I only recently found out about Grace VanderWaal. My loss, I could have been listening to her for a year. This musical genius emerged at the age of 12 on America's Got Talent, performing her own original material on each appearance, leading to her winning it all. No singer had ever done that.
The audition video has been seen 200,000,000 times, one of the viral hits of 2016. Each song was first heard on AGT, each one brought
tears to the listeners' eyes, and a standing ovation.
I understand that there are people who do not like Ms. VanderWaal. I have been around the music business long enough that I have smoked a joint with Jerry Garcia, and when I met Janis Joplin, she was wearing only red panties. I have several friends who have Grammys, and I can assure the GVDW H8rs that music professionals REVERE this young lady's talent. There has literally never been anything like Grace VanderWaal. She is the complete package, singer, exceptional songwriter, but most of all a PERFORMER who makes the audience fall in love, packaged in the cutest wrapper ever, a gorgeous teenager.
Part of her appeal is her fearlessness. The tiny 7th grade girl owns a stage as completely as Bruce Springsteen does, and she doesn't need any help doing it. It's the place she was made to be.
How many just-turned-13 girls are ready to
walk out on a stage in front of 20,000 people armed with nothing but an original song and a ukulele. And OWN that crowd!