Gracie Abrams crafts a distinctive brand of introspective contemporary pop whose atmospheric textures recall Lorde’s influence while evolving across her catalog. She built an early digital audience by issuing a string of singles throughout the late 2010s, then broke through in 2020 when the tracks “21” and “I Miss You, I’m Sorry” from her EP Minor gained widespread streaming traction. That same year she collaborated with Benny Blanco on the 2021 single “Unlearn” and followed with her second EP, This Is What It Feels Like. Her debut full-length, Good Riddance, co-written with Aaron Dessner, appeared in early 2023 and earned her a Best New Artist Grammy nomination; although the set performed solidly in the U.K. and Ireland, its successor, The Secret of Us, reached number two on the Billboard 200, number one in both the U.K. and Australia, and again featured Dessner alongside a Taylor Swift duet on “us.”
Born September 7, 1999, as the daughter of filmmaker J.J. Abrams, Gracie began making music at age eight on drums before adding guitar, ukulele, and piano. During her teenage years she cultivated a social-media following whose members brought her early recordings—“In-Between,” “Deep Red,” and “And She Will Miss You”—to the attention of industry figures. After finishing high school in 2018 she enrolled at Barnard College intending to study international relations, all while continuing to release music, including an EP issued around that period.
Interscope introduced her officially in 2019 with the single “Mean It,” followed later that year by “Stay.” The 2020 EP Minor produced streaming successes “21” and “I Miss You, I’m Sorry,” and in 2021 she issued the joint track “Unlearn” with Benny Blanco plus the solo song “Mess It Up.” Her second EP, This Is What It Feels Like, arrived the same year with production credits for Aaron Dessner, Joel Little, and Blake Slatkin. Two 2022 singles, “Difficult” and “Block Me Out,” preceded the February 2023 release of her first album, Good Riddance. Its fifth single, “I Know It Won’t Work,” became her initial Billboard Pop Airplay hit at number 32, while the Aaron Dessner–assisted LP itself peaked at number 52 on the Billboard 200. Later that year she opened select dates on Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour, and the November soundtrack contribution “Cedars” for The Buccaneers arrived alongside her Best New Artist Grammy nomination.
An exclusive vinyl edition, Good Riddance Acoustic Shows: Live, launched 2024, after which the single “Risk” climbed to number 28 on Pop Airplay and entered the Hot 100. Additional Hot 100 placements followed via her featured turn on Noah Kahan’s “Everywhere, Everything” and her own “Close to You.” Her sophomore album, The Secret of Us, emerged that June; again shaped with Dessner and including the Top 40 hit “us.” co-written with Taylor Swift and Jack Antonoff, the project broadened her reach, securing number two on the Billboard 200 plus number-one positions in the U.K. and Australia and several other top-five rankings.
