Early life Anna Graceman was born in
Juneau,
Alaska, to a poor family. Her mother played classical music to her before she was born, and at three months old, her parents displayed flashcards for her to read and gain word association, sparking her love of songwriting. and wrote her first song, "So I Cried", when she was six years old. Graceman has cited her mom as one of her biggest musical influences.
2009–2010: Career beginnings Graceman's parents began uploading videos of Graceman singing when she was six or seven years old. When Graceman's original song "Paradise" was uploaded in August 2009—when she was nine years old—a YouTube producer featured her in a group of child musicians. The video then caught the attention of
Ellen DeGeneres, who invited Graceman to sing "Paradise" on
The Ellen DeGeneres Show in October 2009
.'' During that episode, DeGeneres invited Graceman to meet
Taylor Swift on a subsequent show. On April 20, 2010, Graceman played at the 36th Alaska Folk Festival along with other folk and bluegrass bands. A local reviewer stated, "There were several sets where the young and gifted stole the show, making me realize I was watching Juneau's version of "Who's Got Talent" – particularly when 10-year-old Anna Graceman sang all her original songs."
2011: ''America's Got Talent'' In 2011, when Graceman was 11 years old, she auditioned for
season six of ''
America's Got Talent'', singing "
If I Ain't Got You" by
Alicia Keys and accompanying herself on the keyboard. She received a standing ovation from
Howie Mandel,
Piers Morgan, and
Sharon Osbourne, the show's three judges. Her audition video went viral and caught the attention of the mainstream press. In the Vegas round, Graceman performed "
Rolling in the Deep" by
Adele, again playing the keyboard. In the quarterfinals, she performed "
What a Wonderful World" by
Louis Armstrong, which earned her enough votes to qualify for the semifinals. The performance caught the attention of
Nikki Sixx, Mötley Crüe's bassist, who called it "so cute". Graceman sang "
True Colors" by
Cyndi Lauper for her top 10 performance, but for the first time on the show, she performed without the keyboard. Following her elimination, Graceman participated in ''America's Got Talent Live'' in late October 2011 along with other season six favorites, including Landon Swank,
Team iLuminate, and winner
Landau Eugene Murphy, Jr. At the request of
Caesars Palace, she returned to the Colosseum for the following New Year's Eve concert.
2012–2015: Solo work after ''America's Got Talent'' In 2012, Disney approached Graceman and requested the right to non-exclusively license her early original YouTube videos, which can be found in the video section of Disney's website. In 2013, Graceman performed 43 shows at
The Palazzo Theater in
The Venetian for seven weeks. Famed reporter
Robin Leach praised her performance, comparing her singing to
Alicia Keys, her piano playing to
Elton John, and her songwriting to
Adele and
Taylor Swift. In April 2013, Graceman received an honorable mention from the
International Songwriting Competition for her song "Showtime". Graceman moved to
Nashville,
Tennessee, in 2014 to pursue her songwriting and work with the musicians there. On August 28, 2014, Graceman performed at the first YouTube Music Night at the YoutubeSpaceLA facilities in
Los Angeles. A few months later, she performed at the YouTube Music Night at the Pinewood Social Event Center in downtown Nashville.
2016–present: Graceman Band and Songland Graceman was featured in
Relix's September 2016 issue, where they wrote, "This is hardly a run-of-the-mill adolescence, Graceman has stayed grounded through it all, remembering where she came from and how it all started.".In 2016, Graceman formed Graceman Band with her younger siblings, Allie and Landon Graceman. The band's style of music incorporates elements of folk, soul, and rock. Its members are: A couple of weeks later, Anna Graceman released the band's first full-length album,
Rebel Days, written and produced by Anna Graceman. On June 1, 2020, Graceman appeared on NBC's show
Songland. The episode featured recording artist
Bebe Rexha, who combined Graceman's song with that of fellow contestant Greg Scott and chose the song as the episode's winner. The song was recorded by Rexha and used by NBC to promote the
Tokyo Olympics. On May 29, 2020, Graceman released her studio album
The Way The Night Behaves through her independent label, Another Girl Records. In 2023, Anna Graceman and her band collaborated with Ryan Corn on "A Little Wild". ==Musical influences==