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Grace VanderWaal, the winner of 'America's Got Talent' season 11, announces that her mom Tina has died of cancer at the age of 53 and shares a heartfelt tribute on Instagram: "I love you mommy. So much."
Grace VanderWaal has announced that her mother, Tina VanderWaal, has died. She was 53.
The former America’s Got Talent champion -- who famously won season 11 of the competition reality show at the age of 12 for her ukulele, singing and songwriting chops -- took to her social media accounts to announce Tina’s death and share a heartfelt tribute.
"Can’t yet find the words," she captioned her Oct. 21 Instagram post. "I love you mommy. So much. I wake up and want to call you. I don’t know how to move forward without you. I love you."
The post contains a carousel of photos of Grace with her mother, including a selfie of the two smiling, laughing, and having fun with a video filter. There’s also a screenshot of a text message Tina sent to the AGT star that says, "Whatcha doin today? Miss you so much."
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As for the cause of death, Grace’s father, Dave VanderWaal, shared a more detailed Facebook post revealing that "superwife" and "mother extraordinaire" Tina died on Oct. 20, approximately 17 months after she was diagnosed with cancer.
According to a fundraiser page on Pledge the Pink, Tina shared that she had been diagnosed with triple-negative breast cancer in June 2024 and she was in the midst of radiation treatments. As of September 19, 2025, she had completed a series of two treatments with eight more to go and openly talked about it on her Instagram.
“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 wrote in his Facebook post.
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View Story“Tina truly was the heart of our family, filling our lives with creativity, laughter, and love. 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.”
Dave, who was married to Tina for 27 years, says he was "blessed" with their "three incredible children" together: Jakob, 26, Grace, 25, and Olivia, 21.
"In the next few days, I’ll share a link to a Celebration page where all can honor her life and if desired, make a voluntary contribution to a cancer organization in her memory." he continued. "While our hearts ache, I take comfort in knowing that Tina is now in Heaven -- her bright, shining light still guiding us. 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."
