--- title: 'America's Got Talent' Star 'Honored' by Taylor Swift Nod description: 12-year-old Grace VanderWaal was a favorite on "America's Got Talent," inspiring comparisons to Taylor Swift with her heartfelt song canonical: https://time.com/4364147/americas-got-talent-grace-vanderwaal-taylor-swift/ author: Raisa Bruner article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-06-10T14:59:15.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:33:15.351Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: 'America's Got Talent' Star Is 'Honored' to Be Compared to Taylor Swift og:description: 12-year-old Grace VanderWaal wowed the crowd — but wants to be 'original' og:url: https://time.com/4364147/americas-got-talent-grace-vanderwaal-taylor-swift/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdcf55cded23b4ce9/6988971cfb4eac561788ddb1/grace-vanderwaal-americas-got-talent-simon-cowell.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Grace-Vanderwaal-Americas-Got-Talent-Simon-Cowell og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 'America's Got Talent' Star Is 'Honored' to Be Compared to Taylor Swift twitter:description: 12-year-old Grace VanderWaal wowed the crowd — but wants to be 'original' twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdcf55cded23b4ce9/6988971cfb4eac561788ddb1/grace-vanderwaal-americas-got-talent-simon-cowell.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # 12-Year-Old 'America's Got Talent' Star Is 'Honored' to Be Compared to Taylor Swift > Sponsored content. 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Terms and conditions apply. * Savings buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Savings Account. * No ATM fees from Ally Bank at Allpoint and Moneypass ATMs plus we reimburse for fees charged by other ATM owners nationwide up to $10 per statement cycle. * Early direct deposit offers eligible direct deposits up to two days sooner. * Spending buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Spending Account.  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Jun 10, 2016 2:59 PM UTC  (Courtesy: NBC Universal)  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Jun 10, 2016 2:59 PM UTC Twelve-year-old [Grace VanderWaal](http://time.com/4362496/simon-cowell-grace-vanderwaal-americas-got-talent/?iid=sr-link3) told the _America’s Got Talent_ judges that her friends didn’t even know she sings. But after her knockout performance on the TV talent show, you can bet they do now: the video of her song has been watched almost [80 million times](https://www.facebook.com/nbcagt/?fref=ts). Simon Cowell compared the young star-in-the-making to Taylor Swift, and it turns out that VanderWaal is a fan. “The only word I could I think of is ‘honored,'” [she told Entertainment Weekly](http://www.ew.com/article/2016/06/09/americas-got-talent-grace-vanderwaal) of the comparison. “I obviously want to be my own person and be original, but I think that’s not what he meant. I think he meant the success. Everyone knows who Taylor Swift is. She’s extremely successful as a singer/songwriter and to be compared to that is just unbelievable.” VanderWaal said she was a “hardcore” Swift fan when she was back in her “country” days. Her other favorite artists include Katy Perry and the band Twenty-One Pilots, from whom she learned some of the chords for the original song she wrote for her TV debut. _EW_ also reports that VanderWaal had never done a major show before; her only experience was singing in small coffee shops. You can watch VanderWaal next during the live shows, which are set for August. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4364147/americas-got-talent-grace-vanderwaal-taylor-swift/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4364147/americas-got-talent-grace-vanderwaal-taylor-swift/"},"headline":"12-Year-Old 'America's Got Talent' Star Is 'Honored' to Be Compared to Taylor Swift","datePublished":"2016-06-10T14:59:15.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:33:15.351Z","description":"The singer-songwriter is just getting started on her own path to superstardom","url":"https://time.com/4364147/americas-got-talent-grace-vanderwaal-taylor-swift/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Television","Music","Taylor Swift","entertainment"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdcf55cded23b4ce9/6988971cfb4eac561788ddb1/grace-vanderwaal-americas-got-talent-simon-cowell.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Raisa Bruner","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdcf55cded23b4ce9/6988971cfb4eac561788ddb1/grace-vanderwaal-americas-got-talent-simon-cowell.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Grace-Vanderwaal-Americas-Got-Talent-Simon-Cowell","caption":"","creditText":"(Courtesy: NBC Universal)","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4364147/americas-got-talent-grace-vanderwaal-taylor-swift/","name":"12-Year-Old 'America's Got Talent' Star Is 'Honored' to Be Compared to Taylor Swift"}}]}] ```