Taylor Swift Gifted Matching Necklaces to Everyone on ‘Eras Tour’ Team, Says Gayle: “Such An Inspiration”

Taylor Swift wants to make everyone's time at The Eras Tour unforgettable. Gayle, a huge all-time Taylor Swift fan, opened up about a gesture by Swift that really moved her. Swift gave everyone matching necklaces not just because she wanted to make sure everyone on the Eras Tour is jeweled, but something deeper. Gayle, who was Swift's opening act for several of her gigs on the tour, exclusively told PEOPLE that the Midnights singer gave the entire band gold tag necklaces that were inscribed with the phrase "The Eras Tour."

Gayle, 19, says the necklace serves a greater purpose for her than just wearing jewelry; it serves as a constant reminder of Swift's importance in her life. “She is like a big sister to me,” Gayle confesses. “When you're in music, there's so many unknowns and there's so many stresses. I'm a perfectionist, and not everything is going to be perfect all the time. There's definitely been times where I've been able to talk about my insecurities and my fears and she's been a very comforting person.”

“She's been such a light in my life,” she continues. The abcdefu singer shared that she has adored Swift for as long as she can remember, even relocating to Nashville at the age of 10 to pursue a music career in the spirit of Swift, joking that “she claims Nashville, we claim her.”

“She has such an incredible work ethic,” Gayle says. “Ever since I was a little kid, I just aspired to be as good of a writer as her and work as hard as she does. I've just tried my best to do those things and she's always been such an inspiration to me.”

Gayle recalls watching Swift perform the album 1989 while sitting in the “last row” of the stadium during the 2018 Reputation Tour, wondering about her own future. Now, performing in a stadium is “so exciting” not only because of the performance itself but because of Swift. “I never ever ever, ever, ever thought I'd be doing that, and so it's amazing,” she admits, adding that Swift “got me flowers” and wrote her a beautiful note to welcome her to the tour.

The two first met when Swift won songwriter-artist of the Decade and Gayle gave a performance at the Nashville Songwriters Association International Awards. Swift surprised Gayle by asking to speak with her and congratulating her on her accomplishments. “She's just such a nice, lovely human, and she's genuinely one of the funniest people I've ever met. Like, she's so f---ing funny,” Gayle raves.

That evening, Swift approached Gayle and asked her to join her Eras Tour as one of the opening acts. Gayle's hit song abcdefu had just received 1 billion streams, and Swift gave her a look as she was discussing her career and upcoming tour with the Grammy winner. “She was like, ‘Do you open up for people?’” Gayle reveals. “And I don't know what made me say this, but I said, ‘I open up for people who asked me to open up for them.’ And she was like, ‘OK, I'll call you,’ and I fell to the floor. Like I literally fell to the floor.”