Grace Vanderwaal Releases Deeply Personal Sophomore Album, 'Childstar'

Internationally acclaimed artist and actress Grace VanderWaal has released her highly anticipated sophomore studio album, CHILDSTAR via PULSE Records. Undoubtedly her most personal body of work to date, on CHILDSTAR VanderWaal amplifies the sound of healing scars, shedding skin, and stepping into her power. 'CHILDSTAR' is available everywhere now.

CHILDSTAR: Final Act, a short film co-directed by Grace VanderWaal with Luca Renzi and Jacob Boehme, and co-choreographed by VanderWaal and Renzi. The video features five captivating performances from CHILDSTAR, including "Proud," which premiered earlier this week, as well as riveting performances of album tracks, "Brand New," "Homesick," "Behavioral Problems," and "Fade." Heartbreaking, captivating and cathartic all at once, Grace bares her soul, sharing her experiences growing up in the public eye through song, dance and raw emotion in each of these five performances. 

Speaking about her performance of "Proud" from CHILDSTAR: Final Act, Grace shares, "I co-choreographed and co-directed this very vulnerable performance piece with Luca Renzi to tell the story of 'Proud' through physical storytelling. It's the desperate confusing inner battle between being controlled by the need validation and being controlled by what instilled that need. A child who is so special. Never cries. Never asks for anything."

Next month, Grace takes CHILDSTAR on the road, with a six city North American headline tour, marking her first since 2019. CHILDSTAR - ON TOUR kicks off May 4 in Chicago, and includes dates in Toronto, Washington, DC, New York City, and two nights in Los Angeles, before concluding May 21 in San Francisco. For more information and to purchase tickets, please visit here.

The arrival of CHILDSTAR follows a whirlwind 2024 for Grace VanderWaal, which included a spine-tingling performance at the 2024 Kennedy Center Honors and a featured role from the legendary Academy Award-winning filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola, in his epic, "Megalopolis," starring alongside Academy Award nominees Adam Driver and Laurence Fishburne. The film, which made its premiere at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, received a seven-minute standing ovation for the famed director's work.

VanderWaal's debut EP, Imperfectly Perfect was the biggest selling EP in 2016, entering the Billboard 200 albums chart at number nine. The following year, she released her first full-length studio album, Just The Beginning to vast critical acclaim. Between releasing music, she has toured with everyone from Florence + the Machine to Imagine Dragons. Among many accolades, she earned a Teen Choice Award in addition to receiving the Billboard "Women in Music" Rising Star Award and becoming "the youngest person ever" to be featured on the Forbes 30 Under 30 music list. Not to mention, she starred as the title character in the Disney+ film series Stargirl and Megapolis.

NORTH AMERICAN TOUR DATES

05/04 - Lincoln Hall - Chicago, IL
05/07 - The Great Hall - Toronto, ON
05/09 - Atlantis - Washington, DC
05/10 - Racket - New York, NY
05/18 - The Roxy - Los Angeles, CA
05/19 - The Roxy - Los Angeles, CA - *NEW DATE*
05/21 - Brick & Mortar - San Francisco, CA