Gracie Abrams is a musician on the rise with a brand-new album drop featuring the likes of superstar Taylor Swift . The singer songwriter grew up viewing Swift “as her childhood hero,” according to Billboard , and now the two artists are working alongside each other.
The two musical artists released the collaboration “Us” for Abrams’ album “The Secret of Us,” which debuted this summer.
Abrams increased her Instagram following by tacking on 100,000 new followers in just two days after releasing the collaboration, according to research conducted by QR Code Generator .
“Every formative memory in my life is paired with a Taylor Swift song that helped me get through,” she told Vanity Fair . “My boyfriend the other day did the thing where we shuffled her discography and played a song for one second ... I got them all.”
Before the duo dropped “Us”, Abrams was first contacted by Swift through an unknown number inviting Abrams to attend Swift’s birthday celebrations. She called a mutual producer to make sure it was real, per Vanity Fair .
Fast forward to years later, Swift and Abrams spent a late night writing the song together in Swift’s New York City apartment — a night in which they started a fire, not just because of the music. A candle fell over in the kitchen, setting the island in flames, which Swift put out with an extinguisher.
The music stars had been performing new songs from Swift’s “The Tortured Poets Department” and Abrams’ “The Secret of Us” for the night, and instrumentals mutual producer Aaron Dessner crafted sparked an idea for a collaboration.
“Something caught our ear at the same time very hard and fast, so we ran to the piano and started writing this song,” she told Billboard . “I used to fantasize about that kind of a thing as a kid.”
Opening The Eras Tour for Taylor Swift
Abrams opened for more than 30 shows for Swift, and the two have performed onstage twice together throughout the tour. One year ago Monday was the first time the pair performed with each other — Swift brought Abrams onstage during the surprise section of the show to perform “I Miss You, I’m Sorry” after Abrams’ opening performance was cancelled due to the weather.
The second time was this summer when Swift brought her onstage again during the surprise song section as a special guest to perform “Us” for the London crowd on Night 3.
She told Teen Vogue she only allows herself to focus on the fans closest to her during the shows in front of the massive crowds.
“Otherwise I think I would only be able to think about how I’m playing on the same stage as my favorite artist in the world, and she’s granting me that opportunity, and how did life get from being 10 years old and crying to her music in my room to being on this stage and celebrating her career in this way?”
Swift even dedicated one of her surprise songs to Abrams while on tour — singing and performing “Clean” on the piano from Swift’s “1989″ during one of the shows Abrams opened.
“I don’t think I realized the scale at which that one means something to everyone,” Abrams told Teen Vogue . “That’s the thing about Taylor’s music. When one of her songs lands in a specific place in your life, it feels like you’re the only person in the world who has that extreme of a connection to the song. I felt so grateful to hear it in that way, so stripped and raw. That song has been kind of a constant security blanket since it came out. I have so many little memories listening to that song at times when I needed it. To hear her so thoughtfully dedicate it, I was like, ‘I could die now and be totally thrilled.’”
Gracie Abrams’ ‘The Secret of Us’
Abrams’ latest project features her trademark melancholy vocals and “sad girl” lyrics accompanied with more instrumentals than featured on previous albums and EPs.
Dessner helped Abrams produce the album, and he also helped her and Swift record the song at the iconic Long Pond Studios, the same place where Swift recorded her special “folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions” for Disney+ .
“It was just really fun to watch the chemistry of Gracie and Taylor bouncing off each other, Gracie in total wonder and awe watching how Taylor records and produces her vocal performances and builds the world,” Dessner told Billboard .
The same day as Abrams’ album drop, Swift released a behind-the-scenes video for the making of her “Fortnight” video with Post Malone. In the video, she reveals that she wrote “US” on a book used in one of the scenes as an easter egg —— providing her fans with a hint about her upcoming collab with Abrams.
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