Gracie Abrams’ parents weren’t ready for her sudden rise to fame.
Having opened a whopping 49 Eras shows for Taylor Swift, and appeared as a musical guest on Saturday Night Live, Gracie, 25, is proving her stardom isn’t reliant on nepotism.
“They’re like, ‘What in the world?’” she revealed to Nylon, describing her parents’ reaction to her growing popularity. “But it’s really sweet,” the “Close To You” singer added.
Mom Katie McGrath and dad J.J. Abrams threw their support behind Gracie as she took to the stage recently at Madison Square Garden in New York City. J.J. Abrams was swarmed by fans asking for selfies — not because of his major sci-fi productions but because he’s Gracie’s dad.
She admits both of her parents have been influential throughout her pursuit of a career in the entertainment industry.
The singer said her mother, Katie McGrath who is the co-CEO at Bad Robot Productions, is, “The toughest person I know, and not a softie.”
“The way that she treats people is how I want to treat people, and for me to see her be that way towards this community that cares so much about the music…” she said, after watching her mother interact with her listeners at the concert in New York.
“Her support and encouragement of my writing my whole life is the reason that I’m doing any of this now,” Gracie added.
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The Risk singer previously gushed about her mom to Glamour magazine saying, “I admire her wholeheartedly. As I’ve gotten older, I just wanted to be more and more like her. To see her fearlessness in these spaces is something that inevitably has guided me as a woman.”
As for her storytelling father, Gracie said her dad’s work has paved the way for her.
“There’s a privilege in having even grown up around the knowledge of what the entertainment world looks like at all,” she told iHeartRadio Canada, while reflecting on her start in songwriting.
“I feel really lucky that I grew up in a house where there was an adult in my life who was telling stories all the time,” she continued. “To know that that doesn’t have to end when you’re a kid.
“Whether or not that was on my mind when I was writing songs because it definitely wasn’t.
“I think that having that in my childhood solidified my love and appreciation for storytelling … and influenced the fact that I did it all the time.”
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