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UK officials have announced that there is no indication that the terror threats before Taylor Swift’s now-cancelled shows in Vienna, Austria, will have any impact on her upcoming shows in London.
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“There is nothing to indicate that the matters being investigated by the Austrian authorities will have an impact on upcoming events here in London,” a spokesperson for London’s Metropolitan Police said on Thursday (Aug. 8), per Reuters, adding, “The Met works closely with venue security teams and other partners to ensure there are appropriate security and policing plans in place. As always, we will continue to keep any new information under careful review.”
Swift is currently set to perform at London’s Wembley Stadium over five sold-out nights from August 15 to 20.
Earlier in the day, Associated Press reported that the main suspect in the case, a 19-year-old male, confessed that he planned to “kill as many people as possible” outside Ernst Happel Stadium, where Swift was scheduled to perform from August 8 to 10.
In a statement on Wednesday (Aug. 7), Barracuda Music, the concert promoters for the Austrian shows said, “With confirmation from government officials of a planned terrorist attack at Ernst Happel Stadium, we have no choice but to cancel the three scheduled shows for everyone’s safety. All tickets will be automatically refunded within the next 10 business days.”
The person identified as the main plotter reportedly quit his job and “conspicuously changed his appearance and adapted to IS [Islamic State] propaganda,” despite his North Macedonian roots. Omar Haijawi-Pirchner, Austria’s head of the Directorate of State Security and Intelligence, said the suspect wanted to use knives or homemade explosives to attack Swifties outside the stadium at the event, which was expected to draw more than 195,000 fans.
Authorities also said that I.S. and al-Qaida materials were found at the home of a second, 17-year-old Austrian suspect, who was reportedly recently hired by a company that provides services at the venue. Both suspects are currently in custody.
At press time, Swift had not commented on the incident. Billboard has reached out to the star’s reps for comment.
If you can tell an actor is acting when you watch them on the screen then they’re probably not doing a great job. But if you couldn’t discern that Stranger Things star Sadie Sink had never really been in love despite certainly acting like it in Taylor Swift‘s All Too Well: The Short Film, then that’s because Sink did some deep-dive research to get into character as her half of the dysfunctional, age-gap relationship with actor Dylan O’Brien.
“At that point, I had never been in love,” Sink told Variety magazine about getting cast in the video as, basically, a stand-in for a 20-year-old Swift when she was dating actor Jake Gyllenhaal, then 29. “I had never been through a breakup that intense. It was all foreign territory for me. I had to rely on just my years of research as a Swiftie.”
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Sink said she connected to herself in a profound way — like many Swifties — through the singer’s confessional lyrics, especially the song’s biting kiss-off line, “And you call me up again just to break me like a promise.” In the break-up scene, as that lyric unfolds, Sink is shown curled in a ball on her bed weeping as her phone lights up in the nearly 15-minute mini-movie written and directed by Swift.
“As I was going, things from my personal life kind of came forward, which fueled it even more,” she said of the tricky actor’s task of trying to focus on what’s going on with their character rather than tapping into their own life experiences to find the right emotional tone for a scene. “Then I was like, ‘Whoa. Maybe I should do some work on Sadie in these areas.’”
While the now-22-year-old star didn’t go into detail on what that work entailed, she did note that she’s since cut “All Too Well” from her “wind-down song” playlist while working on the anticipated upcoming fifth and final season of Stranger Things. “It holds this incredibly nostalgic feeling for me now that I feel physically in my body,” she said as she wrapped her arms around herself. “It’s too intense.”
Sink talked about getting cast in the short film in Jan. 2023 with Seth Meyers, calling the process “bizarre.” The actress said she was already a fan when Swift’s team reached out to say the singer had her in mind for the role. “You would never think that our paths would really cross, someone being in the music industry and then in the film industry,” Sink said of the “trippiest” offer she’s had to date. “It was like two different worlds. It was kind of a bizarre mashup, but everyone was very excited.”
Watch All Too Well: The Short Film below.
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Ariana Grande has complicated relationships with hot sauce and some of her old songs, but she powered through both on the latest episode of Hot Ones.
Appearing on the series’ season finale Thursday (Aug. 8), the pop star began by asking host Sean Evans for his expert opinion. “Where do you think I’ll sit on the scale from DJ Khaled to Lorde?” she asked. “I do my homework.”
Grande went on to barely break a sweat while eating the spicy vegan wings, save for an inaudible burp here and there. She kept her composure even as the Scoville levels increased, but at one point she admitted, “I think I’m learning that I don’t like hot sauce.”
The Grammy winner also answered questions about her Billboard 200-topping new album, Eternal Sunshine, working with Max Martin and doing stunts on the set of the Wicked films, the first of which arrives this November. “There was lots of bubble singing, which was very high up, and I wasn’t harnessed — I was just kind of there,” she revealed. “I had a lot of stunty singing, but nothing compares to Cynthia Erivo.”
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“Watching Cynthia in her harness with a broom, a hat, wig, corset, dress — the whole thing — flipping upside down, flying around the set, singing ‘Defying Gravity’ every take like it’s nothing … just the most phenomenal thing I’ve ever seen,” Grande, who plays Glinda opposite Erivo’s Elphaba, continued. “We had to do some really insane and beautiful things for this film.”
The “We Can’t Be Friends” vocalist went on to open up about the “disheartening and disappointing” experience of having her unreleased music leak online. “It sucks,” she put it plainly. “And I am constantly trying to get to the bottom of like how people get stuff … that is very frustrating and feels very dehumanizing, and then the other side is like but I’m so grateful to be an artist that people care about and my fans want more of me so they’re going to these extremes to steal and break in.”
Toward the end of the episode, Evans asked Grande whether she’s tired of performing any of her old songs. The Victorious alum has been releasing music for more than a decade at this point, with nine of her songs reaching No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 since her debut record, Yours Truly, dropped in 2013.
“That’s a natural thing that all artists can relate to,” she replied. “There was a time when it was hard for me to feel that same gratitude that I do now for certain songs and for the music … becoming a pop star is insane at 19 or 20, and I think that experience was sort of married to some of the songs a little bit. Or some of the songs that are more emotional, the experience that inspired them can be married to the music. But with time and therapy, we sort of are able to re-embrace, so I feel just really proud and grateful and happy when i hear them, where as I used to maybe hear it and cry.”
Watch Grande on Hot Ones above.
If you’ve ever seen video of Charlie Puth breaking down his songwriting process you know that the 32-year-old singer is a mad scientist when it comes to meticulously crafting his songs in the studio. As he works on the follow-up to his 2022 Charlie album — which topped-out at No. 10 on the Billboard 200 chart –Puth is once again turning to Taylor Swift for inspiration.
In a chat with People magazine, Puth said that as he works on his upcoming fourth studio full-length he’s thinking of changing things up thanks to some helpful tips from his fellow pop star. “You can expect what you always expect from me, which is chords and key changes and what I think are interesting kind of rhythms in production sense,” he told the magazine. “I always think about what I’ve lacked every time I start a new project and one thing that I’d like to enhance even more is the storytelling of things. And maybe that lies in the lyrics and making the lyrics a little bit more less A, B, C, D.”
In his effort to refashion his lyrics in a more personal way, Puth is leaning into Swift’s intricate, intimate lyrical style. “Taylor Swift kind of nudged me to do that as well,” he said. “And i think that’s how she approaches her songwriting and that’s how I’ll approach this next album.” For now, Puth said he’s planning to working on “the whole thing” by himself, a tactic that has made things more challenging as he sometimes spends his days “wait[ing] for the melody to appear… but it’s really, really worth it when it all comes together.”
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Back in May, Puth dropped the single “Hero,” which he described at the time as being “about when you see someone you love hurting themselves, ruining the things in their life that are good, but you just can’t save them… I’m very excited to share my next album with you, especially this song because it’s a great representation of what’s to come.”
Puth added that he decided to put the song out after Swift famously shouted him out on the title track to her The Tortured Poets Department album when she sang: “We declared Charlie Puth should be a bigger artist.” A few weeks after that unexpected pop star plaudit, Puth teased “Hero” on TikTok.
“I’ve never put out a song like this before,” he wrote about the Swift influence on “Hero.” “It’s very different for me, but I want to thank @taylorswift for letting me know musically that I just couldn’t keep this on my hard drive any longer.” He added, “Sometimes I get a little nervous being overly honest in my music which is why this was sitting on my hard drive for awhile,. But I think someone out there was giving me a sign that I needed to release it.”
“Hero” came on the heels of Puth’s other recent singles, “Lose My Breath” with Stray Kids, “Lipstick” and “That’s Not How This Works” with Dan + Shay and Sabrina Carpenter. Puth also told People that while “Hero” won’t be on the upcoming untitled album, the LP “will make a lot of sense” once you hear the whole thing. “I want them to hear [the album] and be like, ‘Ah, I know what she was talking about,’” he says of Swift’s praise-filled lyric.
“I’m perfectly happy with the level where I’m at, but if being a bigger artist means I get to inspire more people who want to do what I do, then that’s great.”
Kesha may not have followed best dental practices Wednesday morning (Aug. 7), but that’s OK — it was for a special occasion. The pop star celebrated her 2009 smash “Tik Tok” surpassing a billion streams on Spotify by recreating one of its most iconic lyrics for fans, sharing a video of her actually brushing her […]
Even as Sir Rod Stewart was forced to cancel what was supposed to be the 200th, and final, show in his 13-year Las Vegas residency, the indefatigable pop legend announced on Wednesday (August 7) that he will be back at it next year. “Vegas, I’m having too much fun for this to end so we […]
Authorities in Austria have revealed further details about the terrifying plans to attack Taylor Swift‘s now-cancelled shows in Vienna, Austria this weekend. On Thursday (August 8), the Associated Press reported that the main suspect in the case has fully confessed to plans to “kill as many people as possible outside the concert venue.”
Officials said that the 19-year-old male suspect with North Macedonian roots had pledged allegiance to the Islamic State after being radicalized online and had been planning to attack the shows at Ernst Happel Stadium scheduled for Aug. 8-10. The person identified as the main plotter reportedly quit his regular job and “conspicuously changed his appearance and adapted to IS [Islamic State] propaganda.” Austria’s head of the Directorate of State Security and Intelligence, Omar Haijawi-Pirchner, said the main suspect allegedly wanted to employ knives or homemade explosives to attack Swift’s fans outside the stadium in an effort to cause a mass-casualty event at the shows that were expected to draw more than 195,000 Swifties over the weekend.
The 19-year-old also reportedly uploaded an oath of allegiance to the current leader of the Islamic State group militia to an online account and during a raid on his home investigators said they found chemical substances and unnamed “technical devices” that hinted at “concrete preparatory acts.” The AP also reported that IS and al-Quida materials were also reportedly found at the home of a second, 17-year-old, Austrian suspect, who was reportedly hired earlier this week by a company that provides services at the venue; that suspect was arrested by police special forces near the stadium.
Reuters cited Austria’s Kurier newspaper’s report that sources familiar with the investigation said the main suspect had allegedly stolen chemicals from his former workplace, a metal processing plant in his hometown of Ternitz, and had made progress in building a bomb. According to reports, more than 60 houses around the suspect’s home — where he lived with his parents — were evacuated during the search.
At press time neither suspect’s name had been released in keeping with Austria’s privacy rules. A third person, a 15-year-old who’d been in contact with both suspects, was also reportedly interrogated by police. In a statement on Wednesday, Barracuda Music, the concert promoters for the Austrian shows said, “With confirmation from government officials of a planned terrorist attack at Ernst Happel Stadium, we have no choice but to cancel the three scheduled shows for everyone’s safety. All tickets will be automatically refunded within the next 10 business days.”
Wednesday’s decision to cancel the trio of shows left thousands of Swifties distraught and disappointed, with CNN reporting on a number of fans who traveled great distances and spent thousands of dollars on tickets, bespoke outfits and travel to see what is arguably the biggest tour in pop history praising the foiling of the plot even as they lamented the missed opportunity.
The nation’s vice chancellor, Werner Kogler wrote on X: “For many, a dream has been shattered today. On three evenings in Vienna, tens of thousands of #Swifties should have celebrated life together.”
Austrian chancellor Karl Nehammer also commented on X, calling the cancellation of the shows a “bitter disappointment for all fans in Austria,” while calling the planned terror plot “very serious” and thanking the state’s investigative services and Vienna police for recognizing the plan early and preventing a potential tragedy.
“We live in a time in which violent means are being used to attack our western way of life. Islamist terrorism threatens security and freedom in many western countries,” he wrote. “It is important to remain vigilant, stand together and take decisive action against Islamism.”
The news of the attack brought to mind the bombing assault on an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, England in 2017 that killed 22 people and injured more than 200. In a resurfaced 2019 essay in Elle, Swift candidly discussed her anxiety about performing live following that ISIS-related suicide bombing and that same year’s mass shooting at Las Vegas’ Route 91 Harvest Music Festival that took 64 lives and left more than 400 wounded.
“My biggest fear,” Swift wrote at the time, “After the Manchester Arena bombing and the Vegas concert shooting, I was completely terrified to go on tour this time because I didn’t know how we were going to keep 3 million fans safe over seven months. There was a tremendous amount of planning, expense, and effort put into keeping my fans safe.”
CNN reported on a disturbing pattern in recent months of teenagers going from chattering online to being radicalized and plotting real-world attacks, with terrorism expert Peter Neumann issuing a recent report showing that teenagers accounted for almost two-thirds of ISIS-linked arrests in Europe in the previous nine months. The study covering 27 ISIS-linked attacks or disrupted plots since October 2023 looked at 58 suspects, 38 of whom were between the ages of 13 and 19, with Europol data showing that the number of attacks and planned attacks “has more than quadrupled” since 2022.
At press time Swift had not commented on the thwarted plot and a spokesperson for the singer could not be reached for comment on a Variety report that the singer’s next, and last, scheduled round of shows on the European leg of the Eras Tour will go on as planned. Swift is currently set to perform at London’s Wembley Stadium over five sold-out nights (Aug.15-20), with authorities reportedly saying that security is being ramped up as Scotland Yard evaluates intelligence in the lead-up to next week’s concerts.
Swift had just announced five new opening acts for the London show: Raye, Suki Waterhouse, Maisie Peters, Holly Humberstone and Sofia Isella. After the planned Wembley shows, the singer has more than a month off before a scheduled return to the road in North America in October for a final run of dates that kick off on Oct. 18 at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami.
In the wake of Taylor Swift cancelling shows over a terrorist plot, an interview has resurfaced in which she revealed such a scenario would be her “biggest fear”.
The Grammy-winning artist’s three The Eras Tour shows in Vienna were abruptly cancelled on Aug. 7 following the arrest of two suspects who reportedly planned to unleash a terrorist attack on the shows this weekend.
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Swift’s reflections on this very fear were penned in a 2019 article for Elle, where she candidly discussed her anxiety about performing live in the wake of the 2017 ISIS bombing at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, England, and the mass shooting at Las Vegas’ Route 91 Harvest Music Festival.
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The Manchester attack resulted in 22 fatalities and injured over 200 people, while the Las Vegas shooting claimed 64 lives and left 413 wounded.
“My biggest fear,” Swift wrote at the time, “After the Manchester Arena bombing and the Vegas concert shooting, I was completely terrified to go on tour this time because I didn’t know how we were going to keep 3 million fans safe over seven months. There was a tremendous amount of planning, expense, and effort put into keeping my fans safe.”
“My fear of violence has continued into my personal life,” she said, adding that she carried “QuikClot army grade bandage dressing, which is for gunshot or stab wounds.”
These fears have unfortunately been echoed with the recent events in Vienna.
On Wednesday, Aug. 7, Austrian police confirmed the arrest of two suspects involved in planning a terrorist attack on Swift’s concerts at the Ernst Happel Stadium. The suspects, one a 19-year-old Austrian citizen, reportedly radicalized online and had pledged allegiance to the Islamic State in July.
“The suspects were focused on the Taylor Swift concerts,” Austrian Director General for Public Safety Franz Ruf said via NY Post. “We discovered that he was taking action to prepare for the attack,” he added. “A clear threat has been averted.”
The planned attack forced Barracuda Music, the concert promoters, to cancel the shows scheduled for August 8-10.
“With confirmation from government officials of a planned terrorist attack at Ernst Happel Stadium, we have no choice but to cancel the three scheduled shows for everyone’s safety,” reads a statement from Barracuda Music, also reposted by Taylor Nation on Instagram. All tickets will be automatically refunded within the next 10 business days.
Swift’s shows in Vienna were to be the second-to-last stop on the European leg of her The Eras Tour, before a five-night stint at London’s Wembley Stadium from Aug. 14-18.
She is set to return to North America in October for the final leg of her tour, concluding at the end of the year. However, the Vienna cancellations have cast a shadow over what has otherwise been a highly successful tour.
See Barracuda Music’s statement below.
It’s been 15 years since Kesha burst onto the music scene with “TiK ToK,” and the superstar took to social media on Wednesday (Aug. 7) to celebrate her breakthrough debut single. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news “TiK ToK was the first single that I put into […]
Chappell Roan is proving once again that she’s your favorite artist’s favorite artist.
Selena Gomez took to her Instagram Stories on Tuesday (Aug. 6) to share a photo of the “Good Luck, Babe!” singer. “Is it Wednesday? No? Cool she still my Wednesday and everyday crush,” Gomez wrote over the post, which you can see here before it disappears.
Roan has skyrocketed to fame in the months since she dropped her debut album The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess last year. After a series of headline-making performances — including at Coachella and Gov Ball 2024 — the 14-track project earned a new peak of No. 5 on the Billboard 200 last month.
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“It feels like I was right all along,” Roan recently told Jimmy Fallon of her musical rise during an appearance on his late-night talk show. “I feel kind of like, I made it already when people showed up to my concert a few years ago … everything else has been a cherry on top.”
She also told the host about her “your favorite artist’s favorite artist” tagline, which she says was inspired by RuPaul’s Drag Race winner Sasha Colby, who originally referred to herself as “your favorite drag queen’s favorite drag queen” during her “Meet the Queens” interview for season 15 of Drag Race.
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“That was a reference to Sasha Colby, and Sasha Colby said, ‘I’m your favorite drag queen’s favorite drag queen,’” Roan told Fallon. “It just hit me through the heart. And so I hope one day Sasha Colby watches me, and that’s why I said it.”
In response, Colby said in an interview with Entertainment Weekly, “Drag has always been a mirror of pop culture. Since Drag Race, we are pop, the tastemakers, and pop girlies look to us for inspiration — much like Chappell Roan! All I can say is, goddess sees goddess, you know? Greatness sees greatness! Your favorite artist’s favorite artist, baby!”