Grace VanderWaal

Growing up so close to New York City, I always loved going to the city, but I'd be disappointed because songs about New York always made it seem so magical and perfect, and when I was younger, I just thought it was busy and dirty. ”

My advice for someone just learning the ukulele would be to have fun with it and not take anything too seriously. Some songs that I think are great for beginners would be, 'House of Gold,' 'Riptide,' and 'I Don't Know My Name.' ”

I remember I asked my mom for a ukulele, and she said no because she thought I would never play it. So then I got my birthday money up, and I bought my own. It was the most rebellious thing I've ever done. ”

Not so much the sound but as a person, I would say Katy Perry inspires me because you can always see that she's being true to herself. She focuses on her music and even turns down big producers. Her whole career and music is about her being herself. I want to be more like that. ”

Honestly, I don't really hear the comparisons to Taylor Swift anymore. I think it's because people are finally starting to see me for who I am and my craft and not being the next Taylor. ”

Famous' is a very weird word. I feel like - I feel like that's definitely not me. ”

Don't be afraid to cry. Everyone needs a good cry sometimes. Sometimes I'll feel it in my throat, like, 'Today I'm going to cry about something stupid,' so just to get it out of the way, I'll watch a sad movie or something, accepting that that's totally fine and feels good. ”

I had a lot of those fake friends. You just have to realize it's happening. You can't get caught up in the 'Oh, my God, they want to be my friend, finally' aspect. ”

If you will forever remember me as the girl from 'America's Got Talent,' that's cool, 'cause I am. If you wanna look into me and what I've done recently, that's cool, too. ”

I love colors, but I also love rich sounds. And I feel like when it comes to colored ukuleles, people assume they're cheap or that they'll have a tinny sound. And I feel like it would be really beautiful to have a rich color but also to have a rich sound. ”