One of the most high-profile winner’s of America’s Got Talent has announced that her mother has died.
Grace VanderWaal — who got a special gift from Taylor Swift when she won the talent competition in 2016, when she was just 12 — shared the loss of her mother Tina in an Instagram post on Tuesday.
The 21-year-old singer’s father Dave VanderWaal announced Tina’s death in a Facebook post from the day before, which revealed that she had died at 53 following a battle with breast cancer lasting more than a year.
‘Can’t yet find the words. I love you mommy. So much,’ Grace captioned photos of her and her mother cuddling up from happier times. ‘I wake up and want to call you. I don’t know how to move forward without you. I love you.’
Grace’s post included a sweet photo of herself and her mother sitting in what looked like a giant recliner as the songstress rested her legs on her mother and gripped her in a tight hug.
Another snap showed Grace when she was just a child. She wore a furry ushanka hat while beaming next to Tina in a car.
Grace VanderWaal, 21, paid tribute to her late mother Tina on Tuesday following her death on October 20 at 53
‘Can’t yet find the words. I love you mommy. So much,’ VanderWaal wrote while posting photos and videos of herself cuddling up with her late mother, who died following a battle with breast cancer
VanderWaal’s singing and songwriting helped her win season 11 of America’s Got Talent in 2016 (pictured) when she was just 12
Grace and her mother showed off their lighter side in a funny video in which the singer added a filter so that her mother’s lips replaced her own.
‘Oh no, honey, that’s so lame!’ Tina said before bursting into laughter at the bizarre sight.
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Tina beamed in a solo shot snapped in a restaurant to round out the pictures, and Grace concluded the post with a text message exchange that appeared to be from her late mother. ‘Whatcha doin today? Miss you so much,’ Tina had written in back-to-back messages from January 20 of this year.
Grace’s post was inundated with condolences in the comments, including one from Katy Perry, who shared a simple bandaged heart emoji.
Perry had congratulated VanderWaal shortly after her America’s Got Talent Win nearly a decade earlier.
‘Congrats! You have it,’ Perry wrote in a tweet at the time. ‘Protect it and keeping playing and writing… it will always serve you.’
A day earlier, Grace’s father Dave shared the somber news that his wife had died.
‘Remembering the beautiful life and love of our amazing Tina 💖,’ he began.
Grace’s post included a sweet photo of herself and her mother sitting in what looked like a giant recliner as the songstress rested her legs on her mother and gripped her in a tight hug
Another snap showed Grace when she was just a child. She wore a furry ushanka hat while beaming next to Tina in a car
Grace and her mother showed off their lighter side in a funny video in which the singer added a filter so that her mother’s lips replaced her own. ‘Oh no, honey, that’s so lame!’ Tina said before bursting into laughter at the bizarre sight
Tina beamed in a solo shot snapped in a restaurant to round out the pictures
Grace concluded the post with a text message exchange that appeared to be from her late mother
Grace’s post was inundated with condolences in the comments, including one from Katy Perry, who had congratulated her nearly a decade earlier after she won America’s Got Talent in 2016
‘It’s hard to find the words to adequately express our family sorrow, but I want to share the sad news that our beloved Tina VanderWaal — “Superwife” and Mother “extraordinaire” — passed over to the Lord’s hands last night, October 20,’ Grace’s father announced.
‘She was a fighter to the end of her long, 17-month battle with cancer, always finding a positive outlook no matter what — for herself and, even more importantly, for others facing the same difficult journey.’
Dave shared that he and Tina were married for ’27 wonderful years’ and welcomed ‘three incredible children’: Grace and her brother Jakob and sister Olivia.
‘Tina truly was the heart of our family, filling our lives with creativity, laughter, and love,’ he continued. ‘Whether she was designing beautiful jewelry, teaching others to discover their creative spirit, or making every holiday and family moment special, she brought light and joy to everything she touched.
Grace’s father said mourners could honor his late wife with contributions to a cancer charity that will be announced in the new few days.
‘While our hearts ache, I take comfort in knowing that Tina is now in Heaven — her bright, shining light still guiding us,’ he wrote. ‘I know we’ll see her again one day. Until then, we’ll hold tight to the love, joy, and beauty she gave us. She was a laser beam of light to all who knew her.
‘Holding Tina’s beam of light in our hearts always,’ he concluded, signing the post with his and his children’s names.
VanderWaal got her star performing at local venues in her home, located in a suburb of New York City.
A day earlier, Grace’s father Dave shared the somber news that his wife had died on Facebook. ‘She was a fighter to the end of her long, 17-month battle with cancer, always finding a positive outlook no matter what — for herself and, even more importantly, for others facing the same difficult journey,’ he wrote
VanderWaal was famously shocked to receive an opulent flower bouquet from Taylor Swift to mark her America’s Got Talent win in 2016, when she was just 12 (pictured)
Swift retweeted a sweet video of VanderWaal jumping up and down in a moment of joy, shouting: ‘Taylor Swift sent these!’; pictured in February in LA
After increasing her profile with a series of well-received cover songs posted to YouTube, VanderWaal emerged triumphant on season 11 of America’s Got Talent.
The 12-year-old’s win was particularly impressive, as she won over the judges and fans by performing her own songs, rather than covers of well-known tunes.
To mark VanderWaal’s television triumph, Taylor Swift sent the tween an opulent flower bouquet at the time.
‘Words can not explain how honored I am for this.. thank. You. SOOOOOOO MUCH!!!! @taylorswift13,’ the rising star wrote on Twitter in response.
In the video, which Swift later retweeted, a young VanderWaal jumps up and down in a moment of joy, shouting: ‘Taylor Swift sent these!’
VanderWaal celebrated her win with her debut studio album, Just The Beginning, in 2017.
It reached number 22 on the Billboard 200 albums chart, but her sophomore LP, this year’s Childstar, failed to chart.
VanderWaal has also branched out into acting after starring in the Disney+ original movie Hollywood Stargirl in 2022.
She followed it up with a role opposite Adam Driver in Francis Ford Coppola’s divisive allegorical epic Megalopolis (2024).