Grace VanderWaal

The artist I would love to be is inspiring and strong: show that I can be vulnerable but still independent. ”

I love everything Katy Perry does. ”

I would love to sit down and do only the ukulele with a very small crowd. I would also like to sing the super poppy songs and all the background stuff. I think both would be an interesting path. ”

Regular school is one bajillion times easier than online school. I want friends; I want a social life. I want that experience in my life. ”

I love it when people refer to me as a singer-songwriter. I get flutters in my stomach because they say, 'This is Grace VanderWaal, singer-songwriter,' not, 'This is Grace VanderWaal, winner of 'America's Got Talent.'' I'm so proud of that; it's such a big chapter of my life. But it's nice to kind of not be known as just that. ”

I feel like it's just so important for child and teenage development to have music in your life, honestly. And I just think it's really, really, really rewarding to me, personally, just emotionally, to know that I might have brought that into someone's life. And that just means a lot to me, because I know how important it can be. ”

I like to make little movies or fake stories about something that happened in my life. I will make a movie in my mind that would translate the same feeling or emotion that I had in whatever just happened. ”

It's always been a dream to audition for 'American Idol.' But you have to be 15 or older. ”

I think there's a misconception about the industry, that you have to change who you are to look 'cool' in order to succeed, and that's just not true. ”

I always want to stay true to who I am, and if people don't like that, then that's okay. I think fans appreciate when you're genuine and honest, and that's how I try to be through all of this. ”