You don't get a bigger than Taylor Swift's Eras Tour. Literally. It's the highest-grossing tour of all time. So as one of Swift's openers, Gracie Abrams got to find out what it's like to perform in a stadium and what it's like to be as massively famous as the "Karma" singer. Thanks to her time with Swift, Abrams now knows that, yes, she'd like to headline a stadium herself, and yes, she's pretty lucky to be not quite as famous as the 35-year-old pop star.
In an interview with Billboard, Abrams talked about how her career as a singer-songwriter really blew up in the past year, which has brought more fame and more interest in her personal life. She said that she tends to avoid reading about herself on social media.
"I can know that 10 people a day are having that conversation on Twitter—that’s cool for them," the 25-year-old said. "I’m just going to mind my own business, really. I feel like any time I’ve slipped into paying too much attention to that, I’m less present in my life, I’m less available for people I know and love."
Abrams—who has been adjacent to celebrity during her life thanks to her father, director J.J. Abrams—began experiencing fame herself in the past couple of years. This includes interest in her love life; she is reportedly dating actor Paul Mescal. Abrams explained that being around Swift put her own level of fame into perspective.
"It’s like, I really don’t have it that bad in terms of invasion of privacy, you know what I mean?" the "That's So True" singer told Billboard. "I feel like I learned a lot from her, obviously, but one of the things that I’ve felt lucky to observe is how extreme it can be [for her]. It helps right-size my own shit."
Abrams also said that she isn't letting the attention she's receiving affect how open she is in her songwriting: "That would be so unfortunate."
Another thing Abrams learned from Swift is how to connect with fans while performing in a huge stadium. Asked if she'd like to headline stadiums herself, she said "Hell yeah."
She went on, "I could have never imagined myself admitting to that. I think having had the privilege of opening for Taylor in the stadiums that we played, to now have a visual reference and a real sense of what it feels like to be on a stage in that environment… It’s something that I miss and desperately hope to earn over time."
Aside from Abrams opening on the Eras Tour, she and Swift collaborated on the song "Us" from Abrams' album The Secret of Us. Abrams views Swift as a supportive friend and someone she looks up to.
"She's just the most unbelievable performer and the most generous friend and the fact that she... took a chance on me is, I think, why I get to be in this room tonight," Abrams told People at the 2024 Grammys. "It's not lost on me that her belief in me has really just...done a lot. So, I'm deeply grateful to her, forever."
