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‘I don’t know how at this hour or in our state she knew what to do,’ Abrams recalls
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Gracie Abrams has praised friend Taylor Swift for how she handled a fire in an apartment.
The 24-year-old singer opened up about her budding friendship with Swift during an interview with Billboard, published on June 18. Abrams has also worked with the Grammy-winner before, as she was one of the openers for the Eras Tour and is releasing a song – which is part of her new album, The Secret of Us – that features Swift in it.
Speaking to Billboard, the “Risk” singer recalled how Swift saved them from a dangerous situation in the Grammy-winner’s apartment. After hearing some noise, which Swift just thought was one of her cats moving around, she and Abrams later discovered that a candle had fallen over.
However, it wasn’t until a few hours later, after a night of dinner and drinks, that they realized the candle started a fire, which the “All Too Well” singer quickly put out.
”She was such a legend – I don’t know how at this hour or in our state she knew what to do,” Abrams said. “We both had an insane cough from the fire extinguisher fumes for weeks.”
She explained that the fire not only occurred six months before the interview with Billboard, but also shortly after she and Swift co-wrote the song “Us,” which will be released on June 21. Abrams also shared that the night before the fire, she listened to a few songs from Swift’s then-unreleased and unannounced album, The Tortured Poets Department.
According to the “Close To You” singer, she and Swift were not only dancing “like theater kids” to the tune “But Daddy I Love Him”, but Abrams was on the floor in shock after listening to “The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived.” Billboard also noted that the viral photo she shared in December of her and Swift, where Abrams was on the floor and covering her face, was her reaction to the tune.
She acknowledged that she and Swift then started listening to instrumentals made by their mutual collaborator, Aaron Dessener, which encouraged the two singers to work on their own tune together.
“Something caught our ear at the same time very hard and fast,” she explained. “So we ran to the piano and started writing this song … I used to fantasize about that kind of a thing as a kid.”
Abrams has previously opened up about how much she admires the “Anti-Hero” singer. During an interview with Porter, published earlier this week, she expressed how grateful she was to open for Swift during the Eras Tour. She also detailed how the “Cruel Summer” singer inspired her as a fellow songwriter.
“[Taylor]’s such an unbelievable artist, friend, and mentor. She is one of the reasons why I stuck with writing daily,” she said. “She makes these albums while she’s on the road – she never stops. Now I start to feel like s*** when I don’t do it. It’s like eating well, getting enough sleep, and drinking enough. Writing, for me, is something that helps my brain stay at a baseline calm that is required for me to function at the highest possible level in all the other areas.”
During an appearance on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon last month, she once again reflected on being a part of the Eras Tour, where she even had the chance to do a duet of one of her songs, “I Miss You, I’m Sorry,” with Swift.
“It’s a real master class to watch her do what she does,” Abrams said about the “Shake It Off” singer. “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.”
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