Gracie Abrams was "so horrified" by the idea of performing in public

She told The Guardian: "I knew that it would involve performing, and that was the part that felt so horrifying to me. I wrote songs because it was easier than talking about my feelings. I wasn't interested in anybody hearing me. I was so turned off by the idea of confronting people face-to-face. That was what I loved about sharing music online - you could hide behind a profile."

The 'Call Me When You Break Up' hitmaker felt "nauseous" about the idea of fame when she signed her record deal and now has therapy to deal with it all but admitted that it was "baby steps" in terms of working her way up to playing in front of large crowds.

She said: "I remember signing my deal and feeling really nauseous about it.

"I see a therapist. And it hasn't been some overnight thing. The first shows I ever played were over Zoom during the pandemic, so that was like a baby step versus truly facing my fear head-on. Then I played the tiniest rooms."

Gracie recalled that one of her earliest wishes was to open for Taylor Swift but never believed that would happen and then was delighted that she was eventually "proven wrong" in that dream.

She said: "After signing and starting to release music in a more real way, and after playing my first shows and realising I was wrong about how I felt about playing live because of the kindness of the people in the room, I started writing long letters to myself about dreams.

"One of the things I wrote after my first show was 'One day I want to open for Taylor Swift'. That was never going to happen, obviously. What's been so lucky is that the goalposts keep kind of moving and my imagination has expanded and I feel excited about being out of my comfort zone.

"Being proved wrong about what was the scariest thing in the world to me at the time has made me really excited to be wrong about everything else."