GAYLE may be opening for Taylor Swift on her upcoming Eras Tour, but this weekend she’s going head to head with her in the Grammy Song of the Year category. Taylor’s nominated for “All Too Well (Taylor’s Version),” while GAYLE’s up for her hit “abcdefu.” Receiving her first Grammy nod has the 18-year-old singer in a tizzy.

“It is such an honor to be nominated. The last thing I think is that I’m going to win,” GAYLE told ABC Audio. “I did not think I could get nominated in any way. And so the fact that I am, it just blew my mind.”

What convinced her she actually had a shot at a nod, she says, was “seeing some predictions and it was, like, Variety and Rolling Stone and things. And I was like, ‘That’s my name and my face. That’s terrifying.'”

“And then it got my brain thinking, it got my brain spinning, and then I was just pacing around when the Grammy noms were coming out,” she explained. “And then my name and my song got said and I just, I bawled.”

What makes the nod even more special is that the nomination is for GAYLE and her two co-writers, one of whom is a childhood pal.

“One thing I’m so grateful for is that I got nominated as a writer and my best friend also did, as well,” she noted. “And we started out at [age] 12, at 15 in my bedroom, and then to get to go to the Grammys together, it’s such a high honor.” 

The Song of the Year competition includes hits by Adele, Lizzo, Harry Styles, Beyoncé, DJ Khaled, Bonnie Raitt and Kendrick Lamar. The Grammys air Sunday at 8 p.m. ET on CBS.

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