In the middle of New York City is a spot that Gracie Abrams calls a secret garden: a park where she says she can hang out unnoticed (when TV cameras aren't around, that is).It's a respite from a life where she's very much front-and-center.At 26, Abrams is a reigning queen of so-called whisper pop – her witty, intimate style praised by critics and millions of fans around the world.
She's graced the top of Billboard charts, Chanel ads, and the most recent cover of Vogue. Backstage on tour last summer, she told us she still seemed stunned by it all: "I'm constantly pinching myself," she said."And I don't know at what point you could get to where you're not doing that." Being center-stage didn't come naturally to Abrams.
Born and raised in Los Angeles, she always had a passion for songwriting, but not necessarily performing.She says she felt fear from the idea of sharing her songs: "Like, just really physical fear … in the pit of your stomach.
I felt that when I would hear footsteps coming down the hall, and I would stop playing."She eventually got up the nerve to post a few songs online, such as "Minor." "I don't know what my goal was," Abrams said."I think it was probably that naïve kind of concept of the internet that it's not real – you know what I mean? I'm like, 'Okay.' It was easier to hide behind."The gamble paid off.
By 2019 Abrams had her first record deal.And thanks in part to COVID, she did her first tour on Zoom from her bedroom.
"It was such a gift, because I was vomiting at the thought of performing!" she laughed."And then I got to do it in the comfort of my own space.
And it felt like this baby step."That baby step turned into a running leap onto the world's largest stages.By 2022, Abrams was opening for some of the brightest stars in music: Olivia Rodrigo, and then Taylor Swift.
Stepping out onto stage on Swift's Eras Tour, Abrams said, "felt like being in some kind of, like, alternate universe.It was just the best thing." Asked wha...