Conan Gray praises Taylor Swift: "She taught a lot of people how to write pop songs"

Last month Gray returned with his first single of 2022, "Jigsaw", and in a new interview with GQ yesterday (24 February), Gray spoke about Taylor Swift and her impact on young musicians.

When asked how he feels about SwiftTok, Gray responded, "I obviously love SwiftTok. Taylor Swift is just such an interesting figure. I’ve never met her, but she’s been kind to me. Taylor raised an entire generation of songwriters. She taught a lot of people how to write pop songs."

Gray also revealed that the first Swift song that changed him as a songwriter was "Teardrops on my Guitar", "It was one of the first YouTube videos I ever watched too," he said. "I remember that day so vividly. My family had one computer that we all would use and I remember we all huddled around it and watched together. I remember thinking, Wow, Taylor Swift is the coolest person on the earth."

GQ asked Gray if Swift being supportive makes him emotional, leading him to reply, "Childhood Conan would feel relieved overall about all of this. I was so stressed as a kid to make it out of my living situation or to be strong enough to go to college. That’s why I worked so hard in high school, because I just needed to escape. I just wanted to be okay."