Olivia Rodrigo is going on tour, and the woman riding shotgun with the ‘drivers license’ singer is Gracie Abrams. Here’s what you need to know – including her famous father.
“I love you [Olivia Rodrigo],” Gracie Abrams tweeted on Monday (Dec. 6), shortly after Olivia, 18, announced her 2022 Sour Tour. “This is going to be so fun.” Shortly after Olivia announced the full schedule of shows – and how she’ll be joined by Holly Humberstone and Baby Queen on different dates – Gracie, 22, added that she was “screaming crying” in excitement.
This massive tour – kicking off on April 2 in San Francisco, ending in May in Los Angeles, with a European and U.K. run in June and July – will introduce Gracie to a whole new audience. For those who aren’t aware of this young talent, here’s the scoop.
Gracie Abrams Is A Singer-Songwriter.
Gracie Madigan Abrams, born Sept. 7, 1999, is an American singer-songwriter. She released her debut single, “Mean It,” in 2019 and followed it up with “Stay.” In 2020, she released her debut ep, Minor, which included songs, “Long Sleeves,” “Friend,” “I Miss You, I’m Sorry’ and more. She promoted the release with appearances on late-night shows and continued to work on her career during the pandemic months. She teamed with Benny Blanco for his Friends Keep Secrets 2 album, joining him on the single, “Unlearn.” In 2021, she also released Mess It Up,” “Feels Like,” and “Rockland,” a song she wrote with Aaron Dresser (the member of The National who co-wrote and produced Taylor Swift’s folklore and evermore.).
You’ve Probably Seen One Of Her Father’s Films.
Gracie is the daughter of J.J. Abrams and Katie McGrath. JJ is best known for directing movies like Cloverfield, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, the 2009 Star Trek reboot, and more. He also has created Alias, Lost, and Fringe and had his hand in several other projects. Katie is also a producer, as she’s worked with her and JJ’s Bad Robots Productions company, as well as the Katie McGrath & JJ Abrams Family Foundation.
She Wanted Nothing To Do With The Family Business.
“Even the slight knowledge that I had of it growing up as a kid made me want to have nothing to do with it at all,” Gracie said of her parents’ business in an interview with Riff Magazine. “When I started falling in love with music independent of all other factors in my life, it was kind of a happy surprise, just because I actively tried to avoid anything that they were involved in. I—with love—wanted nothing to do with them.”
At age 8, she signed up for drumming classes. She then learned piano, then guitar, finding them more conducive to her songwriting. Her protective parents only allowed her to post the music to her SoundCloud and required that she keep her Instagram private. When she made the account public, her career took off – and it led to some amazing connections. Lorde even DM’d Gracie, asking for a download of one of her songs.
“She definitely is an artist in my life that I will forever feel like I owe everything to,” Gracie told Riff when talking about Lorde. “Sonically and thematically, [Pure Heroine] changed my life. I remember being with my family in the living room, and I refresh my Instagram and see that she followed me. I had a crazy physical reaction, like, sweating immediately.”
Olivia Rodrigo Is A Huge Fan Of Gracie Abrams.
“One of my favorite artists and one of the coolest people ever is Gracie Abrams, who just came out with her debut EP a couple of months ago,” she told Zane Lowe in January 2021 (per ET Canada). “It’s called Minor, and she’s absolutely amazing, love that entire record. She’s signed to my same record label, so they’re like, ‘Oh, we’ll have you meet.’ And I’m like, ‘I literally don’t think I can meet her. I think I would just evaporate. I’m her biggest fan.’ I’ve heard the best things, and I’ve been DMing her on Instagram, and I told her that ‘Driver’s License’ was so inspired by her, and she’s like, ‘Oh, that’s amazing.'”
“This is my bedroom songwriting oasis,” Olivia Rodrigo said in a May 2021 interview with Elle. Olivia “created a little shrine” to all the “singer-songwriters she admires.” Among that makeshift ‘Hall of Fame’ were Taylor Swift, Gwen Stefani, Alanis Morissette, and, of course, Gracie Abrams.” Simon Riback, the head of A&R at Interscope – part of the company that includes Geffen Records, which is Olivia’s label – said he was impressed by Olivia and how she named Gracie as one of her favorite artists. “Gracie’s in her infancy! She started referencing Fiona Apple, the Smashing Pumpkins. She liked the Taylor Swifts and all that, but you could tell there was a left-of-center view to the way she was approaching pop music.”
She Is Politically Active.
During the 2020 election, Gracie worked as a poll worker in her area, something she told NME was inspired by her friends. “Unfortunately, for a really long time, younger people had assumed we would be OK in the hand of the older generation, but clearly we can’t rely on them to shape the future that we want to see,” she told the publication. “Being involved really mattered to me.”
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