Music
Taylor Swift Almost Didn’t Announce Her New Album At The Grammys
She had a “backup plan.”
During her acceptance speech for Best Pop Vocal Album at this year’s Grammy Awards, Taylor Swift revealed that her 11th studio album, The Tortured Poets Department, will drop on April 19 — but she almost didn’t announce the news at the 2024 ceremony.
Speaking at her Eras Tour concert in Tokyo, Japan, on Feb. 7, she disclosed how she’d initially planned to surprise fans.
“I had this plan in my head, and I told my friends ... but I hadn’t really told many other people,” she tells the crowd in a now-viral fan video. “I thought, ‘OK, if I’m lucky enough to get up there and win one thing tonight, I’m just gonna do it. I’m just gonna announce my new album.’”
In the video, Swift goes on to explain that had she not won any trophies on Feb. 4, she was “gonna announce tonight in Tokyo.”
She also revealed that she began writing The Tortured Poets Department soon after finishing her Grammy-winning album Midnights, which was released in 2022.
“I’ve been working on it for about two years,” Swift continued. “I kept working on it throughout the U.S. tour. When it was perfect in my opinion — when it was good enough for you — I finished it.”
Concluding her speech at the Tokyo stop, Swift said she was “so, so excited” for fans to hear the record. “Everyone asks, ‘Why do you make so many albums?’” she continued. “It's like, ‘Man, because I love it so much. I’m having fun. Leave me alone.’”
Taylor’s Grammys Announcement
When Swift accepted the award on Feb. 4, she began her speech by noting that she’d just won her 13th Grammy (the singer’s lucky number), before sharing details of the forthcoming LP.
“I want to say thank you to the fans by telling you a secret that I have been keeping from you for the last two years,” she said, “which is that my brand new album comes out April 19th. It’s called The Tortured Poets Department.”
Swift later unveiled the album’s cover art, photographed by Beth Garrabrant, and the official tracklist, which some fans have called “Joe Alwyn-coded.”
