Grace VanderWaal

Impressing everyone with her beautifully innocent ballads and natural stage presence, ukulele-playing singer-songwriter Grace VanderWaal was just 12-years-old when she won the TV talent show 'America's Got Talent' in 2016 and was dubbed the 'next Taylor Swift' by Simon Cowell. Born in Kansas but raised in Suffren, New York, VanderWaal started singing at the age of three and played saxophone in school bands before taking part in open-mic sessions at local cafes after saving up her pocket money to buy a ukulele. Too young to enter 'American Idol', her mum instead signed her up for 'America's Got Talent' and at her audition she was given a 'golden buzzer' pass into the live finals by Howie Mandel after stunning the judges. Winning the grand finale with a rendition of her original song 'I Don't Know My Name' - a song of remarkable maturity and empowerment - she was awarded the million dollar prize money and landed a deal with Columbia Records before her debut 'Perfectly Imperfect' quickly became the biggest selling EP of the year. VanderWaal juggled school work with shows on top of the Empire State Building, sang at Madison Square Garden during a New York Knicks game and at the opening ceremony of the Special Olympics Winter Games, while videos of her performances notched up hundreds of millions of views and she rapidly became one of America's biggest teen stars. Jaunty acoustic pop single 'Moonlight' followed, and she released her debut album 'Just the Beginning' in 2017 before heading off on a sold-out tour of the US.

Please enable Javascript to view this page competely.