When she was 14, GAYLE went to see Taylor Swift on her Reputation tour. Now 18, she’s opening for Taylor on her Eras Tour — and getting advice from her, too.
GAYLE tells Teen Vogue that she first met Taylor in 2022 at a Nashville event, and Taylor asked her if she toured. When GAYLE said yes, Taylor asked her, “Are you touring next year?”
“I’m like, ‘Yeah, I am.’ She’s like, ‘That’s amazing. Do you open up for people?’” GAYLE continued. “I don’t know why my dumb a** said this, but I was like, ‘I open up for people who ask me to open up for them.’ She was like, ‘I’ll call you.’ I was like, ‘Oh my God, I’m going to die."”
Now, in addition to the great exposure she’s getting from opening for Taylor, GAYLE also gets to pick the superstar’s brain about her experiences, especially regarding internet hate. After GAYLE’s song “abcdefu” blew up, there was huge backlash from people who didn’t think she deserved it.
“People couldn’t understand the possibility of me having the success I’ve had,” GAYLE recalls. “Like, I had to have had this big machine [behind me], or be a nepotism baby, or my parents have to be billionaires.” She even wrote a song about it called “Everybody Hates Me.”
But GAYLE says Taylor convinced her it was no big deal, and advised her to make the music she wants to make, deal with the response and try to grow artistically.
“She’s like, ‘Baby child. Come on. What controversy could you have had for the five minutes you’ve been making music?’ And that’s true,” says GAYLE, adding, “It was really, really nice for her to say, when I’ve told her my biggest, deepest worries, she’s like, ‘You’re right. And it’s fine.’”
Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
