• Newsfeed

Is This 12-Year-Old Girl ‘The Next Taylor Swift?’ Simon Cowell Says So

1 minute read

She might only be 12, but Grace VanderWaal’s powerhouse vocals and ukulele skills have already caught the attention of some of music’s toughest critics, including one Mr. Simon Cowell.

The precocious singer appeared on America’s Got Talent on Tuesday night, where her flawless performance of an original song, “I Don’t Know My Name,” earned Grace an endorsement from Howie Mandel‘s golden buzzer, with judge going so far as to call her “a living, beautiful, walking miracle.”

However, the biggest compliment of the night came from the infamously hard-to-impress Cowell, who told the aspiring chanteuse that she reminded him of one of America’s biggest pop stars.

“Grace, you know what I predict for you? I think you are the next Taylor Swift,” Cowell said.

Watch her full performance below.

More Must-Reads From TIME

Write to Cady Lang at cady.lang@timemagazine.com