Who is Taylor Swift’s Wembley opening act? Griff, who was inspired to write music by the Shake It Off singer, is now opening for her idol at the Eras tour

She first fell in love with music after getting an iPod shuffle with Taylor’s Swift’s Fearless album on it as a gift.

And now, up and coming musician Griff, 23, is one of the openers for the superstar’s Eras Tour in London.

The young singer, whose real name is Sarah Griffiths, has found immense success from a young age despite being so shy about pursuing music that she kept quiet about her ambitions – despite meeting with producers as she was doing her A level revision.

Her first single – Mirror Talk – was released just two weeks after she completed her final school exams and in just a few short years, she was supporting hit artists like Coldplay, Dua Lipa and Ed Sheeran. She told The Face that most of her peers didn’t even realise she sang until her debut track was played on Radio 1.

Griff grew up in Kings Langley, Hertfordshire, born to a ‘Chinese mum and a Jamaican dad’ – and told an NME interview that she, her two older brothers and upwards of 20 foster siblings over the years made for a ‘very busy household’.

Her mother Kim came to the UK after the Vietnam War, and her father Mark – an IT worker – is the son of Jamaican immigrants. She has also described her upbringing as deeply religious – and admits it’s still a big part of her identity.

In 2021, the star told GQ how being part of the Hillsong Church – which puts emphasis on music -served as practice for her future career.

‘[Music] is a form of worship and it’s a form of connecting with God,’ she told the outlet.

‘In that sense, I’ve always experienced music on that emotional and spiritual level.’

Despite knowing she wanted to be a musician from a young age, she kept her ambitions hush from most people, quietly teaching herself to produce and record music on her brother’s laptop.

‘You feel like you owe it to [them] and to yourself to get a good education,’ she told the outlet of her parents. ‘Creative jobs are not particularly at the forefront.’

In 2019, she told i-D that she still found it ‘a bit cringe’ to talk about her artistic ambitions.

‘No one likes that person at school who talks about how they want to sing,’ she explained

Also, things take time, and there’s no guarantee I’ll be successful, so it’s a bit embarrassing to talk about it until it is. To be fair, I still don’t really talk about it

Griff was so shy in discussing her career plans, that she had told teachers she was taking a gap year after her A-levels to avoid any questions.

‘[I’d] been waiting to get things moving with my music for a while,’ she told the outlet. ‘So it was a no brainer to finish A levels and go straight into this.’

And straight into it she went.

Griff was praised for her debut track Mirror Talk, which came out just days after she finished her A levels, as reported by Glamour.

‘I was in school, studying economics, geography, and textiles, and I started to write music in my spare time,’ she explained.

‘After a full day of school, I would travel to London to meet random producers and anyone that would want to work with me for a writing session.

‘I was doing that hustle for a year or so, and as soon as I started working with other producers, my music started to get around a bit.’

Warner was excited to snag Griff, pestering her manager for a year, and she ended up signing with them ‘during the middle of her exams’.

By 2020 – just a year after she graduated – Griff was writing music for artists like Hailee Steinfeld, releasing more of her own tracks, and receiving awards.

In 2021, she won the Rising Star Award at the BRITs. Discussing her success – the initial parts of which happened largely contained within the constraints of the Covid pandemic, she admitted it was a dizzying journey.

The Brit Awards were her ‘second gig’ ever, the Evening Standard reported – before that, she had only performed at a ‘small industry showcase in Hoxton’ in 2020.

Next followed stints as a supporting act for some of the music world’s biggest stars, including Coldplay, Ed Sheeran and Dua Lipa.

In August of last year, Griff released her track Vertigo – which brought out Taylor Swift, who isn’t known for her huge social media presence – out on Instagram to share how much she ‘loves’ the song.