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Taylor Swift: The 1989 World Tour Live

Filmed in front of 76,000 fans at the ANZ Stadium in Sydney, Australia, "The 1989 World Tour Live" captures Taylor Swift's entire performance while also mixing in behind-the-scene, rehearsal... Read all Filmed in front of 76,000 fans at the ANZ Stadium in Sydney, Australia, "The 1989 World Tour Live" captures Taylor Swift's entire performance while also mixing in behind-the-scene, rehearsal, and special guest footage from her 1989 Tour. Filmed in front of 76,000 fans at the ANZ Stadium in Sydney, Australia, "The 1989 World Tour Live" captures Taylor Swift's entire performance while also mixing in behind-the-scene, rehearsal, and special guest footage from her 1989 Tour.

• Jonas Åkerlund
• Taylor Swift
• Lily Aldridge
• 1 User review
• 2 Critic reviews

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Did you know

• Trivia Taylor kept this a secret the whole tour and decided to announce it the day after she finished the tour which was the 13 of December which was also her 26th birthday. It was a great surprise for the fans.
• Connections Featured in Taylor Swift: Reputation Stadium Tour (2018)
• Soundtracks Smelly Cat Performed by Taylor Swift and Lisa Kudrow .

User reviews 1

• filip290399
• Feb 6, 2021
• December 20, 2015 (United States)
• Official site
• Sydney, New South Wales, Australia (ANZ Stadium)
• Serial Pictures
• See more company credits at IMDbPro

Technical specs

• Runtime 2 hours 12 minutes
• Dolby Digital

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The 1989 World Tour

• View history
• 1 Xfinity Takes You to 1989
• 2.1 Promotional posters
• 4 Concert synopsis
• 6 Surprise songs
• 8 Tour dates

Xfinity Takes You to 1989 [ ]

Many videos surrounding The 1989 World Tour were released through Xfinity, and many sweepstakes for pit tickets during the tour. They released a behind the scenes video as well.

Behind the Scenes of The 1989 World Tour

Concert film [ ]

The 1989 World Tour Live is a concert film by Taylor Swift. It was released on December 20, 2015, exclusively via Apple Music. Directed by Jonas Åkerlund, the film follows the Sydney stop of Swift's fourth headlining concert tour, The 1989 World Tour. The show, which was attended by 75,980 fans, remains Swift's most attended concert to date.

Signs were displayed at the sold out Sydney concert on November 28, 2015, at ANZ Stadium which said "Today's events are being recorded and filmed for global streaming, and may also form part of a television program... for commercial and promotional purposes." Although there was no further information about what the filming was for at the time, there was speculation that it would form a DVD of the 1989 World Tour to be released once the tour concluded its run in Melbourne in late 2015. Later speculation involved an Apple Music Video launch, which was proved to be correct. Coincidentally, " All You Had to Do Was Stay " and " This Love " were added back into the show after having been left off the set list for several months. This makes the Sydney setlist identical to that of Tokyo when the tour premiered.

Taylor Swift - 1989 World Tour (Live 2015)

On December 13, 2015 — Swift's 26th birthday—she announced she had partnered with Apple Music to release a concert film entitled The 1989 World Tour Live in one weeks' time. It contains over two hours of concert, interview, and never-before seen backstage and rehearsal footage with some of the musical and surprise guests from previous shows. Celebrities making appearances in the film include Mick Jagger, Jason Derulo, Idina Menzel, Justin Timberlake, Wiz Khalifa, and Alanis Morissette. It was directed by Jonas Åkerlund. Clips from the film were later compiled for the music video for the seventh and final single from the album, " New Romantics ".

Promotional posters [ ]

The custom stage built for the 1989 Tour is one-of-a-kind. It was a classic catwalk shape that's 100 ft long but the center part could detach from the main catwalk. It a was semi-modular type design able to rise up and do a 360° turn, it permitted to get closer to fans, the technology was like a propeller system.

Concert synopsis [ ]

Set list [ ].

This set list is representative of the show on May 5, 2015, in Tokyo. It is not representative of all concerts for the duration of the tour.

• " Welcome to New York "
• " New Romantics "
• " Blank Space "
• " I Knew You Were Trouble "
• " I Wish You Would "
• " How You Get the Girl "
• " I Know Places "
• " All You Had to Do Was Stay "
• Surprise song
• " Love Story "
• " This Love "
• " Bad Blood "
• " We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together "
• " Enchanted " / " Wildest Dreams "
• " Out of the Woods "
• " Shake It Off "

Surprise songs [ ]

The following songs were performed by Swift after "All You Had To Do Was Stay". The song changed each night.

• " You Are In Love " - Tokyo, Sydney
• " Wonderland " - Las Vegas, Bossier City, Pittsburgh, Cologne
• " Holy Ground " - Dublin night two
• " You Belong With Me " - Second shows in East Rutherford, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, Denver, Shanghai, Columbus and first shows in Singapore and Foxborough
• " Fifteen " - Chicago night one , Edmonton, Denver, St. Paul, Tampa, & Arlington, second shows in Toronto, Foxborough and Melbourne, third show in Los Angeles, and in Atlanta
• " Mean " - Chicago night two , Seattle, Los Angeles night five , Houston, St. Paul night two
• " Sparks Fly " - Vancouver
• " Fearless " - During the second show in Edmonton, the show in San Diego and the second show in Omaha
• " Should've Said No " - Santa Clara night one
• " Never Grow Up " - Santa Clara night two
• " Ronan " - Glendale night one
• " All Too Well " - Los Angeles night one
• " Red " - Columbus night one
• " Mine " - Brisbane
• " Long Live " - Melbourne night three

Gallery [ ]

Tour dates [ ].

• 1 List of Taylor Swift's ex-boyfriends
• 2 The Tortured Poets Department photoshoot
• 3 The Tortured Poets Department

Taylor Swift’s Epic ‘1989’ Tour: Every Night With Us Is Like a Dream

By Rob Sheffield

Rob Sheffield

Welcome to New York! Ish! Taylor Swift brought it all back home last night, or at least to New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium, for her 1989 Tour. Never one to do things halfway, Swift has made this a pop show — or rather the pop show, as far as 2015 is concerned. The whole night was a two-hour pop-blitz spectacle, where the songs retain all the teardrops-on-my-guitar intimacy of her early days, except blown up into massive electro-warrior emotional avalanches pushing the can’t-even-ometer into the red. This show had it all: life lessons (“You are not the opinion of someone who doesn’t know you!”), synth-disco raves, acoustic ballads, explosions, video interviews with her cats, sparkle-intensive costume changes, a Weeknd duet and oh yeah, the U.S. Women’s Soccer Team parading through the crowd to “Style” in front of 60,000 screaming fans. That kind of night.

When Bruce Springsteen plays NYC, he likes to joke about how the city’s beloved hometown icons — Sinatra, the Statue of Liberty, the sports teams — are rooted in Jersey. There was an element of that when Swift kicked off with her new theme song “Welcome to New York,” explaining, “Although we’re in New Jersey, our story opens in New York.” But these songs aren’t really about any particular city any more than they’re about any particular boy — they all take place in the galaxy Taylor creates in her songs, one where everything orbits around one girl’s mood swings, where boys are disposable and cats are keepers, where girlfriends matter and lying about your feelings is not how things are done around here. (A handwritten sign taped to a door backstage: “Cats Roaming. Do Not Open.” Only on Planet Tay.) It was the kind of show that could only make emotional sense in a stadium this size.

As always, the hardcore fans were a crucial part of the spectacle, in full gear with their costumes and glowsticks. The crowd was, as Taylor said, “jumping and dancing and loud and lit up and dressed up.” There was a gang of girls with their birthdates bedazzled on their shirts a la the 1989 logo—2004, 2007, etc—while their moms proudly repped 1976. Two girls with matching lightboards, one saying WE’RE TOO BUSY DANCING and the other TO GET KNOCKED OFF OUR FEET. A couple of girls with homemade Mean Girls -style shirts announcing, “You Can’t Swift With Us.” The fan faves were probably the girls carrying giant Starbucks venti cups as big as they were, with the logo tweaked to STARBUCKS LOVERS and Taylor’s face in the middle. That’s how a Swift show works: You love the players and you love the game.

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“We all have different insecurities, different fears, different scars,” Taylor announced. “There are many different types of people here tonight. But we have one thing in common: When we feel great amounts of joy or great amounts of pain, we turn to music, and that’s why we’re here tonight.” The show was a marathon—19 songs, stretching almost to midnight. The new songs, despite their studio sheen, really kick live—especially synth-pop epiphanies like “New Romantics” (where Taylor’s male harem of private dancers toted her around on a park bench) and “Blank Space.” She rocked a glow-in-the-dark polka-dot ensemble for “How You Get The Girl,” as her dancing boys twirled neon umbrellas and her band staged an extremely welcome twin-guitar duel. She picked up her trusty acoustic guitar for “Can’t Feel My Face” with the Weeknd, whose hair might have been the most truly 1989 thing in sight.

She radically revised the oldies, which did not stop anyone from singing them. “I Knew You Were Trouble” began with a slow creepy goth-industrial intro — loads of the Sisters of Mercy’s Andrew Eldritch in her vocals! Floodland , holla! — before the drums kicked in and turned it into a rock-me-Amadeus stomp. “Love Story” became a synth ballad, as she whisked around the stadium on her magic levitating catwalk. Even better was the hair-metal version of “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together,” which has never-ever-ever sounded this nasty–Taylor in leather at the lip of the stage, doing a perfect version of the Slash guitar slouch, shoulders hunched, hair falling over face. Who knows, maybe Tay will do an full-on Headbanger’s Ball album next time.

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The taylor swift guide to 1989: breakers gonna break, fakers gonna fake, taylor swift: the music that made me.

And because she’s Taylor, she talked the talk. You have never heard a pop star say “Let me clarify that statement” more times in one night. It got heavy, like when she confessed, “Real talk, Jersey: I haven’t always felt like I have real friends, or any friends at all.” She gave the crowd her list of friendship requirements (“You have to like me” and “you have to want to spend time with me,” with various codicils and subclauses). She also told us, “If I had my way, everything would be simple for all of you. I wish nobody would ever mess with your mind. I wish nobody would wait two days to text you back, when you know they had their phone with them the whole time!” That line got one of the biggest roars of the night.

But the hugest moment had to be “Style,” when she brought out the U.S. soccer team, just a few hours after their ticker-tape victory parade. They looked like they were having a blast, strutting down the catwalk, waving giant flags. (After the show they gave her a SWIFT #13 team jersey.) She also brought out Project Runway host Heidi Klum, who if memory serves is from one of the countries the U.S. team aufed in the tournament. (Let the healing begin!) Tay’s been preaching the girl-bonding gospel so long, it’s easy to take that part of her game for granted — but that’s just a measure of how much she’s changed the pop-star landscape. For “Bad Blood,” she struck a pose with video comrades Hailee Steinfeld, Lily Aldridge, Gigi Hadid and Lena Dunham — she shows off her girlfriend collection the way rock bands like Guns N Roses or Great White used to make videos where the girlfriends lounge around the soundstage.

(And speaking of Taylor girlfriends, a sincere question: have Haim always been this good? I wasn’t a fan going in but their opening set was fire, roughing up their pop hits and doing a fantastic version of “Oh Well,” by the Peter Green edition of Fleetwood Mac, which sounds sounds so snotty as a sullen-teen-girl anthem — “Don’t ask me what I think of you / I might not give the answer that you waaant me toooo.” Somewhere, Peter Green must be proud these black magic women have given this song a new life.)

As usual for a Swift show, the quiet moments were some of the most intense, especially “Clean,” “This Love” and the piano medley of “Enchanted” and “Wildest Dreams,” where she whipped out the piano-hair windmills. One of the highlights was “You Are In Love”—not just a deep cut, but a bonus track—where she led the whole crowd in a sing-along. Funny how all the state-of-the-art special effects can’t hold a glowstick to the visceral power of 60,000 fans singing about love pains.

It all ended with “Shake It Off,” with fireworks, confetti and dancing boys in purple Angus Young schoolboy outfits. All night, the Eighties concept took many different forms — from the pre-show mix tape (Human League, Toto, Fine Young Cannibals and my girl Tiffany) to the beats. But mostly, it’s in the way she embodies the Eighties ideal of a pop star — Madonna, Prince, Bruce — as an auteur who makes every album, every tour something new. Honestly, if Taylor Swift had just done the Red tour all over again, plugging in the new songs with some greatest hits, that would have been fine with absolutely everyone. Taking the easy way would have been 100 percent good enough. It just wasn’t what she wanted to do. Instead, she wanted to push a little harder and make a gloriously epic pop mess like this. What a night.

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1. “Welcome to New York” 2. “New Romantics” 3. “Blank Space” 4. “I Knew You Were Trouble” 5. “I Wish You Would” 6. “How You Get the Girl” 7. “I Know Places” 8. “All You Had to Do Was Stay” 9. “Can’t Feel My Face” with The Weeknd 10. “You Are in Love” 11. “Clean” 12. “Love Story” 13. “Style” 14. “This Love” 15. “Bad Blood” 16. “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” 17. “Enchanted”/“Wildest Dreams” 18. “Out of the Woods” 19. “Shake It Off”

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18 things we learned from Taylor Swift's '1989 World Tour' documentary

Taylor Swift’s giddy cries of “Please welcome to the stage…” are still ringing in our ears, but the time has come: After 85 shows and seemingly endless special guests, the 1989 World Tour is finally over.

It won’t soon be forgotten, though, in part because The 1989 World Tour (Live) documentary is now available to stream on Apple Music, giving broke Swifties who didn’t attend the tour a chance to experience the magic. But even if you did catch the tail of this comet, you still might learn something new from the documentary, which intersperses full, sparkling, neon-tinged footage from Swift’s Sydney, Australia stop with commentary from the star, and clips from other cities’ shows.

For those who don’t have Apple Music (or the 2 hours and 11 minutes required to watch the full documentary), here are 18 things we learned from The 1989 World Tour (Live) , in no particular order:

1. “Blank Space” is Swift’s favorite moment of every show

She loves playing the seductive serial dater who becomes obsessed with her boyfriends and then goes crazy. “When I wrote ‘Blank Space,’ I just thought, all right, if [the media] want[s] me to play this character … this whole image of the jet-setting, tragic mess, cool,” Swift said. “I’ll write a song from that perspective and see how you like it.” As we’ve known since 1989 came out in 2014, the song hit its mark: “It ended up being the biggest song I’ve ever had,” she said.

2. She didn’t bring special guests on stage just to brag about her squad — it was essentially a tactic to combat spoilers and keep an element of surprise every night

“Every person in the audience probably knows what costumes I’m going to wear,” Swift explained. “They could know the set list if they really wanted to, so I decided to start inviting special guests out.”

3. The remixed version of “I Knew You Were Trouble” she played on tour was phenomenal.

Okay, this is a personal opinion, but watching this funky, piano-heavy version of “Trouble” really might make you wish you’d gotten tickets to this tour, if you missed it. At least we have it on video …

4. She has Mick Jagger’s cell phone number (and uses it)

When Swift was on a hike in Nashville before that city’s concert, her dad called her. “I pick up the phone and Dad’s like, ‘My friend swears he was sitting next to Mick Jagger at lunch yesterday,’ ” Swift said. “So I text Mick, and I said, ‘Hey, are you in town? I’m playing a show tomorrow. Do you want to come out and sing “Satisfaction?””‘ He just writes back, ‘What will I wear?’ “

(We’re going to start slipping that line into every story from now on. “So I text Mick …”)

5. Losing the 2014 Grammy for Album of the Year to Daft Punk’s Random Access Memories inspired her to write 1989

“I ended up going home thinking a lot about everything,” Swift said of that 2014 evening. “[I was] thinking about where I was going, what I’d been doing. … I needed to change something. I went to bed, and I woke up at 4 in the morning and I knew what the next album needed to be: ‘I need to completely switch gears, it needs to be called 1989 … everything has to be different.’ “

6. Swift is the one who suggested Alanis Morissette “slap” her in the face while the two performed the line, “It was a slap in the face / How quickly I was replaced”

Her rationale? “Bruises heal, but the moment lasts forever.”

7. She pulled out all the stops for her special guests — including changing the color of the audience.

“We can program the bracelets to be absolutely any color,” Swift said. “So the first thing I ask them is, ‘What color do you want the audience to be?’ ” She’d be a great concierge in Panem’s Capitol, right? “Pyro is another option we provided for many of the guests,” she said.

8. She loves huggging Wiz Khalifa

“At the end of our performance, there was a hug that lasted for like four years,” Swift said. “I remember thinking, ‘I just don’t want this hug to end!’ “

9. Swift used beach towels and nail polish to explain the tour’s runway to her model friends

And Karlie Kloss secretly filmed the whole thing — including the excitement backstage.

10. Swift calls professional athletes “sports players”

“If an actor or a sports player wanted to come to the show, I’d invite them up on stage, because why not?” she said.

11. Her band can learn a song in less than an hour

And, given the fact that most of Swift’s artist guests got to perform their own songs with her, that’s a lot of different genres Swift’s band had to perfect. Kudos to them.

12. Justin Timberlake was slightly worried about the pyrotechnics

“Don’t you burn me, Taylor,” he warned.

13. Also, Swift thinks Timberlake is “our generation’s Frank Sinatra”

Hey, he does have blue eyes!

14. John Legend’s appearance happened at the very last minute

“John Legend happened to be coming to the concert just to watch it,” Swift said, “but in my head I’m like, ‘I know this show starts in 40 minutes, but I want John Legend to sing.’ ” And he did.

15. It was Swift’s idea for Miranda Lambert to emerge atop “a throne made of men”

“I was half expecting her to be like, ‘I’m not doing that,’ ” Swift said, “but she was so down.” Uh, yeah.

16. Swift got to be the sixth member of Fifth Harmony — just for a night

She had the girls teach her the choreography to “Worth It” in their dressing room, then borrowed one of Camila Cabello’s extra costumes to perform the song with the group onstage. “Camila says, ‘I have an extra costume. Do you want to dress like one of us?’ ” Swift said. “And I said, ‘Obviously.’ “

17. Mary J. Blige’s song “Doubt” really speaks to Swift

“It really hit me because I’m so doubtful of myself constantly,” Swift confessed. “No matter what I achieve … That song really struck a chord with me, and I remember thinking it would be amazing if I could ever sing that with her.” Reader, she did.

18. The end of the 1989 World Tour was extra emotional for Swift and her team because they hadn’t gotten sick of it yet

“We didn’t drag it out,” she said. “We didn’t wait til we got sick of it. We’re still in love with it.” And so, it seems, are we.

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Taylor Swift’s 1989 Tour: See All of Her Special Guests!

From Nick Jonas and The Weeknd to Karlie Kloss and Lena Dunham, see everyone who joined Taylor Swift on stage for her "1989 World Tour"!

By Billboard Staff

Billboard Staff

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From musicians to models (and even the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team!) see everyone who joined Taylor Swift on stage for her “1989 World Tour”!

Taylor & Idina Menzel

Taylor Swift as Olaf and Idina Menzel as Elsa perform on Taylor Swift’s “The 1989 World Tour” at Raymond James Stadium on October 31, 2015 in Tampa, Florida. Read the story.

Taylor Swift & Allesia Cara

Taylor Swift and Allesia Cara perform “Here” on Taylor Swift’s “The 1989 World Tour” at Raymond James Stadium on Oct. 31, 2015 in Tampa, Fl. Read the story.

Greatest of All Time

When it comes to music, there's no objective right or wrong, good or bad – but that never stops passionate music fans from sharing and defending their favorites. From pop hooks to album covers to beats, we're rounding up some of the greatest of all time in music on Billboard. We spent months discussing, researching and reflecting on music from artists old and new, considering everything from sales to impact to innovation to longevity. The results won't please everyone – and that's as it should be. Everyone has their own takes on the greatest in music – this is ours. Check it out.

Taylor Swift & Ricky Martin

Taylor Swift and Ricky Martin at American Airlines Arena on October 27, 2015 in Miami, Florida.

Taylor Swift & Pitbull

Taylor Swift and Pitbull at American Airlines Arena on October 27, 2015 in Miami, Florida.

Taylor Swift & Dwyane Wade

Taylor Swift and Dwyane Wade at American Airlines Arena on October 27, 2015 in Miami, Florida.

Taylor Swift & Tove Lo

Taylor Swift and Tove Lo on stage at The 1989 World Tour at the Georgia Dome on Oct. 24, 2015 in Atlanta, Georgia. Read the story.

Taylor Swift & Miranda Lambert

Taylor Swift and Miranda Lambert performs during the 1989 World Tour at the Greensboro Coliseum on October 21, 2015 in Greensboro, North Carolina. Read the story.

Ellie Goulding & Taylor Swift

Ellie Goulding and Taylor Swift perform onstage during the 1989 World Tour Live on Oct. 17, 2015 at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. Read the story.

Charli XCX & Taylor Swift

Charli XCX joins Taylor Swift to perform during The 1989 World Tour at Rogers Center on October 3, 2015 in Toronto, Canada. Read the story.

Taylor Swift & Keith Urban

Taylor Swift and Keith Urban perform during The 1989 World Tour live in Toronto at Rogers Center on October 2, 2015 in Toronto, Canada. Read the story.

Taylor Swift & Nelly

Taylor Swift performs with special guest Nelly onstage during the 1989 World Tour at Scottrade Center on September 29, 2015 in St Louis, Missouri. Read the story.

Taylor Swift & Steven Tyler

Taylor Swift and Steven Tyler perform onstage during The 1989 World Tour live in Nashville at Bridgestone Arena on Sept. 25, 2015 in Nashville, Tennessee. Read the story.

Taylor Swift & Leona Lewis

Taylor Swift and Leona Lewis perform during The 1989 World Tour live in Nashville at Bridgestone Arena at Bridgestone Arena on September 26, 2015 in Nashville, Tennessee. Read the story.

Kelsea Ballerini & Taylor Swift

Kelsea Ballerini and Taylor Swift perform during The 1989 World Tour live in Nashville at Bridgestone Arena on September 25, 2015 in Nashville, Tennessee. Read the story.

Taylor Swift & Mick Jagger

Taylor Swift and Mick Jagger perform onstage during The 1989 World Tour live in Nashville at Bridgestone Arena at Bridgestone Arena on Sept. 26, 2015 in Nashville, Tennessee. Read the story.

Taylor Swift & Alison Krauss

Taylor Swift and Alison Krauss perform during The 1989 World Tour live in Nashville at Bridgestone Arena on September 25, 2015 in Nashville, Tennessee. Read the story.

Taylor Swift & Dierks Bentley

Taylor Swift and Dierks Bentley perform onstage at the Sprint Center on September 21, 2015 in Kansas City, Missouri.

Sydney Sierota & Taylor Swift

Sydney Sierota and Taylor Swift perform during The 1989 World Tour at Nationwide Arena on Sept. 18, 2015 in Columbus, Ohio. Read the story.

Taylor Swift & The Band Perry

Taylor Swift and The Band Perry perform “If I Die Young” at Bankers Life Fieldhouse on Sept. 16, 2015 in Indianapolis. Read the story.

Taylor Swift & Wiz Khalifa

Taylor Swift with special guest Wiz Khalifa during the Taylor Swift The 1989 World Tour Live In Houston at Minute Maid Park on September 9, 2015 in Houston, Texas.

Taylor Swift & Omi

Taylor Swift and Omi perform during Taylor Swift The 1989 World Tour Live In San Diego at PETCO Park on August 29, 2015 in San Diego, California. Read the story.

Taylor Swift & Avril Lavigne

Taylor Swift and Avril Lavigne onstage during Taylor Swift The 1989 World Tour Live In San Diego at PETCO Park on August 29, 2015 in San Diego, California. Read the story.

Taylor Swift & Selena Gomez

Taylor Swift and Selena Gomez perform during Taylor Swift The 1989 World Tour Live In Los Angeles at Staples Center on August 26, 2015 in Los Angeles, California. Read the story.

Taylor Swift & Justin Timberlake

Justin Timberlake and Taylor Swift perform onstage during Taylor Swift The 1989 World Tour Live In Los Angeles at Staples Center on Aug. 26, 2015 in Los Angeles, California. Read the story.

Taylor Swift & Phoebe Buffay (Lisa Kudrow)

Taylor Swift and Phoebe Buffay (Lisa Kudrow) sing “Smelly Cat” onstage during Taylor Swift The 1989 World Tour Live In Los Angeles at Staples Center on August 26, 2015 in Los Angeles. Read the story.

Taylor Swift, Beck & St. Vincent

Beck, Taylor Swift and St. Vincent perform during Taylor Swift The 1989 World Tour Live In Los Angeles at Staples Center on August 25, 2015 in Los Angeles, California. Read the story.

Taylor Swift & John Legend

John Legend and Taylor Swift perform “All of Me” onstage during Taylor Swift The 1989 World Tour Live In Los Angeles at Staples Center on August 25, 2015 in Los Angeles. Read the story.

Taylor Swift & Alanis Morissette

Alanis Morissette joins Taylor Swift onstage during The 1989 World Tour Live In Los Angeles at Staples Center on August 24, 2015 in Los Angeles. Read the story.

Taylor Swift & Natalie Maines of Dixie Chicks

Taylor Swift and Natalie Maines of Dixie Chicks perform onstage during Taylor Swift The 1989 World Tour Live In Los Angeles at Staples Center on August 24, 2015 in Los Angeles. Read the story.

Taylor Swift & Ellen DeGeneres

Taylor Swift and Ellen DeGeneres perform during Taylor Swifts The 1989 World Tour Live In Los Angeles at Staples Center on August 24, 2015 in Los Angeles, California. Read the story.

Taylor Swift, Matt Leblanc, Chris Rock and&Sean O’Pry

Matt Leblanc, Taylor Swift, Chris Rock and Sean O’Pry perform during Taylor Swift The 1989 World Tour Live In Los Angeles at Staples Center on August 22, 2015 in Los Angeles, California.

Taylor Swift & Uzo Adouba

Uzo Aduba and Taylor Swift perform during Taylor Swift The 1989 World Tour Live In Los Angeles at Staples Center on August 22, 2015 in Los Angeles, California.

Taylor Swift & Mary J. Blige

Taylor Swift and Mary J. Blige perform during Taylor Swift The 1989 World Tour Live In Los Angeles at Staples Center on August 22, 2015 in Los Angeles, California.

Taylor Swift, Joan Baez & Julia Roberts

Taylor Swift, Joan Beaz and Julia Roberts take a bow on stage during Swift’s “The 1989 World Tour” at Levi’s Stadium on August 15, 2015 in Santa Clara, California. Read the story.

Taylor Swift & Little Mix

Taylor Swift and Little Mix perform together during Swift’s “The 1989 World Tour” at Levi’s Stadium on Aug. 15, 2015 in Santa Clara, California. Read the story.

Taylor Swift & Fifth Harmony

Taylor Swift, Dina Jane Hansen, Normani Kordei, Camila Corbello, Ally Brooke and Lauren Jauregi of Fifth Harmony perform at Levi’s Stadium on August 14, 2015 in Santa Clara, California. Read the story.

Taylor Swift & Fetty Wap

Taylor Swift and Fetty Wap at CenturyLink Field on Aug. 8, 2015 in Seattle, Washington. Read the story.

Taylor Swift & Shawn Mendes

Taylor Swift and Shawn Mendes at CenturyLink Field on August 8, 2015 in Seattle, Washington.

Taylor Swift, Russell Wilson & Ciara

Taylor Swift , Russell Wilson and Ciara perform at CenturyLink Field on August 8, 2015 in Seattle, Washington.

Taylor Swift with Nico & Vinz

Taylor Swift performs “Am I Wrong” with special guests Nico and Vinz during The 1989 World Tour Live at BC Place Stadium August 1, 2015 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Read the story.

Taylor Swift & MKTO

Taylor Swift performs with Malcolm Kelly and Tony Oller of MKTO at Gillette Stadium on July 25, 2015 in Foxboro, Massachusetts. Read the story.

Taylor Swift & Walk the Moon

Taylor Swift and Nicholas Petricca of Walk the Moon perform at Gillette Stadium on July 24, 2015 in Foxboro, Massachusetts.

Taylor Swift & Sam Hunt

Taylor Swift and Sam Hunt perform during The 1989 Tour at Soldier Field on July 19, 2015 in Chicago, Illinois. Read the story.

Taylor Swift with Andreja Pejic and Lily Donaldson

Taylor Swift performs with Andreja Pejic and Lily Donaldson during The 1989 World Tour at Soldier Field on July 19, 2015 in Chicago. Read the story.

Taylor Swift & Serayah

Taylor Swift and Serayah McNeill perform during The 1989 World Tour at Soldier Field on July 18, 2015 in Chicago. Read the story.

andy-grammer-taylor-swift-2015-billboard-650

Andy Grammer and Taylor Swift perform during The 1989 Tour at Soldier Field on July 18, 2015 in Chicago, Illinois. Read the story.

taylor-swift-jason-derulo-2015-billboard-650

Taylor Swift and Jason Derulo perform onstage during The 1989 World Tour Live at Nationals Park on July 14, 2015 in Washington, DC. Read the story.

taylor-swift-lorde-washington-dc-july-13-2015-billbaord-650

Taylor Swift and Lorde perform onstage during The 1989 World Tour Live at Nationals Park on July 13, 2015 in Washington DC. Read the story.

Taylor Swift & Nick Jonas

Nick Jonas and Taylor Swift perform during The 1989 World Tour Live at MetLife Stadium on July 11, 2015 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Read the story.

taylor-swift-friends-performance-2015-billboard-650

Taylor Swift performs with Hailee Steinfeld, Gigi Hadid, Lily Aldridge and Lena Dunham during The 1989 World Tour Live at MetLife Stadium on July 10, 2015 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Read the story

Taylor Swift with World Cup Champions U.S. Women’s Soccer National Team & Heidi Klum

World Cup Champions U.S. Women’s Soccer National Team, Heidi Klum and Taylor Swift onstage during The 1989 World Tour Live at MetLife Stadium on July 10, 2015 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Read the story

Alana Haim, Danielle Haim and Este Haim of the band Haim perform during Taylor Swift’s The 1989 World Tour Live at MetLife Stadium on July 10, 2015 in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

Taylor Swift & The Weeknd

Taylor Swift performs with The Weeknd during The 1989 World Tour Live at MetLife Stadium on July 10, 2015 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Read the story

taylor-swift-1989-hyde-park-models-june-2015-billboard-650

Martha Hunt, Kendall Jenner, Serena Williams, Taylor Swift, Karlie Kloss, Gigi Hadid and Cara Delevingne perform onstage during The 1989 World Tour at Hyde Park on June 27, 2015 in London, England. Read the story.

Taylor Swift & Ellie Goulding

Ellie Goulding performs at Hyde Park on June 27, 2015 in London, England.

Taylor Swift & Rachel Platten

Taylor Swift performs onstage with musician Rachel Platten during The 1989 World Tour on June 13, 2015 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia. Read the story.

mariska-hargitay-taylor-swift-cara-delevingne-2015-billboard-650

Mariska Hargitay, Taylor Swift, and Cara Delevingne pose onstage during The 1989 World Tour on June 12, 2015 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Read the story.

Taylor Swift & Echosmith

Taylor Swift performs onstage with Sydney Sierota of Echosmith during The 1989 World Tour on June 12, 2015 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

taylor-swift-little-big-town-1989-tour-pittsburgh-june-2015-billboard-650

Taylor Swift performs with the band Little Big Town during The 1989 World Tour live at Heinz Field on June 6, 2015 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Read the story.

taylor-swift-dan-reynolds-detroit-2015-billboard-650

Taylor Swift and Dan Reynolds of Imagine Dragons perform on stage during the 1989 World Tour Live at Ford Field on May 30, 2015 in Detroit, Michigan. Read the story.

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Taylor Swift announces ‘1989 (Taylor’s Version)’ at Eras Tour show in Los Angeles

Taylor Swift performs during “The Eras Tour,” Monday, Aug. 7, 2023, at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

Taylor Swift performs at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif. Friday, July 28, 2023. (Jessica Christian/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)

A stage technician walks past a video screen featuring images of Taylor Swift before her performance, Monday, Aug. 7, 2023, at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

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LOS ANGELES (AP) — Taylor Swift closed the 2023 U.S. leg of her landmark Eras Tour Wednesday night in Los Angeles in a big way, announcing the fourth edition of her re-recording project: “1989 (Taylor’s Version).”

After playing a few tracks from her “1989” era live, including an abridged take on “Bad Blood,” the pop superstar approached the center of the stage with an acoustic guitar in hand and suggested to the audience that she had been working on something big.

“Instead of just, like, telling you about it, I think I’ll just sort of show you,” she told the crowd as the screen illuminated behind her. “‘1989 (Taylor’s Version)’ available Oct. 27!” she cheered, pointing out that she was revealing this on the eighth month of the year and the ninth day — a numerical clue.

Then she launched into a surprise performance of the ascendant “1989” track “New Romantics” and the “Reputation”-era piano ballad “New Year’s Day” for the first time during her world tour.

Just last month, Swift released her re-recording of “Speak Now” and soon claimed the record for the woman with the most No. 1 albums in history. The “Taylor’s Version” projects were sparked by music manager Scooter Braun’s purchase and subsequent sale of her early catalog.

Beyond the breaking news, across more than three-and-a-half hours at SoFi Stadium, Swift offered fans a bevy of career-spanning tracks — less a greatest hits collection, and more a live celebration of an artist in her veterancy.

Choreographed easter eggs were frequent. Swift would mimic dance moves from her iconic music videos and crack jokes about her feelings and “women-splaining to men how to apologize to women.”

Openers — and “besties,” as Swift described them — HAIM joined her on stage for the “evermore” cut “no body, no crime.”

Across more than 40 tracks reflecting 17 years of recorded music, it was as if the ground shook with the rapturous sound of 70,000 fans scream-singing along to her hits and deep cuts alike. This was Taylor Swift’s house — filled with fans in light Taylor Swift cosplay (pink dresses for her 2019 album “Lover,” black leather and snakeskin prints for 2017’s “Reputation,” sequins and A-line skirts for 2014’s “1989,” and so on).

Before launching into her “1989” era tracks, Swift performed an emotive single from her “folkore” album, “cardigan.” “When you are young, they assume you know nothing,” she sang, contorting the line in the third verse, “I knew everything when I was young.”

For a performance predicated on returning to the past as well as celebrating the present, it felt like a mission statement. Throughout her career and her many sonic experiments, Swift has been a keen observer of human condition and heartbreak. Even in those early songs about fantasies and fairytales, she demonstrates a kind of pragmatic wisdom. It is why a song she wrote when she was 16 can elicit the same sort of response as one written in her 30s.

And in a summer stacked with superstar tours celebrating giant new releases — like the larger-than-life experiences of Beyoncé's “Renaissance” World Tour and Drake’s 56-date “It Was All a Blur” tour — Taylor Swift’s lookback Eras Tour stands proudly among them.

For fans who desire their beloved artist play the hits — she certainly delivered.

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See Over 57 of Taylor Swift's 1989 Tour Guests Take the Stage with Her

Taylor Swift might be a solo artist, but she definitely isn't alone in the friend department. The "Bad Blood" singer proved that she has several buddies in very high places, and she can even get them to join her on the stage no matter what city she's in.

During her 1989 Tour Swift welcomed a bunch of her celebrity pals to share the stage with her. The performances included some of our favorite music artists like Justin Timberlake and Mary J. Blige. Plus, there were also non-singers who took to the stage, such as Ellen DeGeneres and Julia Roberts. There were so many surprise appearances that it was hard to keep up with all of the unforgettable moments. Luckily we've got the history-making performances in one place.

Keep scrolling to see all of Swift's special guests.

May 30, 2015

Victoria's Secret models Gigi Hadid and Martha Hunt struck a fierce pose on stage in Detroit, Michigan.

Swift's gal pal Hadid even danced to the music while on stage in Detroit, Michigan.

Imagine Dragons member, Dan Reynolds, belted out a song with Swift in Detroit, Michigan.

June 6, 2015

The country band Little Big Town took to the stage in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

June 12, 2015

Echosmith singer Sydney Sierota graced the stage in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Actress Mariska Hargitay and model Cara Delevingne shared the spotlight with Swift in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

June 13, 2015

Encore! Hargitay had a double dose of fun in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania with Swift.

June 27, 2015

Martha Hunt, Kendall Jenner , Serena Williams , Karlie Kloss , Gigi Hadid, and Cara Delevingne, showed Swift major love in London, England.

July 10, 2015

The U.S. Women's National Soccer team celebrated winning the FIFA World Cup with Heidi Klum and Swift in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

The Weekend sang a duet with Swift in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

Hailee Steinfeld , Lily Aldridge , Gigi Hadid, and Lena Dunham all reunited in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

July 11, 2015

Nick Jonas took fans by surprise as he hit the stage in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

In East Rutherford New Jersey Swift showed off her squad with appearances from Candice Swanepoel, Lily Aldridge, Uzo Aduba , Karlie Kloss, Behati Prinsloo , and Gigi Hadid.

July 13, 2015

Grammy award winning singer Lorde joined swift during the Washington, D.C. stop.

July 14, 2015

Jason Derulo showed Swift his support during the Washinton, D.C. stop.

July 18, 2015

Andy Grammer hopped on stage during Swift's performance in Chicago, Illinois.

Empire 's Serayah McNeill song along with Swift in Chicago, Illionois.

July 19, 2015

Australian model Andreja Pejic and British model Lily Donaldson took to the stage in Chicago, Illinois.

Sam Hunt serenaded Swift and the crowd in Chicago, Illinois.

July 25, 2015

Swift performed with Malcolm Kelley and Tony Oller, aka MKTO, in Foxboro, Massachusetts.

July 24, 2015

Walk the Moon's Nicholas Petricca had fun on stage in Foxboro, Massachusetts.

August 1, 2015

The duo Nico and Vinz showed up at Swift's Vancouver performance.

August 8, 2015

Fetty Wap made a surprise appearance during the Seattle, Washington leg of the tour.

Singer Ciara and her boyfriend football player Russell Wilson were on stage during the Seattle, Washington show.

August 14, 2015

Fifth Harmony lit up the stage in Santa Clara, California.

August 15, 2015

Julia Roberts and musician Joan Baez united with Swift in Santa Clara, California.

In Santa Clara, California English girl group Little Mix performed with Swift.

August 21, 2015

NBA star Kobe Bryant shocked guests during a Los Angeles, California show.

OneRepublic's frontman Ryan Tedder rocked with Swift in Los Angeles, California.

August 22, 2015

In Los Angeles, California Uzo Aduba had fun on stage with Swift.

Mary J. Blige showed Swift and her fans love in Los Angeles, California.

Actors Chris Rock and Matt LeBlanc teamed up with model Sean O'Pry to surprise concert goers in Los Angeles, California.

August 24, 2015

Swift brought Alanis Morissette to the stage during a performance in Los Angeles, California.

Ellen DeGeneres made everyone laugh while on the stage in Los Angeles, California.

The Dixie Chicks singer Natalie Maines joined Swift for a duet in Los Angeles, California.

August 25, 2015

Beck and St. Vincent wowed Swift's fans during another surprise in Los Angeles, California.

John Legend surprised Swift's fans during a show in Los Angeles, California.

August 26, 2015

Selena Gomez surprised fans in Los Angeles, California.

Lisa Kudrow sang "Smelly Cat" in Los Angeles, California with Swift.

Justin Timberlake joined Swift during one of her five performance in Los Angeles, California.

August 29, 2015

Singer OMI united with Swift for a surprise performance in San Diego, California.

Avril Lavigne rocked the crowd during Swift's San Diego, California show.

September 9, 2015

Wiz Khalifa brought a lot of energy to Houston when he performed "See You Again" with Swift.

September 16, 2015

In Indianapolis, Indiana, The Band Perry encouraged Swift to join them with her guitar.

September 18, 2015

The sparkles and fringe were doubled when Sydney Sierota hit the stage during the Columbus, Ohio stop.

September 21, 2015

Country music star, Dierks Bentley, united with Swift for the ultimate surprise in Kansas City, Missouri.

September 25, 2015

Steven Tyler brought the house down when he surprised concert goers in Nashville.

September 26, 2015

British singer Leona Lewis joined the party to sing a duet of her hit "Bleeding Love" with Swift.

Steven Tyler came back for another round with T. Swift and fans.

September 29, 2015

Nelly had too much fun with Swift and Haim as they belted out their tunes in St. Louis, Missouri.

October 2, 2015

Keith Urban rocked the stage with Swift in coordinating all black outfits in Toronto, Canada.

October 3, 2015

Charli XCX had too much fun on stage with Swift during a performance in Toronto.

October 17, 2015

Ellie Goulding joined her bff to perform her hit "Love Me Like You Do" in Texas.

October 21, 2015

In Greensboro, North Carolina, Swift channeled her country heritage during a sassy duet of "Little Red Wagon" with Miranda Lambert.

October 27, 2015

Miami Heat's basketball star Dwyane Wade represented during Swift's stop in Miami.

Pitbull, also known as Mr. 305, shocked fans with a Cameo during the Miami show for the 1989 Tour.

October 31, 2015

Concert goers in Tampa, Florida received a very special Halloween surprise when Idina Menzel joined Swift to sing "Let it Go" from Frozen .

Related Articles

Taylor Swift’s 'The Tortured Poets Department' album breaks Spotify streaming record

Taylor Swift is writing her way into the Spotify history books (her version) with "The Tortured Poets Department."

On Friday, Swift released her new album which became the first album in the streaming platform's history to garner over 300 million streams in a single day. The album also became the most-streamed album in a single day in 2024, according to a rep for Spotify.

The album's lead single “Fortnight," featuring rapper and genre-bending singer Post Malone , also made history and became the most-streamed song in a day. Swift also claims the top three albums most streamed albums in Spotify history with 2023's "Midnights" and " 1989 (Taylor's Version)."

Swift is also now the most-streamed artist in a single day in Spotify history after the release of "The Tortured Poets Department" and its extended version "The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology," a 31-song collection of songs about coming of age, heartbreak, and the private pitfalls and peaks of her public life.

'Tortured Poets' release live updates: Taylor Swift drops 15 extra songs at 2 a.m.

What is Taylor Swift's new 'The Tortured Poets Department' album about?

The Eras Tour singer also makes reference to romance with current partner, Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce , in and her longtime ex-boyfriend, the British actor Joe Alwyn . On "Tortured Poets," Swift continues to point her songwriting pen at rapper Kanye West, who is now known as Ye , and his ex-wife, reality TV star Kim Kardashian .

"I don't think you've changed much  and so I changed your name and any real defining clues ; And one day, your kid comes home singin' a song that only us two is gonna know is about you," Swift sings in "thanK you aIMee," which features Kim Kardashian's name spelled out in capital letters while the rest are lowercase.

Taylor Swift, Kim Kardashian, Ye feud: VMAs to 'The Tortured Poets Department'

The song is an apparent reference to the daughter of Kardashian and Ye (formerly  Kanye West ), North West. Early last year, North West  posted a TikTok  featuring Kardashian, with the two dancing to "Shake It Off," from 2014's "1989."

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Album review

On ‘The Tortured Poets Department,’ Taylor Swift Could Use an Editor

Over 16 songs (and a second LP), the pop superstar litigates her recent romances. But the themes, and familiar sonic backdrops, generate diminishing returns.

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By Lindsay Zoladz

If there has been a common thread — an invisible string, if you will — connecting the last few years of Taylor Swift’s output, it has been abundance.

Nearly 20 years into her career, Swift, 34, is more popular and prolific than ever, sating her ravenous fan base and expanding her cultural domination with a near-constant stream of music — five new albums plus four rerecorded ones since 2019 alone. Her last LP, “Midnights” from 2022, rolled out in multiple editions, each with its own extra songs and collectible covers. Her record-breaking Eras Tour is a three-and-a-half-hour marathon featuring 40-plus songs, including the revised 10-minute version of her lost-innocence ballad “All Too Well.” In this imperial era of her long reign, Swift has operated under the guiding principle that more is more.

What Swift reveals on her sprawling and often self-indulgent 11th LP, “The Tortured Poets Department,” is that this stretch of productivity and commercial success was also a tumultuous time for her, emotionally. “I can read your mind: ‘She’s having the time of her life,’” Swift sings on “I Can Do It With a Broken Heart,” a percolating track that evokes the glitter and adoration of the Eras Tour but admits, “All the pieces of me shattered as the crowd was chanting ‘more.’” And yet, that’s exactly what she continues to provide, announcing two hours after the release of “Poets” that — surprise! — there was a second “volume” of the album, “The Anthology,” featuring 15 additional, though largely superfluous, tracks.

Gone are the character studies and fictionalized narratives of Swift’s 2020 folk-pop albums “Folklore” and “Evermore.” The feverish “Tortured Poets Department” is a full-throated return to her specialty: autobiographical and sometimes spiteful tales of heartbreak, full of detailed, referential lyrics that her fans will delight in decoding.

Swift doesn’t name names, but she drops plenty of boldfaced clues about exiting a long-term cross-cultural relationship that has grown cold (the wrenching “So Long, London”), briefly taking up with a tattooed bad boy who raises the hackles of the more judgmental people in her life (the wild-eyed “But Daddy I Love Him”) and starting fresh with someone who makes her sing in — ahem — football metaphors (the weightless “The Alchemy”). The subject of the most headline-grabbing track on “The Anthology,” a fellow member of the Tortured Billionaires Club whom Swift reimagines as a high school bully, is right there in the title’s odd capitalization: “thanK you aIMee.”

At times, the album is a return to form. Its first two songs are potent reminders of how viscerally Swift can summon the flushed delirium of a doomed romance. The opener, “Fortnight,” a pulsing, synth-frosted duet with Post Malone, is chilly and controlled until lines like “I love you, it’s ruining my life” inspire the song to thaw and glow. Even better is the chatty, radiant title track , on which Swift’s voice glides across smooth keyboard arpeggios, self-deprecatingly comparing herself and her lover to more daring poets before concluding, “This ain’t the Chelsea Hotel, we’re modern idiots.” Many Swift songs get lost in dense thickets of their own vocabulary, but here the goofy particularity of the lyrics — chocolate bars, first-name nods to friends, a reference to the pop songwriter Charlie Puth ?! — is strangely humanizing.

Taylor Swift’s New Album Reviewed

For all its sprawl, though, “The Tortured Poets Department” is a curiously insular album, often cradled in the familiar, amniotic throb of Jack Antonoff’s production. ( Aaron Dessner of the National, who lends a more muted and organic sensibility to Swift’s sound, produced and helped write five tracks on the first album, and the majority of “The Anthology.”) Antonoff and Swift have been working together since he contributed to her blockbuster album “1989” from 2014, and he has become her most consistent collaborator. There is a sonic uniformity to much of “The Tortured Poets Department,” however — gauzy backdrops, gently thumping synths, drum machine rhythms that lock Swift into a clipped, chirping staccato — that suggests their partnership has become too comfortable and risks growing stale.

As the album goes on, Swift’s lyricism starts to feel unrestrained, imprecise and unnecessarily verbose. Breathless lines overflow and lead their melodies down circuitous paths. As they did on “Midnights,” internal rhymes multiply like recitations of dictionary pages: “Camera flashes, welcome bashes, get the matches, toss the ashes off the ledge,” she intones in a bouncy cadence on “Fresh Out the Slammer,” one of several songs that lean too heavily on rote prison metaphors. Narcotic imagery is another inspiration for some of Swift’s most trite and head-scratching writing: “Florida,” apparently, “is one hell of a drug.” If you say so!

That song , though, is one of the album’s best — a thunderous collaboration with the pop sorceress Florence Welch, who blows in like a gust of fresh air and allows Swift to harness a more theatrical and dynamic aesthetic. “Guilty as Sin?,” another lovely entry, is the rare Antonoff production that frames Swift’s voice not in rigid electronics but in a ’90s soft-rock atmosphere. On these tracks in particular, crisp Swiftian images emerge: an imagined lover’s “messy top-lip kiss,” 30-something friends who “all smell like weed or little babies.”

It would not be a Swift album without an overheated and disproportionately scaled revenge song, and there is a doozy here called “Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me?,” which bristles with indignation over a grand, booming palette. Given the enormous cultural power that Swift wields, and the fact that she has played dexterously with humor and irony elsewhere in her catalog, it’s surprising she doesn’t deliver this one with a (needed) wink.

Plenty of great artists are driven by feelings of being underestimated, and have had to find new targets for their ire once they become too successful to convincingly claim underdog status. Beyoncé, who has reached a similar moment in her career, has opted to look outward. On her recently released “Cowboy Carter,” she takes aim at the racist traditionalists lingering in the music industry and the idea of genre as a means of confinement or limitation.

Swift’s new project remains fixed on her internal world. The villains of “The Tortured Poets Department” are a few less famous exes and, on the unexpectedly venomous “But Daddy I Love Him,” the “wine moms” and “Sarahs and Hannahs in their Sunday best” who cluck their tongues at our narrator’s dating decisions. (Some might speculate that these are actually shots at her own fans.) “The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived” is probably the most satisfyingly vicious breakup song Swift has written since “All Too Well,” but it is predicated on a power imbalance that goes unquestioned. Is a clash between the smallest man and the biggest woman in the world a fair fight?

That’s a knotty question Swift might have been more keen to untangle on “Midnights,” an uneven LP that nonetheless found Swift asking deeper and more challenging questions about gender, power and adult womanhood than she does here. It is to the detriment of “The Tortured Poets Department” that a certain starry-eyed fascination with fairy tales has crept back into Swift’s lyricism. It is almost singularly focused on the salvation of romantic love; I tried to keep a tally of how many songs yearningly reference wedding rings and ran out of fingers. By the end, this perspective makes the album feel a bit hermetic, lacking the depth and taut structure of her best work.

Swift has been promoting this poetry-themed album with hand-typed lyrics, sponsored library installations and even an epilogue written in verse. A palpable love of language and a fascination with the ways words lock together in rhyme certainly courses through Swift’s writing. But poetry is not a marketing strategy or even an aesthetic — it’s a whole way of looking at the world and its language, turning them both upside down in search of new meanings and possibilities. It is also an art form in which, quite often and counter to the governing principle of Swift’s current empire, less is more.

Sylvia Plath once called poetry “a tyrannical discipline,” because the poet must “go so far and so fast in such a small space; you’ve got to burn away all the peripherals.” Great poets know how to condense, or at least how to edit. The sharpest moments of “The Tortured Poets Department” would be even more piercing in the absence of excess, but instead the clutter lingers, while Swift holds an unlit match.

Taylor Swift “The Tortured Poets Department” (Republic)

Inside the World of Taylor Swift

A Triumph at the Grammys: Taylor Swift made history  by winning her fourth album of the year at the 2024 edition of the awards, an event that saw women take many of the top awards .

‘The T ortured Poets Department’: Poets reacted to Swift’s new album name , weighing in on the pertinent question: What do the tortured poets think ?  

In the Public Eye: The budding romance between Swift and the football player Travis Kelce created a monocultural vortex that reached its apex  at the Super Bowl in Las Vegas. Ahead of kickoff, we revisited some key moments in their relationship .

Politics (Taylor’s Version): After months of anticipation, Swift made her first foray into the 2024 election for Super Tuesday with a bipartisan message on Instagram . The singer, who some believe has enough influence  to affect the result of the election , has yet to endorse a presidential candidate.

Conspiracy Theories: In recent months, conspiracy theories about Swift and her relationship with Kelce have proliferated , largely driven by supporters of former President Donald Trump . The pop star's fans are shaking them off .

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Pickleball to Eras Tour prep: How Taylor Swift’s skorts helped Popflex go viral

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Talk about a Swift sellout.

Following last Friday’s release of her new album, “The Tortured Poets Department,” Taylor Swift took to YouTube Shorts to share some rare behind-the-scenes footage from her personal life, including a several-second snippet of herself playing pickleball in a tutu-style lavender skirt.

Despite the clip’s brevity, it took mere moments for Taylor Swift Style blogger Sarah Chapelle to ID the singer’s activewear as the Popflex Pirouette Skort ($60) — and just 15 minutes for the style to sell out completely in Swift’s lilac shade. Before long, it was wiped out of stock in all 11 colors.

“I was in shock. Pure shock,” the activewear brand’s founder, Cassey Ho , tells Page Six Style. At the time Swift posted the video, Ho was at the hair salon with her phone on “Do Not Disturb” mode, so she missed the first handful of calls from her husband as he tried to alert her of the major moment.

“It finally went through because when you do that on iPhone, it counts as an emergency,” she says, quipping, “This was an emergency.”

In an effort to meet the overwhelming demand, Ho enabled preorders for the lavender skort on her Shopify site — “we never do this,” she says — and has since sold “about 7,000” of the Swift-approved style. Since they’ll all be made from scratch, the skorts will ship in August.

“I don’t want to rush through anything; I want to make sure everyone who’s ordering the skort gets the same quality that Taylor got,” she notes.

Popflex Pirouette Skort

But this was no flash-in-the-pan stroke of fortune for Ho and her brand — Swift returned to YouTube Thursday to share a compilation of clips from her recent Eras Tour rehearsals, which happened to be peppered with Popflex pieces.

In one scene, she pairs her Pirouette Skort with the brand’s Corset Bra ($44); in another, she takes the streamlined Twirl Skort ($54) for a spin, while a third shows her striking a confident pose in the Crisscross Hourglass Booty Short ($45).

Popflex Corset Bra

Popflex Twirl Skort

Popflex Crisscross Hourglass Booty Short

Ho confirms none of the merchandise was gifted to the superstar.

“I think she placed an order — I don’t know when,” she tells us. “And it seems like she must have bought a lot of things!”

The fitness entrepreneur and influencer, who’s also the founder of the popular YouTube channel Blogilates , describes her designs as “romantic, feminine, but also always solving a problem,” pointing to Popflex’s inclusive size range (XXS to 3X) and multiple available legging lengths as examples of the latter.

“We all know that Taylor loves princesses and castles and love stories. And so I think because of that, she’s really drawn to the femininity and the romantic-ness of it all.”

Scoring the Grammy winner’s stamp of approval is especially meaningful for Ho, who’s been a Swiftie since 2006.

In 2014, after posting a YouTube video spotlighting her favorite songs from Swift’s emotional “Red” album — “I was going through a lot at the time,” she says — the vlogger even scored an invite to one of her idol’s “secret sessions,” and was one of the first people to hear Swift’s then-unreleased “1989” record in the musician’s own LA home.

“ The Taylor Swift walks out with her red lips and her cropped hair and her crop top, and I’m physically shaking, and she walks over and says, ‘Cassey, I love your videos,'” Ho recalls. “I’m like, ‘What do you mean?!’ “

Years later, the pair’s lives have paralleled in other ways; while Swift was fighting for ownership of her master recordings , Ho was battling larger companies selling bootleg versions of her creations.

“When I designed the Pirouette Skort a few years ago, I remember telling my husband, ‘This is the one that’s going to be stolen by Shein .’ I just knew, because it’s so different,” she says.

Since then, Ho tells me she’s dealt with two separate instances of the fast-fashion giant knocking off her signature design and selling it for cheap; she recently applied for a design patent to protect her work.

“It took a whole year for me to get the patent, but it was weirdly awarded on my birthday,” she says, adding that she announced the milestone with a TikTok set to — what else? — Swift’s tune “Karma.”

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Cassey Ho (@blogilates)

Unfortunately, the patent hasn’t put the kibosh on all the copycats.

“Amazon and TikTok Shop make it really easy,” the designer says, telling us she’s flagged “a ton” of listings for lookalike skorts that include customer reviews and photos taken from her own website — including snaps of Ho herself.

“Every day is like Whac-A-Mole; we take one [listing] down, they start a new account and put it up again,” she adds. “Dupe culture — counterfeit culture — has gotten out of control.”

But considering most Swifties now swear to only listen to the musician’s rerecorded versions of her earlier albums, Ho is confident that those in search of Swift’s skort will add “Cassey’s Version” to their carts.

“Swifties want the real thing. They want the thing that Taylor’s wearing,” she says. “And I just hope that the skort makes everyone who gets it really happy.”

Shop more of our favorite Popflex styles below:

Popflex Corset Pirouette Dress

Popflex Crisscross Hourglass Twirl Skort

Popflex That’s A Wrap Skort

Popflex Zip Cloud Hoodie

Popflex Crisscross Hourglass Flared Leggings With Pockets

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Taylor Swift's The Tortured Poets Department Becomes First Album to Hit 1 Billion Spotify Streams in a Single Week

'TTPD' already became Spotify's most-streamed album in a single day upon its release, surpassing Swift's 'Midnights' and '1989 (Taylor's Version)'

Ashok Kumar/TAS24/Getty

Has anyone not listened to Taylor Swift 's The Tortured Poets Department ?

After the 34-year-old pop superstar's new album and its extended Anthology edition were released on April 19, Spotify announced the 31-song project marks the first album to reach 1 billion streams in a single week on the platform.

The Tortured Poets Department is also already Spotify's most-streamed album in a single week — despite the fact that a full week hasn't even passed since its release.

Frazer Harrison/Getty

Swift's latest Spotify record is not the only she's broken as of late. Upon the album's release, TTPD became the platform's most-streamed album in a single day with 300 million, surpassing two of her own albums —  Midnights and 1989 (Taylor's Version) — which previously held the record.

Furthermore, the new album's lead single "Fortnight" with Post Malone became the streamer's most-streamed song in a single day on April 19.

Shortly before releasing TTPD , Swift announced "Fortnight" would be its first single and spoke about working with Malone, 28.

"I’ve been such a huge fan of Post because of the writer he is, his musical experimentation and those melodies he creates that just stick in your head forever," she  wrote on Instagram . "I got to witness that magic come to life firsthand when we worked together on Fortnight."

Malone shared a photo of himself with Swift to social media after the song and its music video dropped, as he reflected on making the collaboration .

"It’s once in a lifetime that someone like  @taylorswift  comes into this world," he wrote in the caption. "I am floored by your heart and your mind, and I am beyond honored to have been asked to help you with your journey 🥹. I love you so much. Thank you Tay 💕."

Once the album was out in the world, Swift declared the  "sensational and sorrowful" chapter of her life was "closed" in a social media post.

"The Tortured Poets Department. An anthology of new works that reflect events, opinions and sentiments from a fleeting and fatalistic moment in time - one that was both sensational and sorrowful in equal measure. This period of the author’s life is now over, the chapter closed and boarded up," she wrote.

"There is nothing to avenge, no scores to settle once wounds have healed. And upon further reflection, a good number of them turned out to be self-inflicted. This writer is of the firm belief that our tears become holy in the form of ink on a page. Once we have spoken our saddest story, we can be free of it. And then all that’s left behind is the tortured poetry."

Related Articles

A clothing designer says Taylor Swift wearing her skort was the 'ultimate karma' against brands that have ripped her off

• Taylor Swift recently posted a video that shows her wearing a $60 Popflex athletic skort.
• Cassey Ho, an influencer and the skort designer, told Business Insider it's a dream come true.
• Ho said Swifties have since wiped out existing inventory, and 7,000 skorts have been preordered.

When Taylor Swift uploaded a YouTube Shorts video to promote her new album on April 19, Blogilates founder Cassey Ho was getting her roots touched up at a hair salon.

"I was so ugly with my hair in the bowl and a towel over my head, but my husband, Sam, kept calling. He was like, 'You need to check your messages,'" she told Business Insider.

So she did, and she quickly discovered that Swift's video featured a clip of the musician playing pickleball while wearing the $60 Pirouette Skort from Ho's brand Popflex.

"I wish I had screamed or jumped. I was numb," she said. "That was my reaction. Couldn't move, couldn't think. Nonfunctional."

The Taylor Effect: athleisure version

Ho — a fitness influencer and entrepreneur — said she was equally shocked when fans alerted her that Swift had also seemingly referenced the Popflex skirt in a track on "The Tortured Poets Department."

"Lilac short skirt, the one that fits me like skin," Swift sings in "imgonnagetyouback."

While Ho can't confirm whether Swift was specifically referencing her design, the lyric has only made the experience more exciting for herself and her employees.

"Our entire team has just been living in this Taylor dream from Friday into this week. It's just been so cool," Ho said.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Cassey Ho (@blogilates)

Swifties can't get enough of the skort, either. According to Ho, her brand's inventory of the Digital Lilac shade Swift wore was wiped out in minutes. She said Popflex has now sold 7,000 of the skorts in preorders.

"The Taylor Effect is like nothing else in the entire world. It's insane," Ho said. "We had our biggest sales day of the year and our second biggest sales day ever. This is also the first time we've taken preorders. We normally don't do that, but people really want the original."

An invisible string between Ho and Swift

In the early days of Ho's career — when she posted videos of herself doing exercise routines on YouTube — Swift's songs often played in the background.

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Those "Pop Pilates" routines, as Ho dubbed them, skyrocketed her into internet stardom, and Swift took notice.

In 2014, Ho received a direct message from Swift's team inviting her and her sister to a Secret Session, or a private listening party where Swift showed fans her then-upcoming album "1989."

"We were just nervously there, and Taylor walked out with her red lips, short hair, a crop top, and a pleated skirt," she recalled. "Then, she walked up to our little group and said, 'Cassey, I love watching your videos.' I was like, 'Are you kidding me?'"

Swift then shared a message about doing one of Ho's workout routines on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, in 2019.

Omg Taylor! You did!??? Ahhhhh!!! I’m legit dying right now! Your music has helped me get through so much. Thank you for doing the challenge!!! I hope your abs are sore! 💪💪💪 — ❤ Cassey Ho ❤ (@blogilates) May 11, 2019

"People assume I must have sent the skort to her, but absolutely not," Ho told BI. "I have no contact with Taylor. I don't know her address, nothing."

But given their connected history, Ho thinks Swift may have seen one of her promotional videos for the skort.

"I think she was Tay-lurking," she said.

The bigger picture

While Ho is ecstatic about Swift wearing her skort design from the perspective of a business owner and Swiftie, she's also grateful for another reason.

Since releasing the Pirouette skirt nearly three years ago, Ho said she has dealt with numerous online retailers copying her design and selling cheaper versions.

"It's happened two times on Shein and a million times on Amazon," Ho said. She called out Shein in a July 2023 blog post after noticing that the fast-fashion retailer was selling a similar skort, which was no longer available on the site as of Friday.

Ho also said she's seen new knockoffs popping up now that Swift has been seen wearing the original.

"I've already seen sites using my videos and Taylor's video in ads on TikTok, which direct to sketchy sites," she said, adding that she's working to get those listings removed.

But in the meantime, she said, Swift wearing the original feels like the "ultimate karma" against shops that have stolen her work — something Swift herself is deeply familiar with .

"She is the ultimate inspiration for taking control of a bad situation," Ho said.

But even as knockoff Popflex skorts appear online, Ho and her team are celebrating.

In addition to a dinner party she'd like to host in the future, Ho told BI that she's also distributing $4,190 bonuses to each of her employees — a number she picked by taking the date Swift posted her video, April 19, and multiplying it by 1,000, or the number of times she's "felt so lucky over this past weekend."

"I don't know what you call this. Maybe an invisible string, I guess," Ho said of her journey with Swift. "But the past few days have been a beautiful dream. I'm just so grateful."

Watch: Artist makes hyperrealistic food-inspired handbags

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