-Why break tradition and have me sit down first? Yeah.
-I don't think that that's how it went, though.
-Yeah, it was so fun.
I had the best time hanging out with you.
-I had the best time hanging out with you.
We danced. -Let's make grandpa dance.
Yeah. And then you sat down. -No.
But the reason...
Okay, well, we can talk about it or not, but in my memory...
-Yeah, we had fun.
-...we were both dancing.
-We were actually.
-Because remember? Because I sat
And then you said, "Wait." And then I got up,
and then it was kind of we danced the whole time.
Because you can't be sitting when it's Ariana Grande
and Cynthia Erivo. -You can't be sitting.
-You can't be sitting.
-No, we were the first people to stand up.
-I think that's exactly how it went.
-Is that probably why you sat down?
-Well, I was nervous because from stage right
there was a spotlight coming that was hitting Ariana.
And when she moved,
because of the placement of our table was in the corner,
it was hitting just me at first before you stood.
And I thought, "That's horrible and no one needs to see me."
So I sat and then and it all came together, so.
-Oh, that's what happened.
Then we danced for like 20 minutes.
-We did. -It was a full concert,
screaming lyrics and everything.
-It's pretty remarkable being able to be
in the same room as voices like theirs.
They're just unbelievable, as we all know.
-Yeah. I thought you were going to say being in a room with me,
but thank you so much. [ Laughter ]
The voices were great too.
The voices were amazing as well. -And with you.
-And that was your first Met Gala?
-Yes. -Yeah.
[ Cheers and applause ]
Stunner and a stunner.
Look at you right here on the steps.
And did everything go according to plan?
Smooth sailing the whole night?
-Um...
Well, my shoes got stuck in a grate
at the very top of the stairs,
like it was -- I stepped and one heel got stuck
and I was like, "Oh."
And I tried to move forward.
And then the other one got stuck.
And so it -- But listen, um... -Hey, you know what?
-Shoes aren't a problem in the grand scheme of the world.
-No. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. That's true.
Yes. And they're actually not. We're all good.
Yeah. Here we go. Yeah. I'm happy that you're on.
You were nice enough to be our -- make your
late-night debut singing on our show,
which I appreciate you doing. [ Cheers and applause ]
I will never forget that.
-Well, you were generous enough to have me.
-And now you're making your late-night
talk debut with us as well.
So really... [ Cheers and applause ]
Thank you, thank you. -Thank you, thank you.
-And also, speaking of firsts,
you just had your first Grammy nomination,
your first Grammy, Best New Artist.
[ Cheers and applause ]
Best New Artist. You go to the Grammys.
What are you feeling? Are you nervous?
Do you -- That -- I mean, you know, this is fun,
but the Grammys, I would freak out.
That would make me nervous.
-I mean, I felt misplaced in my category.
I am such a mega fan of all of the artists
that were in that category,
and to be under the same roof as all of them, even once,
it was such an honor and it was so exciting,
but it was really emotional.
The week leading up to the actual Grammys night,
I was lucky enough to -- you know, there were different
events where we were all in the same place.
And so actually getting time
to get to know the people behind the artists,
you know what I mean? -Yeah, meet these people.
You hear them on the radio and you see and you go, oh, my God.
-But they're just so sincerely,
unbelievably generous and kind and curious and so warm.
And there was such a, I don't know,
the support felt so real that every time
I got to meet one of them, I would go home and, like,
call my mom and be like, you know,
"Jelly Roll is like -- he needs --
He better leave with it. He's the coolest, like kindest."
And Coco Jones is like the most radiant
and then Noah Kahan -- you're like holy [bleep]
And then Ice is Ice Sp--
You're just like, whoa, how does one...
-But you're in the club. -Well.
-You're in the club together. [ Cheers and applause ]
You guys are all artists and musicians.
-Thank you.
-And when -- I know a little bit about you,
I think just from the Internet, who knows what's true.
But I read that you started out just writing and you were like,
"I'm not sure if I even want to perform."
-No, I was terrified of the concept.
I started writing songs or journaling really,
when I was like, you know, eight years old,
because I didn't want to talk to people about feelings.
So I would go and write and journal.
And then that kind of led to songwriting.
But it wasn't...
The concept of performing to a human being made me terrified.
Like the night before my first show,
I hadn't played a show pre-COVID.
So after quarantine was lifted, we had our first show.
It was truly like, I think, under 100 people.
And the night before I was like,
I'm not a true -- I'm sorry --
projectile vomiting, like so, so scared, so scared.
-You were that scared? -Yeah.
-I actually -- We have a photo of one of your journal entries
in 2010, your fifth grade. You said, "Dear diary,
I've been composing my own songs on the piano,
and it's really a lot of fun.
My second one I'm currently working on is kind of strange.
I really like it though."
And then it says under there, it says,
"I saw 'Harry Potter 7 Part 1'
and I hated it compared to the book.
They left out so many details" and we'll just stop it there.
[ Cheers and applause ]
Always the honest writer. -Yeah. You gotta stay real.
-You gotta stay real. Yeah.
-Yeah. Dear Lord. -But then so you do
your performance for 100 people and you go,
"I'll get through it."
And then you go on tour
and you open for Taylor Swift, and you go...
[ Cheers and applause ]
I mean, what was that whole Eras tour like?
-It's so beyond me. I mean, it was the craziest privilege.
And I'm -- We all love her dearly.
It's a real master class to watch,
to watch her do what she does.
And it was honestly...
-Like, what do you mean, master class?
-I felt like I was at college for this job.
Like I felt -- -She taught you stuff?
-I mean, you can't not --
I watched every single one of her shows
that I was lucky enough to open. I think we did 31,
and I watched from every place possible in each stadium,
just trying to pick up on how she's able to do what she does,
and she's such a one-of-a-kind person, friend, artist,
all the things. -She's a pro.
-But what she does so unbelievably well in these kinds
of rooms is like it...
Sometimes you feel like you're on Mars,
and then sometimes you feel like the only two people
in the stadium are you and her
because she's just so connected to her audience
and the relationship that they have with each other
is -- it's really magical.
And I just -- To have been in their orbit
for a summer was a crazy dream.
-Yeah. -Yeah.
-This exact picture, I think I like this picture
because there's a good story to this.
This is Cincinnati. Do you remember this?
-[ Laughs ] I remember it. -Yeah.
[ Laughter ]
It will be, like, maybe my last memory.
I'm like, it's burned. Yeah.
So there was -- a weather situation came up
because even Taylor can't control the sky apparently.
-Yeah. [ Laughter ]
-And so my set was canceled for safety reasons.
-So you didn't get to perform? -No,
but my best friend happened to fly in for this week.
It was just because -- She came in for the weekend
because not really because of me,
but because there's this baby hippo at the zoo
there named Fritz. I'm not kidding.
I'm not kidding. [ Laughter ]
So Audrey comes in and Audrey is also my co-writer on "Risk."
And she's the greatest. [ Cheers and applause ]
Audrey Hobert, but so she comes in to see the hippo.
And then my --
-What's the baby hippo in Cincinnati?
-There was basically -- There was a --
Do any of you know Fritz? [ Cheers and applause ]
Okay, so there's a live stream of Fritz's growing up.
And she was like, "I need to see him in --" She was invested.
So she comes to Cincinnati, we're like, she's like,
"I'm going to the zoo, but, like, have fun at Eras."
So she comes to the set, my set gets canceled.
And we were backstage in our trailer being like,
"Oh, you know, bummer.
But, you know, we'll go see Fritz again or something."
And then Taylor texted me being like,
"Hey, come out with me and do 'I miss you, I'm sorry.'"
And so we ran it one time, you know,
in her room and then did it there and it was...
-So she brought you back out? -Yeah.
-And just said, "Yeah, don't worry about it.
The weather is now cleared.
Get back out here and show up." Yeah.
-It was just in the middle of her set and I blacked out
the whole time. -Yeah.
Dedicated to Fritz the hippo.
This is a great performance.
-Yes.
-Let's talk about "Risk." Congratulations, pal.
This is a big deal. New song. [ Cheers and applause ]
-Whoo! -New album,
"The Secret of Us," June 21st.
What's the secret of us?
Can you tell us? -Who is the us?
-Can you tell us? -No. I'm kidding.
The secret of us... -Yeah.
-Well, it felt kind of like this kind of like
the thesis for the entire album.
And between -- you know, in every relationship,
two people, there's always, regardless of how, like,
public or private it is, there's always...
There's the alchemy. There's secrets that...
-You guys know. -Only the two people can know.
And sometimes only one person can know
because maybe it's unrequited or...
That felt like the right title.
And to me it felt like a book title.
And even though I, you know, know every lyric in the album,
the title makes me want to reread it.
And I, you know,
I was lucky enough to work with such unbelievable artists,
you know, just collaborators, writers,
friends on this album.
And I feel really excited
because it's way more extroverted
and that feels like kind of where I'm at right now, so.
-Pal, congratulations. This is a big deal.
[ Cheers and applause ]
You're performing "Risk" tonight for us.
[ Cheers and applause ]
You can stand and dance if you want.
-Yeah, stand.
-Gracie Abrams, everyone. Her album
"The Secret of Us" is out June 21st.
She's performing her new song "Risk" after the break.
Stick around, everybody.