It’s not a big surprise that Grace VanderWaal was crowned winner during the America’s Got Talent finale Wednesday night. The 12-year-old singer and ukulele player became a favorite of the judges and the crowd during her first appearance on the NBC show in June, when she belted out her original song, I Don’t Know My Name.
“You are the next Taylor Swift,” difficult-to-impress judge Simon Cowell declared at the time. The girl from New York state writes her own songs and croons with a voice mature beyond her years.
Grace began making up songs when she was 3, learned to play the piano at 4 and took up the saxophone at 10, according to NBC. She also plays in her school concert and marching bands.
It was only a year ago that Grace bought a ukulele, using birthday money, and she taught herself to play through YouTube videos. It took her just a couple of weeks.
Grace then hit the open-mic scene in New York and New Jersey, and a local musician began teaching her music theory in April.