Gracie Abrams on track to top albums chart after performing with Taylor Swift

Gracie Abrams is on course to top the UK albums chart for the first time in her career, after performing with Taylor Swift at Wembley Stadium on Sunday night.

It comes after the US singer joined Swift on stage at the national stadium to perform Us, a duet between the two which features on Abrams’ second album The Secret Of Us, for the first time live.

Abrams’ second album is currently outselling Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department, which sits in second place, by two to one, the Official Charts Company said.

Introducing the rising star on stage, Swift told the audience on Sunday night: “If you know the words to this one, you get extra credit points ’cause it’s only been out for like two days, it’s my friend Gracie’s.”

When writing the song, the pair accidentally started a small fire in Swift’s New York apartment by knocking over a candle.

Abrams shared the mildly dramatic moment on Instagram, which saw Swift pick up a fire extinguisher to stop the blaze.

Close To You, the second single from The Secret Of Us, was the 24-year-old’s first top 40 single, reaching 35 in the UK Singles Chart earlier this year.

The Californian singer, who is the daughter of Star Wars director JJ Abrams, saw her debut album, Good Riddance, reach number three in the albums chart in 2023.

Wirral-based indie band The Mysterines’ second album Afraid Of Tomorrows is currently third in the table, having also been released on Friday June 21. It comes after their first record, Reeling, reached ninth place in 2022.

Making up the rest of the top five is Billie Eilish’s Hit Me Hard And Soft in fourth and Charli XCX’s Brat in fifth.

Brat is on course to log a third consecutive week in the top five, which would be a career high for the Cambridge-born singer.

Elsewhere, Chappell Roan’s The Rise And Fall Of A Midwest Princess is set to reach a new peak of eighth in the chart, and prog rockers Jethro Tull are on course for their 26th top 40 album with a deluxe reissue of 1978 live album, Bursting Out.