Taylor Swift and Gracie Abrams delighted fans with an unexpected duet of their Grammy-nominated hit song Us this weekend. The pair, who are good pals, took to the stage at Swift’s third Eras tour night in Toronto on November 16.
Although she’s best known as Swift’s opening act since the start of the tour in 2023, Gracie boasts a successful music career of her own and has strong connections to Hollywood.
The 25-year-old singer-songwriter is the offspring of Star Wars director J. J Abrams and film and TV producer Katie McGrath.
Despite her attempts to keep her famous parents separate from her career, her father’s celebrity status is hard to conceal.
J. J, renowned for his work on the Star Wars franchise, was born to TV producer parents Gerald W. and Carol Ann Abrams. The 58 year old filmmaker made his mark in the entertainment industry at just 16 years old when he composed music for the sci-fi horror film Nightbeast.
He has since directed popular films, including Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, Star Trek and Star Trek Into Darkness, reports Surrey Live.
J. J is also the creative force behind the hit drama Lost, which earned over 50 Emmy Award nominations during its six-season run and boasts an impressive 90% audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Gracie has opened up about how her father’s creative career has shaped her own approach to music. In a chat with IHeartRadio Canada in 2022, she expressed: “I think that having that [her dad] in my childhood solidified my love and appreciation for storytelling […] and influenced the fact that I did it all the time.”
While she acknowledges her dad’s impact on her artistry, the ‘I Love You, I’m Sorry’ songstress has also shared that she initially sought to separate herself from her parents’ celebrity status.
Speaking to the Independent in 2022, she revealed: “In previous years, I’ve tried really hard to keep them as far away as possible, and they’re really respectful of that. I definitely was really insecure at the idea of anyone thinking that […] I was afraid for people who didn’t know me to know that my dad works in entertainment.”
She further reflected: “The older I’ve got, the more I see my parents as people and not just my parents. I should have asked them for advice more often than I did.”
Despite amassing a significant following, with a staggering 35.9 million monthly listeners on Spotify, Gracie has faced criticism for being labelled a ‘nepo baby,’ a term denoting children of famous individuals who are perceived to leverage their family connections to advance in the entertainment industry.
In 2023, she conceded that being born to well-known parents has its clear external perceptions. Speaking with Rolling Stone, she confided: “Obviously we can’t control where we are born into, and there are a million visible and even more invisible advantages to having family members who are in any entertainment industry.”
“I know how hard I work, and I know how separate I’ve kept [my parents] from every conversation about anything career wise, but of course you can understand what it looks like from the outside.”
Gracie’s sophomore album, The Secret of Us, dropped this summer to considerable acclaim, landing a glowing four-star review from the critics at NME magazine.
Come 2025, Gracie is set to take her tunes across Europe and the UK, with tour stops including London, Manchester, and Glasgow.