland Student Sofie Whitney Talk School Safety & Healing Power of Music Before March for Our Lives", Billboard, March 22, 2018; Nordstrom, Leigh. "Grace VanderWaal Balances Middle School With Marc Jacobs", Women's Wear Daily, November 3, 2017; and Bruner, Raisa. "Backstage With Pop's Youngest Rising Star Grace VanderWaal", Time magazine, November 16, 2017Duboff, Josh. "Grace VanderWaal Is Growing Up – But Not Too Quickly", Vanity Fair, May 23, 2019 part of the time.Dodson, P. Claire. "Grace VanderWaal Talks Stargirl and Her New Single 'Waste My Time'", Teen Vogue, August 8, 2019 She graduated from the Laurel Springs School in 2022.
Early musical efforts VanderWaal was singing and making up songs by the age of three."Grace VanderWaal: 'I was just ready to spring into my dreams of music.'", Guitar Girl, March 15, 2018 As a preteen, she found songwriting inspiration by watching movies and trying to imagine what a character was feeling, and "what it would be like if I were them, and wrote a song."Savayan, Tania. "AGT star Grace VanderWaal calls herself 'pretty bland'", USA Today (verified channel), YouTube, video at 2:16–2:38, September 15, 2016. Retrieved December 10, 2016 She decided to learn the ukulele after watching a Brazilian au pair play and seeing a Twenty One Pilots video on YouTube.Sikorski, David. "Grace VanderWaal Reflects on Her Showstopping America's Got Talent Performance", The Daily Beast, June 10, 2016. Retrieved December 10, 2016 She asked for one for her 11th birthday but her mother refused, thinking she would never learn to play it. Then she bought one herself, using money she received for her 11th birthday, and watched more videos to teach herself how to play.Petit, Stephanie. "5 Things to Know About America's Got Talent Winner Grace Vanderwaal", People, September 15, 2016. Retrieved December 10, 2016 She also played the saxophone in her school's marching band.Muppala, Savitha. "Grace VanderWaal's Popularity Creates Record Ticket Sales for AGT Show at Planet Hollywood" , Movie News Guide, October 28, 2016
In 2015, VanderWaal began to record song covers and original songs, accompanying herself on ukulele, and to post them on her YouTube channel.<ref name="collegian">Salazar, Hayley. [http://collegian.csufresno.edu/2016/09/06/artist-to-watch-americas-got-talents-grace-vanderwaal "Artist to Watch: America's Got Talent'''s Grace VanderWaal"] , The Collegian, September 6, 2016. Retrieved December 10, 2016</ref>Villanueva, Mariel Ann. "America's Got Talent 2016 Grace VanderWaal to Sing Another Original for Live Shows?" , Hall of Fame Magazine, August 12, 2016. Retrieved October 30, 2016; and Wicks, Amanda. "Grace VanderWaal's Top 3 Cover Songs" , Radio.com, June 9, 2016. Retrieved December 9, 2016 She includes among her musical influences such artists as Jason Mraz, Twenty One Pilots and Katy Perry.Weatherby, Taylor. "Grace VanderWaal's 10 Best Covers", Billboard, January 15, 2017 She also began to perform during open mic events at small venues near her home and to study music theory. In July 2016, after her audition on AGT, she performed at the Lafayette Theatre in Suffern and then at the Ramapo Summer Concert Series at Palisades Credit Union Park.Roberts, Karen. "Grace VanderWaal is in L.A. for her next AGT appearance", The Journal News, September 9, 2016, December 10, 2016; and D'Onofrio, Michael. "AGT star Grace VanderWaal sings in Rockland", The Journal News, July 11, 2016. Retrieved December 10, 2016
Career
2016: America's Got Talent and Perfectly Imperfect On June 7, 2016, VanderWaal auditioned for the eleventh season of NBC's talent competition show AGT, singing her original song about identity, "I Don't Know My Name". She was selected by one of the show's judges, Howie Mandel, as his "golden buzzer" act to skip the next round and perform in the live quarterfinal round.Roberts, Karen and Sharon Rhodes. "Grace VanderWaal wins AGT, will sing in Vegas", The Journal News, September 15, 2016. Retrieved December 14, 2016 Simon Cowell called VanderWaal "the next Taylor Swift." Brittany Spanos in Rolling Stone magazine termed the song an "emotional, catchy, quirky tune".Spanos, Brittany. "America's Got Talent Star Grace VanderWaal Talks Songwriting, Katy Perry" , Rolling Stone, June 9, 2016. Retrieved October 29, 2016 VanderWaal continued to perform her original songs on the show; for her next performance at the quarterfinals on August 23, 2016, she sang "Beautiful Thing", a song that she wrote for her sister.Mallenbaum, Carly. "Grace VanderWaal: 5 things we learned about the America's Got Talent phenom", USA Today, September 13, 2016. Retrieved December 18, 2016 For the semi-finals on August 30, she performed "Light the Sky", and for the September 13 finals, she sang "Clay", a song about dealing with bullies.Heldman, Breanne L. "America's Got Talent: Grace VanderWaal wows with original song about bullies", Entertainment Weekly, September 14, 2016. Retrieved December 18, 2016 AGTs video of VanderWaal's audition has drawn more than 100 million views,America's Got Talent. "Grace VanderWaal: 12-Year-Old Ukulele Player Gets Golden Buzzer – America's Got Talent 2016", YouTube. Retrieved December 21, 2019 and was ranked the No. 5 trending YouTube video of 2016.Elizabeth, De. "The Top 10 Trending YouTube Videos of 2016", Teen Vogue, December 7, 2016; and Raynor, Madeline. "Adele, Channing Tatum make YouTube's top trending videos of 2016", Entertainment Weekly, December 7, 2016
VanderWaal again performed "I Don't Know My Name" at the September 14 finale results episode, then introduced a performance by Stevie Nicks, who compared her own style with VanderWaal's.Angermiller, Michele Amabile. "Stevie Nicks Praises Grace VanderWaal on America's Got Talent: 'She's Got It'", Billboard, September 14, 2016. Retrieved December 18, 2016 At the end of the broadcast, VanderWaal was announced as the season 11 winner.Angermiller, Michelle Amabile. "America's Got Talent Winner Grace VanderWaal Books Vegas Concerts", Billboard, September 15, 2016. Retrieved December 18, 2016 She was the second female winner and the second child winner in the show's history.Izadi, Elahe. "'The next Taylor Swift' – Meet the 12-year-old singer-songwriter who won America's Got Talent", The Washington Post, September 15, 2016. Retrieved December 18, 2016
VanderWaal planned to use part of her AGT winnings to make a donation to charity and to buy two tree houses, built by the team from Treehouse Masters, for herself and her sister.Haas, Mariah and Stephanie Petit. "America's Got Talent Winner Grace Vanderwaal, 12, Reveals What She's Going to Do with Her $1 Million Prize", People, September 15, 2016. Retrieved December 27, 2016 VanderWaal was a guest on The Ellen DeGeneres Show and The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon in September 2016,"21 Under 21 2016: Music's Hottest Young Stars", Billboard, September 29, 2016. Retrieved December 27, 2016 and she headlined four sold-out concerts in the PH Showroom at the Las Vegas Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino in October, performing with other AGT finalists."America's Got Talent winner, Suffern native VanderWaal plays sold-out Vegas show" , News12.com, Westchester County, New York, October 28, 2016. Retrieved December 14, 2016 (content preview) She also headlined the America's Got Talent Holiday Spectacular in December on NBC, where she performed her arrangement of "Frosty the Snowman".Briones, Isis. "Grace VanderWaal Performs 'Frosty the Snowman' on America's Got Talent's Holiday Spectacular", Teen Vogue, December 20, 2016; and Angermiller, Michele Amabile. "America's Got Talent Winner Grace VanderWaal Set to Headline Holiday Special", Billboard, November 7, 2016. Retrieved November 7, 2016