Two years ago, we fell in love with Grace VanderWaal when she was the pre-teen winner of America’s Got Talent. Now at 14, the vivacious blonde is living up to AGT judge Simon Cowell’s prediction that she is the “next Taylor Swift.” HollywoodLife caught up with the guitar-strumming singer at Variety’s Power of Women Luncheon in New York April 13 and when we asked her why she thinks it’s important for women to stick together, she impressed us with her answer.
“Because we are one,” the singer told us in an exclusive interview. “We’re together. There’s a special bond between women that we all have and we need to embrace that and share that, and hold it forever.” When it comes to helping young girls through hard times, the teen hopes her music will offer them a welcome break from real life. She said, “I just think disconnections are really important. I don’t really care what you take away from my music, as long as you can disconnect from everything that is going on right now in the world for just the three minutes of a song. I think that is the most important part of a song.”
Given the negative news cycle that we seem to be stuck in the middle of, that’s something we can all relate to. As for what she’s been up to since she wowed us with her jaw-dropping AGT performances, she’s been busy – modeling, touring and working on new music. Her new single is called “Clearly” and it’s clear she’s having fun being a pop star. Grace tells us that the most amazing thing she has done since winning season 11 of AGT is touring. She said, “I loved tour. My own, Just Beginning tour. It was amazing, and so fun to see all my fans.” We’re sure they loved to see her too.