Gracie Abrams is heading for “bigger and better things” say the powerhouse team behind the pop sensation as they plot the next chapter for the breakout star.

The American singer-songwriter has stepped up a gear internationally since landing a support slot on Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour and releasing her second studio album The Secret of Us to critical and commercial success in 2024.

The 25-year-old, who is represented by CAA agents Carole Kinzel and Shirin Nury for North America and Andy Cook and Emma Banks for the rest of the world, made her European arena headline bow earlier this year after sales for the initial North American stint of The Secret of Us Tour blew up.

“We decided that Gracie had enough going on to justify pushing into arenas in most markets,” says Cook, speaking in the latest issue of IQ Magazine. “Knowing how strong the US sales were helped when making that decision.”

Abrams sold more than 200,000 tickets for her arena dates in Spain, Portugal, Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Italy, France and the UK & Ireland across February/March.

“The demands on her time are insane, but she’s not just an incredibly hard-working artist, she does everything with such class”

“Most markets went straight into arenas in Europe on this tour, but not all,” says Cook. “There were a couple of markets that Gracie had never been to before, where we had to be a bit more conservative to begin with. But ultimately, we ended up upgrading those and moving into full-size arenas, and they all sold out very comfortably.”

Cook hails Abrams as “one of the hardest working artists” he has ever encountered.

“The demands on her time are insane, but she’s not just an incredibly hard-working artist, she does everything with such class. She’s a real force of nature,” he says.

“It feels like we’re just getting started – Gracie is going to go on to even bigger and better things. It’s really exciting to be part of. She has a fantastic team, and there’s a very open line of communication between everyone.”

Following her arena-headlining run across Europe, Abrams headed to Asia for the first time this spring, with a stint across Australia and New Zealand to follow imminently. She will perform multi-night runs in Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, and Perth, as well as one-off shows in Auckland and Adelaide.

“We’re currently tracking to 150,000 sales on this run, with all shows sold out,” says Louis Schlaghecke of promoter Frontier Touring. “It’s a fantastic escalation from Gracie’s last sold-out run here in 2024, where she sold around 22,000 tickets.”

“For the long-term vision, it is strategic to not forget to play for people who don’t know all your songs by heart”

Abrams, who first hit the road less than five years ago, will then return to Europe for a festival run this summer, with slots booked at the likes of Glastonbury, Rock Werchter, Mad Cool, Lollapalooza Berlin and the LN-backed Main Square Festival in Arras, France.

“More and more artists tend to skip festivals to prioritise the headline business. [But] for the long-term vision, it is strategic to not forget to play for people who don’t know all your songs by heart,” says Live Nation France promoter Armel Campagna.

She will also play in Poland for the first time at the 75,000-capacity Open’er Festival in Gdynia.

“She’s got the young audience and the young followers, and she’s a great songwriter from the young generation,” says festival organiser Mikołaj Ziółkowski. “There will be quite a mixed audience at our festival, and we are building the audience with people who are trying to experience something new,”

Following her festival run, Abrams will return to North America for a ‘deluxe’ tour leg from July to August, which includes two sold-out shows at New York’s Madison Square Garden (19,500). However, South American fans will have to wait a little longer for Abrams’ debut on the continent.

“It’s impossible to fit everything in one tour, but she’s set for a long touring career ahead and will continue to hit new cities in the future,” says Live Nation’s SVP of touring Lesley Olenik. “The tour’s success is a true reflection of her talent and authenticity as an artist, but the biggest driver is her deep connection with fans – when you’re in the venue, every single fan is belting [out] her lyrics, crying, and most of all, connecting with the community around them.”

Subscribers can read the full Gracie Abrams tour report in IQ issue 134, or online here.

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IQ 134, the latest issue of the international live music industry’s leading magazine, is available to read online now.

In the April 2025 issue, Gordon Masson chats with UTA agent and undisputed king of pop Gary Howard about his 35 years in the music business.

Elsewhere, Hanna Ellington talks to the architects behind Gracie Abrams’ The Secret of Us trek about the pop star’s unstoppable trajectory while DJ Mag editor Carl Loben unpacks the Electronic Music Report 2025.

As prospects for Türkiye’s live music industry grow, Adam Woods looks into the country’s challenges and opportunities. Meanwhile, Derek Robertson dives into the cutting-edge innovations, logistical challenges, and the fierce competition defining the high-stakes video and screens business.

One month after ILMC, this issue looks back on some of the sessions, highlights, and nautically themed shenanigans that took place during the 37th instalment.

For comments and columns, Lloyds Private Bank’s Etiksha Patel outlines five key banking tips for touring artists and Black Lives in Music founder Dr Charisse Beaumont discusses over-policing and licensing bias at Black and ethically diverse events.

A selection of magazine content will appear online in the next four weeks but to ensure your fix of essential live music industry features, opinion and analysis, click here to subscribe to IQ – or check out what you’re missing out on with the limited preview below:

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