With a chart-topping smash and a Grammy nomination for song of the year, Gayle is undoubtedly one of the buzziest young talents in pop music today.
Indeed, the teenager's meteoric rise has been cosigned by none other than Taylor Swift, who tapped Gayle as an opener for her first stadium tour in five years.
During a recent interview with Insider, Gayle reflected on growing up with "iconic" songs like "Picture to Burn," a scorching single from Swift's self-titled debut, which was released when Gayle was just 2 years old.
"Some of her music videos when I was younger, she looked like a fairy princess to me," Gayle said. "Oh my gosh, she is, wow. Just fangirling here."
The 18-year-old singer-songwriter, who is gearing up to release her own major-label debut, recalled one especially strong "core memory" associated with Swift's 2012 album "Red."
"It's really wild. The one thing I'm really, really thinking about is 'Trouble,'" she said, referring to the hit single "I Knew You Were Trouble."
"I went to summer camp and they were really big on Snuggies, and they remixed Taylor Swift songs with the word 'Snuggie,' and they did it with 'Trouble.' So it'd be like, 'Oh! Oh! Snuggie, Snuggie, Snuggie,'" Gayle explained with a laugh.
She said the camp rewrote the song to include lyrics about summertime activities, like sleeping in a bunk bed and jet skiing on the lake.
"I don't know why, but that is a very big core memory," Gayle said. "Every day we would eat lunch and we'd watch that music video."
Gayle will join Paramore as Swift's supporting acts when The Eras Tour kicks off on Friday in Glendale, Arizona. It's the first of Gayle's 15 shows with the "Midnights" singer, including stops in Nashville and Los Angeles.
Gayle previously revealed that she was added to the bill after Swift saw her perform at an awards show.
"She was just like, 'You did a great performance, I'm gonna call you.' Now I'm here, and I can't believe it," she told Entertainment Tonight. "I feel like I'm lying. I feel like this is a dream."
Gayle was born and raised in Dallas, but relocated to Nashville at age 12 to pursue a music career — much like Swift, who moved from Pennsylvania to Tennessee at age 13.
Shortly after signing a contract with Atlantic Records, Gayle released "Abcdefu," which topped both of Billboard's global charts in 2022 and earned a nomination for song of the year at the 2023 Grammys.
The song's success — and the vitriol it incited online — inspired Gayle to write her newest single "Everybody Hates Me." She told Insider it's an "empowering" spin on the realization that she can't control how people perceive her.
"There's always going to be people who don't like me, and that's just the way it is," she explained. "And especially with social media, people have gotten very accustomed to letting people know that."
"I just came to the conclusion that it really doesn't matter," she added. "I'm not trying to do this for anybody else other than myself."
Listen to Gayle and more on Spotify with Insider's rising artist radio.
