With hit albums, sold-out tours, and a generation of fans hanging on every lyric, Gracie Abrams and Olivia Rodrigo are two of pop’s most exciting voices. Now, as Gracie prepares to usher in her next era with Daughter from Hell, she sits down with Olivia—fresh off the record-breaking release of you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love—for the latest episode of Spotify’s Countdown To video series. Together, they sat down at New York’s Cherry Lane Theatre to discuss songwriting, growing up in the spotlight, and the experiences that have shaped them as artists. Here are a few highlights:
Their friendship is built on years of mutual admiration.
Before they were selling out tours, they were each other’s fans. Gracie recalled finding Olivia’s Instagram when she was a teenager and being inspired, while Olivia revealed that she was a fan of the early videos Gracie recorded of herself playing guitar in her bedroom.
Gracie’s favorite lyric on the album comes from “Humming.”
It’s this one: I’m convinced our sinking ship will sing as it goes down / haunting hymns keep echoing after we’re in the ground.
Gracie said the lyric captures her own unease about the state of the world. “Lots of the songs, to me, feel more existential than diaristic. But that song in particular, [that’s] the lyric that comes to mind.”
“I think when I wrote that it came from this place of understanding—or just having eyes and ears and a heart—and knowing that so many people are in the midst of such despair and pain,” she continued. ‘But I really do believe in us […] and I have hope.”
Olivia’s favorite song on the album is “Death Wish.”
“I remember watching the video of you performing it at The O2 and being like, ‘Oh my God, that song is so, so beautiful,’” she told Gracie. “Every lyric feels so poignant. It feels like there are no filler lyrics in it—it’s just perfect.”
Gracie’s evolving style has helped her feel more like herself.
After Olivia remarked that Gracie’s style has “never been cooler,” Gracie reflected on how cutting her hair has changed the way she sees herself. “More than anything, I have found, as I’ve continued to cut my hair off, I feel more like myself,” she said.
That shift has also changed how she shows up onstage. “I think I look back on even the last tour aesthetic, being in dresses, for example—I’m like, the person I am today, I don’t know that I will ever perform in a dress ever again.”
Touring helps Gracie cope with the “fishbowl” feeling of fame.
Both artists have experienced the strange realities of life in the spotlight. Gracie, who said she didn’t initially aspire to be a performer, described the “fishbowl” feeling she references on the album. But she’s found perspective by getting out on the road. “In reality, that isn’t remotely true, and the world is so big,” she said of the feeling that everyone is watching. “And I’m grateful to tour, because it lets you remember that in many ways.”
Watch the full conversation on Spotify and don’t forget to presave Daughter from Hell, out July 17.