TAYLOR SWIFT only completed her 149-date Eras Tour last December, by which time it had become the highest-grossing tour of all time.
While she was criss-crossing the globe, she recorded and released The Tortured Poets Department, which was the best-selling album of 2024 — but instead of taking a break, she is already making a comeback.
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In the early hours of yesterday morning, she sent her fans into meltdown when she announced her 12th studio album will be called The Life Of A Showgirl, and will be released in the coming weeks.
And it turns out she has spent years dropping Easter eggs — a term used for secret hints — about the record, including a heavy clue that fellow superstar Sabrina Carpenter has collaborated with her on a song.
Taylor confirmed the forthcoming release in a teaser video from a podcast — set to be released at midnight tonight — which was recorded with her boyfriend Travis Kelce and his brother, fellow American footballer Jason.
In the clip from their New Heights podcast, shared alongside the caption “Posted at 12:12 on the 12th. Tay’s 12th album is called . . . ” she said: “This is my brand new album The Life Of A Showgirl.”
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The album artwork was blurred in the video, but she has updated all of her pages with the colour orange, having started teasing that would be the album’s colour theme last year.
She is now keeping the cover secret by obscuring it with an orange padlock on her website.
Wearing orange outfits
Taylor started dropping hints by wearing orange on night 12 of the European leg of her Eras tour, while performing in Lyon, France, last June.
In November, she released her Eras Tour Book and was wearing orange on the 12th page.
Then on Monday, her official management and social media team @taylornation posted 12 images of the star wearing orange outfits from the tour, with the caption: “Thinking about when she said ‘See you next era . . .’.”
All I started thinking of was how do I hint at things, how far is too far in advance? Can I hint at something three years in advance?
Taylor
And the final image notably featured her with Sabrina, from when they performed together in New Orleans last October.
Travis Kelce flirts with Taylor Swift on New Heights podcast as music megastar makes major announcement
Welcoming her on stage at the time, Taylor pretended to phone the Espresso singer and said: “Put on some clothes and come down to the stadium.”
Fans are now convinced Sabrina referenced that last week when she shared a photo of herself on Instagram with some washing and the caption: “Go put on some clothes!”
In yet another Easter egg posted last October, Taylor hinted at the date she would announce the project.
A snap shared online saw her standing in Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium with a sign for seated section “A12” visible — which fans believe is a reference to yesterday’s date, August 12.
Taylor first played a showgirl in her 2022 video for Bejeweled, which also featured burlesque performer Dita von Teese.
She had previously suggested she likes to plant clues three years in advance.
During a 2021 appearance on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, she said: “All I started thinking of was, how do I hint at things, how far is too far in advance?
“Can I hint at something three years in advance? Can I even plan things out that far? I think I’m going to try to do it.”
The new album is set to be a major return to the pop sound of her 2014 record 1989, and 2017’s Reputation, both of which were created with hit Swedish producers and songwriters Max Martin and Shellback.
Max is renowned for being one of the most successful songwriters ever, having worked on hits including Baby One More Time for Britney Spears, Katy Perry’s I Kissed A Girl and Blinding Lights for The Weeknd, as well as Shake It Off, Blank Space and We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together for Taylor.
Shortly after the announcement yesterday morning, billboards in New York and Nashville took users to a Spotify playlist which featured 22 songs by Taylor, all of which have been made with Max and Shellback.
However, fans are yet to be told when they will actually be able to get their hands on the new album.
It is available to pre- order through her website, where it states the record will ship before October 13, but adds: “This is not the release date, official release date to be announced.”
Taylor is believed to have completed the record earlier this year, and last month The Sun revealed she had shot a music video in Los Angeles.
However, she has used a series of non-disclosure agreements for everyone involved in the album in a bid to keep details under wraps.
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The record was created in secret and she has not been seen entering or leaving a recording studio since December 2023 — before The Tortured Poets Department was released.
Taylor has become one of the most prolific musicians in pop since she released her self-titled debut in 2006.
And music forecasters believe The Life Of A Showgirl will easily become the biggest-selling album of 2025 within its first week of release, due to the massive demand for the star.
Bookmakers William Hill have already made her 1/3 odds-on favourite to be named International Artist Of The Year at next year’s Brit Awards.
Taylor has sold more than 300million records worldwide, racked up 13 No1s on the UK album chart — overtaking Madonna’s record of 12 in February — and has had 30 Top Ten singles, including four No1s.
As well as her 11 studio albums released so far, she has put out four re-recorded versions after the rights to her back catalogue were bought against her will in 2019. However, in May she announced she had bought back the rights to her first six albums, ending the long-running legal wrangle.
She wrote on her website: “All of the music I’ve ever made now belongs to me. I’ve been bursting into tears of joy . . . ever since I found out this is really happening.
“To say this is my greatest dream come true is actually being pretty reserved about it. I can’t thank you enough for helping to reunite me with this art that I’ve dedicated my life to, but have never owned until now.
“I almost stopped thinking it could ever happen, after 20 years of having the carrot dangled and then yanked away.
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Trav hopes love ‘lasts forever’
TAYLOR SWIFT’s boyfriend Travis Kelce said he hopes their relationship will “last forever” as he showered her in praise in his most revealing interview yet.
The NFL tight end cradled an alligator and wore a faux fur hat for the new issue of British GQ.
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Travis, whose parents divorced after 25 years, said: “The handful of my friends whose parents are still together and still thriving – those are situations I would love to have.
“Not that I think my parents dealt with it the wrong way. It’s more so, if we’re gonna start this and do it, why not try and do it to last forever? Not just in a, ‘It’s just for the kids’ aspect.”
Travis, who has been with Taylor for two years, said: “I hadn’t experienced somebody in the same shoes as me, having a partner who understands the scrutiny, understands the ups and downs of being in front of millions. That was very relatable, seeing how exhausted she would get after shows.
I sort of made her a football fan. She is the most engulfed fan now
Travis
“She may not think of herself as an athlete. She will never tell anyone that she is an athlete.
“But I’ve seen what she goes through. I’ve seen the amount of work that she puts on her body, it’s mind-blowing.”
On how impressed he was during Taylor’s record-breaking Eras Tour, he continued: “You’re doing a show for three hours with a lot of energy, bringing it every single song. That is arguably more exhausting than how much I put in on a Sunday, and she’s doing it three, four, five days in a row.
“She is so good at mesmerising everybody and making everybody feel like it’s an intimate situation. She’s beautiful. She’s up there making everyone feel at ease.”
And he is enjoying the perks of being the boyfriend of a superstar singer, as he added: “I get to be the plus one. I get to go and be that fan. Because I am a fan. And it’s so cool that I get to experience her being that plus one for me on the football field.
“I sort of made her a football fan. She is the most engulfed fan now.
“She knows what the injury reports look like. She understands what special situations are, third and short – all these things because she just naturally loves to hear about my job.”
Travis said: “Whenever I’m with her, it feels like we’re just regular people.
“When there is not a camera on us, we’re just two people that are in love. It happened very organically, even though from a media standpoint it was being tracked. We fell in love just based off the people we were sitting in a room together with.
“We are two fun-loving people who have the morals to appreciate everyone for who they are. We share all those values. It kind of just took the f*** off.”
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