Just call her Professor Swift. Gracie Abrams made her late-night interview debut Wednesday (May 8) and opened up on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon about how touring with Taylor Swift on The Eras Tour felt like going to pop-star college, which culminated in some field experience when the “Anti-Hero” singer invited her to perform a duet during one of the shows — an event during which Abrams says she “blacked out.”
“It’s a real masterclass to watch her do what she does,” the California native — who has previously performed on late-night programs — told Fallon on his show, where she later performed her new single “Risk.” “I felt like I was at college for this job. I watched every single one of her shows that I was lucky enough to open. I watched from every place possible in each stadium, just trying to pick up on how she’s able to do what she does.”
“What she does so unbelievably well in these kinds of rooms is, sometimes you feel like you’re on Mars and sometimes you feel like the only two people in the stadium are you and her because she’s just so connected to her audience,” Abrams continued. “It’s really magical and to have been in their orbit for a summer was a crazy dream.”
The musician went on to recall the surreal experience of singing her breakthrough 2020 hit “I Miss You, I’m Sorry” with Swift during the surprise song section of one of her Cincinnati shows in July. Abrams’ supporting set had been canceled earlier in the night due to rain delays, leading the 14-time Grammy winner to graciously give her opener a second shot at performing a couple hours later.
“Even Taylor can’t control the sky, apparently,” Abrams joked to Fallon. “My set was canceled for safety reasons. Then Taylor texted me being like, ‘Hey, come out with me and do ‘I Miss You, I’m Sorry?” We ran it one time in her room and then did it there. I blacked out.”
Abrams and Fallon also revealed during the interview that they’d been seated next to each other at the 2024 Met Gala two nights prior. “We danced the whole time,” the “21” singer told viewers. “You can’t be sitting when it’s Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo.”
Grande headlined a short fairytale-inspired concert at this year’s event, and at one point was joined by her Wicked costar for a duet of Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey’s “When You Believe.” “It’s pretty remarkable being in the same room as voices like theirs,” Abrams added. “They’re just unbelievable, as we all know.”
Watch Abrams on The Tonight Show below.
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