Taylor Swift protege Gracie Abrams comes into her own at rousing Singapore show
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American musician Gracie Abrams has developed a cult following in just a few years.
ST PHOTO: YAMINI CHINNUSWAMY
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SINGAPORE – American singer-songwriter Gracie Abrams might be the scion of Hollywood royalty, with her father being esteemed film director and television producer J.J. Abrams, known for his work on Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015), Star Trek (2009), Lost (2004 to 2010) and more.
But if anything, she is first and foremost an apprentice of American pop queen Taylor Swift.
“I’ve learnt so much from Taylor on how to navigate this industry, and how to be a person in the world. She’s such a mentor in more ways than one,” Abrams, 25, said during a press conference at music cafe Swee Lee Clarke Quay with regional media on April 3.
The musician was in town for her first concert in Asia that same evening at The Star Theatre – and to kick off the Asian leg of her The Secret Of Us tour, which tails a successful run of shows in Europe in February and March.
That itself followed a whirlwind end to 2024, when Abrams took a break from her own headlining concerts to return as the opening act for the final leg of Swift’s record-breaking The Eras Tour concerts in North America. Abrams had previously opened for the tour during the initial American leg in 2023.
Abrams and Swift, 35, also teamed up sometime in between to co-write and record the song Us, the lyrics of which would later provide the title for Abrams’ second album, The Secret Of Us, released in June 2024.
Us, which is the fifth track on that record, earned a Grammy nomination for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance at the awards in February 2025.
“It was such a privilege to be able to study Taylor’s artistry up close. And also to be in the orbit of her fan base, which I’ve been a part of since before I can remember,” said Abrams of her experience on The Eras Tour.
“Feeling the power of that community recharged my battery emotionally, mentally, socially,” she added.
Abrams, who dropped out of Barnard College in New York City to focus on music in 2018, released her first single, Meant It, a year later. A few more singles and EPs followed before she dropped her debut album, Good Riddance, in 2023.
Despite growing up in Los Angeles and being surrounded by show business, music and songwriting have always been her chosen medium.
She said: “Music has been the thing that I’ve leaned on my entire life, (whether) I’ve been down or confused, or homesick or excited, or falling in love.”
Indeed, when prompted to reveal a secret about herself, as a play on the title of her latest album, she struggled. “It’s hard (to reveal any secrets about me because) I’m such an open book... I write every feeling into my music.”
Her confessional songwriting – which is very much in the Swift tradition – quickly gained her a strong following and recently won her the Songwriter of the Year prize at the Billboard Women In Music event and Breakthrough Artist of the Year at the 2025 iHeartRadio Music Awards, both in March.
Gracie Abrams at a press conference in Singapore on April 3, 2024.
PHOTO: UNIVERSAL MUSIC SINGAPORE
That following seems to be well-represented by South-east Asia, where Abrams has reportedly accumulated some 12 billion streams to date.
“For years prior to even releasing music, I felt the support and the love specifically from this part of the world,” Abrams said.
Though she had been in Singapore for barely 24 hours, she already managed to try some local food.
“Chicken rice is now my favourite meal of all time,” she declared, adding that she was also interested to sample some spicier fare.
But the hot stuff would have to wait, as Abrams squeezed in a meet-and-greet with Singapore fans after the press conference, before heading over to The Star Theatre for her sold-out show.
There, the crowd – which was dominated by teenagers and young women in flowy white get-ups and hair bows, a style aesthetic that connects the fandom – immediately got to its feet and cheered uproariously when Abrams took to the stage just after 8pm. The concertgoers joined in almost simultaneously with the singer as she kicked off her set with Risk, the lead single off The Secret Of Us.
The audience kept up the exuberant singalong through the 75-minute set. Abrams, likewise, barely took a breather between the dozen and a half or so tunes from across her two albums.
“I can’t believe you know every single word of every single song,” she marvelled at one point.
Even the break before the encore was barely 30 seconds long, before Abrams and her three-person backing band returned to the stage to end the night with viral hit That’s So True and Close To You.
“If you feel like dancing one more time, feel free,” she said in her parting words, before the final chorus of Close To You.
And the 5,000-strong crowd seemed to take her up on the offer, jumping up and down fervently and dancing along as they tried to feel close to Abrams one last time before she took her final bow.
