As “abcdefu” turns 1, GAYLE looks back: “I would not have expected it to be this song”

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On August 13, 2021, GAYLE released a funny song called “abcdefu” — and it changed her life. Looking back one year later, GAYLE says she still finds the worldwide success of the song to be completely unexpected.

“That was not the most serious song I’ve ever written in my life, you know? It was just, like, a song my best friend and I thought was funny because I was telling my ex to F off,” GAYLE tells ABC Audio. “And, y’know, that song ended up becoming so much more for me. And, like, the meaning behind that song became so much more powerful just throughout time.”

“abcdefu” has gone double Platinum, racked up 2 billion streams worldwide, topped Billboard’s Global 200 and reached #3 on the Hot 100. It also led to her debut EP, a study of the human experience volume one; a sold-out tour; and headlining festival appearances.

“It’s all so crazy,” she adds. “I would not have expected it to be this song, but I’m also very happy that it is.”

GAYLE notes that the success of “abcdefu” isn’t anything she could have predicted, either. “I don’t think I could ever just be, like, ‘That is it! That’s the thing that’s going to break my career!’ Because I don’t know,” she explains.

“I just wanted to put out that song to see what it can do,” she continues. “Y’know, that was going to be the thing where I was like, ‘OK, I did that. What can I do next?’ And it was going to be, like, the baseline. And it’s so absolutely crazy, everything that’s happened.”

On Friday, GAYLE announced the release of volume two of her EP, due out October 7. Tickets for her “avoiding college” tour, which starts October 8, are on sale now.

(Video contains uncensored profanity.)

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