Gracie Madigan Abrams is a 25-year-old music artist based out of Los Angeles. She is a Los Angeles native, having grown up in the Pacific Palisades area with her two brothers, and is the middle daughter of Jeffrey Jacob (J.J.) Abrams and Katie McGrath. While both of her parents work in the film industry, her dad is most well-known for having worked in directing for “Star Trek,” “Star Wars,” and “Mission: Impossible.”
Abrams got her start in music at a young age by writing songs and recording covers that she posted to SoundCloud. She was signed in 2019 to Interscope Records (which is owned by Universal Music Group) and that fall, she released her first official single, titled “Mean It.” She began gaining further recognition after releasing her 2020 Extended Play (EP), “Minor” and the single, “I miss you, I’m sorry.” She followed this up with a 2021 EP called “This Is What It Feels Like.” Abrams’s first album, “Good Riddance,” came out in 2023, followed by her most recent 2024 album, “The Secret of Us.”
In 2023 and 2024, Abrams simultaneously toured her “Good Riddance” album while opening for Taylor Swift’s “The Eras Tour.” Abrams and Swift became fast friends during the tour. They co-wrote the song “us.” for Abrams’ album “The Secret of Us,” and Swift even brought Abrams out as a surprise guest on night three of her shows in Toronto on November 16, 2024, and again on night two of Vancouver on December 7, 2024.
Currently, Abrams is on the “Secret of Us Tour” with opener Dora Jar. While Abrams has publicly stood up for Dora Jar, fans have other opinions. At one point, a Change.org petition was started with fans complaining that Jar’s slower-paced musical style did not have memorable lyrics or prepare them for Abrams’s music, as they believed an opener’s music should do. Nevertheless, despite these critiques, Jar is still opening for Abrams, and tickets have repeatedly sold out.
Overall, Gracie Abrams has had a career that appears to be on a strong trajectory and is hopefully headed toward some future Grammys. With big-name collaborations and some successful tours, she is well-off, but she must figure out how to join her openers and following to remain relevant with her fanbase moving forward.
