How 'Unbelievable Artist, Friend and Mentor' Taylor Swift Inspired Gracie Abrams to Stick with 'Writing Daily'

Gracie Abrams has only good things to say about tourmate and collaborator Taylor Swift.

In a recent interview with Porter, the Grammy-nominated singer called Swift "an unbelievable artist, friend, and mentor" — and credited her as "one of the reasons why" she "stuck with writing daily."

"Now I start to feel like s--- when I don’t do it. It’s like eating well, getting enough sleep, and drinking enough," Abrams told the outlet. "Writing, for me, is something that helps my brain stay at a baseline calm that is required for me to function at the highest possible level in all the other areas."

Abrams, 24, first opened for Swift’s global smash Eras Tour back in April 2023, attending dates throughout North America, and is set to rejoin the “Cruel Summer” singer in late 2024 for a final North American leg of the tour. 

In May, Abrams also announced that she was lucky enough to have the opportunity to write a song alongside the superstar, announcing that Swift was featured on the fifth track of her forthcoming album The Secret of Us.

"all i can tell you for now is that some of the most fun i’ve ever had in my whole entire life was writing this song together. hands down," Abrams wrote on X (formerly Twitter) following the announcement. "i am currently smiling and sweating thinking about it and i’ll never get over the shock of seeing this one on the tracklist. you know how i feel."

In the interview, Abrams also credited her female peers for paving the way for her to "have a voice."

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"The kind of freedom and safety that I feel personally is solely because of the women in this industry that have created space for us now, not just to have a voice in our business, but to have a voice in our songwriting as well," said Abrams, daughter of Star Wars director J.J. Abrams.

On the night of the 2024 Grammy Awards — where Abrams was up for the best new artist prize alongside Fred again.., Ice Spice, Jelly Roll, Coco Jones, Noah Kahan, Victoria Monét and The War and Treaty — there was "something that ended up feeling so much more sincere, genuine and supportive in the room," Abrams also noted.

"I think what was so emotional for me throughout the process, [and] sitting at the table with my fellow nominees, [was that] I got to see and know them all up close, outside of what I already admired so deeply about their music," she said.

Ahead of the release of her upcoming album and to the delight of her fans, Abrams recently dropped the track “Close to You,” a song she had first teased on Instagram nearly seven years before.

"It was so not the direction that I felt comfortable leaning into at the time, and it never felt like it had a place until this album," Abrams told Porter. "The response was pretty immediate and long lasting. It’s the song that I’ve gotten the most messages about."

Abrams’s second studio album, The Secret of Us, is out on June 21.