The Eras Tour

You always find your way back home. Taylor Swift is homeward bound this weekend for a trio of Eras Tour shows in Nashville, and Music City just welcomed her home with a custom bench in one of her favorite spots.

Mayor John Cooper unveiled the new Swiftie seating area, located in the city’s popular hub, Centennial Park, on Twitter Thursday (May 4) — one day ahead of the pop star’s first of three concerts at Nissan Stadium. “Welcome home, @taylorswift13,” Cooper captioned two photos of a dark wood bench surrounded by bushes. “As of today, you now have the perfect place to read at Centennial Park. Nashville is READY for this weekend.”

“For Taylor Swift,” reads a small green plaque on the top plank of the bench. “A bench for you to read on at Centennial Park. Welcome home, Nashville.” The plaque is, of course, a reference to Swift’s Folklore song “Invisible String,” which opens with the lyric: “Green was the color of the grass where I used to read at Centennial Park.” Toward the end of the loved-up track, the 12-time Grammy winner references the park again: “Gold was the color of the leaves when I showed you around Centennial Park.”

The bench isn’t the only way Nashville is honoring Swift, who moved to Tennessee’s capitol from Pennsylvania as a young teenager to start her music career. Cooper also named this weekend “Taylor Swift Homecoming Weekend,” issuing an official proclamation filled with cheeky references to the singer’s lyrics.

“Long story short, Taylor Swift is a legendary musician, producer, and director,” it reads. “Karma is Taylor Swift coming straight home to Nashville to play three sold-out tour performances at Nissan stadium.”

See the new Taylor Swift bench in Centennial Park below.

Taylor Swift put a bow on her stop in Atlanta on Monday (May 1) following three nights of The Eras Tour.

“WOW Atlanta just… wow,” the superstar wrote alongside an Instagram and Twitter slideshow of photos from the trio of concerts. “The band, dancers, and I can’t stop talking about how insanely magical it was playing for you guys the past 3 nights. You were always bouncing, dancing, screaming every lyric. And you created so many breathtaking moments for us, you know what I mean. Looove yooouuu. Hey Nashville you’re NEXT.”

During the Atlanta shows, Swift surprised the audiences at Mercedes-Benz Stadium with Fearless bonus track “The Other Side of the Door,” the live debut of Evermore deep cut “Coney Island” (sans collaborators The National), Midnights (3 am Edition) track “High Infidelity” (on April 29, no less!), “Gorgeous,” “I Bet You Think About Me” and “How You Get the Girl” as surprise songs in her sets.

Speaking of The National, Swift also made sure to plug her new ditty “The Alcott” with the Bryce Dessner-led band from the stage her first night in the ATL, telling the giddy crowd, “I was lucky enough to be able to write a song with them for their new album, which is called the First Two Pages of Frankenstein. Check it out, stream it, buy it on vinyl. I love them so much. They’ve been so kind to me. So, I’m not gonna sing the song that we have on this new album — it’s called ‘The Alcott’ — check that out, though.”

Earlier Monday, the Country Music Hall of Fame unveiled a new pop-up dedicated to the “Bejeweled” singers many eras, complete with 10 outfits representing each of the studio albums in her storied discography.

Part of Taylor Swift‘s magic is her ability to make individual fans feel like she’s singing directly to them. But in Gracie Abrams‘ case, Swift actually was when she dedicated “Clean,” the April 1 Eras Tour show surprise song and a favorite of Abrams’, to the 23-year-old indie pop star.
Abrams has previously shared that she had no idea Swift — her idol since childhood — was going to make such a sweet gesture that night in Arlington, Texas, which marked the “21” singer’s first of several nights as an opener for the Eras Tour‘s North American leg. And in a recent interview with Teen Vogue, she reflected on how special the moment was for her as a lifelong Swiftie.

“I don’t think I realized the scale at which that one means something to everyone,” she told the publication. “That’s the thing about Taylor’s music. When one of her songs lands in a specific place in your life, it feels like you’re the only person in the world who has that extreme of a connection to the song.”

“I felt so grateful to hear it in that way, so stripped and raw,” Abrams continued. “That song has been kind of a constant security blanket since it came out. I have so many little memories listening to that song at times when I needed it. To hear her so thoughtfully dedicate it, I was like, ‘I could die now and be totally thrilled.’”

The L.A. native also got candid about how nerve-racking it can be to warm up a stadium-sized audience before Swift’s shows, saying she stays grounded while performing by keeping her eyes trained on the fans closest to her. “Otherwise,” says the “21” singer, “I think I would only be able to think about how I’m playing on the same stage as my favorite artist in the world, and she’s granting me that opportunity, and how did life get from being 10 years old and crying to her music in my room to being on this stage and celebrating her career in this way?”

Abrams has fully embraced how her fandom for Swift has become a core part of her own artistic identity, never shying away from the topic in interviews. In February, as she was gearing up to release her debut album Good Riddance, the “I Know it Won’t Work” artist told Billboard that Swift’s friendship and professional solidarity “means so much” to her.

“She’s as spectacular a person and friend as she is an artist, writer, director,” she continued. “She’s really that great. To be able to lean on her in any capacity really means a lot. The opportunity [to open for the Eras Tour] is so outrageous… I feel like I don’t even really believe it’s real. I’m so stoked to watch her crush it every single night. To see her up close in that way and be able to study that is the greatest gift.”

See photos from Gracie Abrams’ Teen Vogue shoot below.

Gayle used to have trouble dealing with hate, but recently, she’s learned how to shake it off. That’s thanks to some advice given to her by idol-turned-confidante Taylor Swift, whom the 18-year-old Nashville musician credits with helping her put backlash into perspective when it comes to her success or her polarizing smash hit “abcdefu.”
Gayle revealed in an interview with Teen Vogue published Thursday (April 27) that, in touring with Swift and sitting next to her at award shows, she has gleaned some well-earned wisdom from the 33-year-old pop star about tuning out negativity. “She’s like, ‘Baby child. Come on. What controversy could you have had for the five minutes you’ve been making music?’” Gayle recalled Swift telling her.

“And that’s true,” the “Everybody Hates Me” singer continued. “That’s fair. It was really, really nice for her to say, when I’ve told her my biggest, deepest worries, she’s like, ‘You’re right. And it’s fine.’”

Gayle’s career skyrocketed after her angsty breakup chart-topper blew up on TikTok in 2021. There was already some people who openly scorned the trendiness and success of “abcdefu” before the 2023 Grammy nominations were announced last year, but when Gayle earned a nod for song of the year alongside Swift’s “All Too Well (10 Minute Version),” her critics got even louder. (Both she and Swift lost the category to Bonnie Raitt’s “Just Like That.”)

According to Teen Vogue, though, Swift’s advice was simple, that Gayle had to make the music she wanted and grow as a musician, and learn how to deal with people’s responses.

“[I had to decide] if I won’t take advice from you, I won’t take criticism from you,” Gayle added. “I can’t not give it all I got just because I’m scared of the possibility of people not liking it. … My music, at the very least, is supposed to make you feel something. If it’s hatred, you’re still feeling something. I’m still winning a little bit. I’ll take it.”

The young star also recounted the story of how Swift asked her to be one of the Eras Tour openers, an invitation that essentially went down the very first time Gayle met her hero at the Nashville Songwriter Association International awards ceremony last year. “She was like, ‘Oh my God, are you touring? Do you tour?’ I’m like, ‘Oh my God. Yeah, I do tour,’” she said.

“She’s like, ‘Oh my God, are you touring next year?’ I’m like, ‘Yeah, I am.’ She’s like, “That’s amazing. Do you open up for people?’ I don’t know why my dumb a– said this, but I was like, ‘I open up for people who ask me to open up for them.’ She was like, ‘I’ll call you.’ I was like, oh my God, I’m going to die.”

Swifties are teaming up to pay tribute to one of their own. Following the devastating news that a 20-year-old Taylor Swift fan named Jacob Lewis was killed by a suspected drunk driver while on his way home from an Eras Tour show in Houston, supporters have rallied to honor him with a special friendship bracelet project and personalized GoFundMe donations.

Explore

Explore

See latest videos, charts and news

See latest videos, charts and news

The friendship bracelet project was started by @swifferwins on Twitter, who posted a screenshot of a conversation with Lewis’ sister April Bancroft on Monday (April 24). The direct messages showed Bancroft — who was with Lewis when he died after the pair attended Swift’s Friday (April 21) show at NRG Stadium together — sharing that she and her brother “had the most fun” dancing to “Shake It Off” and that she “looked over at him and saw the awe in his eyes watching her perform.”

“Jacob’s favorite song to dance to at the eras tour was shake it off,” wrote the @swifferwins account. “I think it would be a beautiful tribute to make some shake it off bracelets for each other to remember him, and to shake off the haters and live fully.”

🩵🤍🩷 SHAKE IT OFF BRACELET PROJECT FOR JACOB LEWIS 🩷🤍🩵Jacob’s favorite song to dance to at the eras tour was shake it off. I think it would be a beautiful tribute to make some shake it off bracelets for each other to remember him, and to shake off the haters and live fully pic.twitter.com/OGI3mHhydI— swiftie wins (@swifferwins) April 24, 2023

Swifties have been exchanging friendship bracelets since the Eras Tour began in March as a way to make friends at concerts, taking inspiration from a lyric in Midnights Track 5 “You’re On Your Own, Kid”: “So make the friendship bracelets/ Take the moment and taste it.” The call to personalize some of those bracelets in Lewis’ honor has already received thousands of likes and hundreds of retweets in the 24 hours since it was posted, with Bancroft’s blessing.

Meanwhile, Swifties have been flooding a GoFundMe page started by a family friend on behalf of Lewis’ father with tailored donations and messages. In just two days, the page raised $110,000 for Lewis’ funeral costs, thanks largely in part to fan donations in the amount of the “Anti-Hero” singer’s famous lucky number 13.

Many of the Swiftie donations include touching messages borrowing relevant lyrics from Swift’s discography. “Long Live Jacob!! You will be Remembered!!” wrote one donor. “You were bigger than the whole sky. You were more than just a short time,” wrote another.

According to KHOU-11, Lewis and Bancroft were driving home from the show when they had car trouble on the freeway. As Lewis got out and began pushing the car, he was struck and immediately killed by 34-year-old Alan Bryant, who fled the scene. A tow truck driver who saw what happened followed Bryant, and he was eventually arrested by police.

“Jacob will be remembered as a loving and faithful young man who was loyal to his family and friends,” wrote Lewis’ father, Steve, in a heartbreaking Facebook post about his son’s death. “His last act was to push his sister to safety on a dark street. There is no way to describe the magnitude of this loss and the emptiness left in our hearts.”

Taylor Swift saw that her fans were concerned about her literal “Death By a Thousand Cuts” moment, during which she somehow acquired a gnarly injury on her left palm during one of her recent Eras Tour shows in Houston. Don’t worry, though — she says she’s completely fine.

In a Monday (April 24) post on her social media accounts, shared one day after she finished out a weekend of three concerts at NRG Stadium, the 33-year-old pop star revealed what happened to her and her guitar chord-playing hand during her Saturday (April 22) concert. “Just got to play 3 insane shows in Houston and I’m waking up smiling reminiscing about how much fun we all had,” she began, captioning three dynamic, sparkly photos from the trio of performances.

“Loving this tour so much because of the passion these crowds put into it all – seriously can’t wait for Atlanta,” Swift continued, before revealing how she injured herself. “PS for those asking how I cut my hand, I’m totally fine and it was my fault completely – tripped on my dress hem and fell in the dark backstage while running to a quick change – braced my fall with my palm.”

“It was all very Mercury in retrograde coded,” she joked. “Don’t worry about me I’m gooooood.”

Swifties have been buzzing about the “Anti-Hero” singer’s endurance ever since photos of her hand injury cropped up online following the second Houston show. Fans couldn’t believe how the pop star was able to continue through the rest of her three-hour set without any indication that she was in pain, despite the chunk of missing skin on the bottom part of her palm.

One fan even traced back photos from the night to identify when the injury must have occurred: during a costume change in between the songs “Tolerate It” and “Ready For It.” Another Swiftie tweeted, “i cannot believe she performed with her hand THAT injured last night, without letting on that something was going on. we do not deserve her.”

When Taylor Swift wrote “Death By a Thousand Cuts,” she probably didn’t mean to take it so literally. During her Saturday (April 22) Eras Tour concert, the pop star scraped her hand midway through and powered through the rest of the show with a pretty nasty-looking wound.

Fans watching the second of Swift’s three shows in Houston over the weekend quickly noticed that she was missing a chunk of skin from her left palm, which appeared to bleed on and off throughout the remainder of the performance. One Swiftie clocked that the injury must have happened in between the “Anti-Hero” singer’s quick change between “Tolerate It,” the last song in the Folkore section of the set list, and “Ready For It,” the first song in the Reputation section.

“her wrist is fine by the end of tolerate it and by the time she walks down the stage for rfi you see the blood near her palm,” one fan tweeted.

As the concert progressed, Swift could be seen with bandages wrapped around her wrist and palm. But through all of the costume changes, choreography and guitar/piano-playing the singer does throughout her three-hour set, the bandage seemed to lose its stickiness and slip off of her hand.

If she was in pain, however, Swift definitely didn’t show it. Fans online couldn’t believe how well she powered through the performance without even flinching at the visible gash on her hand, with one Swiftie tweeting, “taylor is actually better than me cuz i cut my hand like this accidentally and i literally couldn’t stop crying cuz it hurt as hell she’s literally a superhuman.”

“taylor’s dedication is unreal,” wrote another. “i cannot believe she performed with her hand THAT injured last night, without letting on that something was going on. we do not deserve her.”

Billboard has reached out to Swift’s rep for comment.

See photos and fan reactions to Taylor Swift’s painful-looking mid-show injury below:

for those wondering about taylor’s wrist here’s what happened 🧵she cut right below her palm sometime in the change btwn tolerate it – > RFI. her wrist is fine by the end of tolerate it and by the time she walks down the stage for rfi you see the blood near her palm. pic.twitter.com/8fINwsv6io— sophia (@lovr_23) April 24, 2023

taylor is actually better than me cuz i cut my hand like this accidentally and i literally couldn’t stop crying cuz it hurt as hell 😭 she’s literally a superhuman pic.twitter.com/FN6U0eCFHi— rania (@tolerateitlover) April 24, 2023

taylor’s insane bc she performed two nights with her hand hurt and missing a piece but when I get a paper cut I cancel all my plans bc it hurts too much— 🪩 eME!rald 🕰️ 🌙 HEARD MIRRORBALL LIVE🪩 (@hushmirrorball) April 24, 2023

taylor’s dedication is unreal. i cannot believe she performed with her hand THAT injured last night, without letting on that something was going on. we do not deserve her.— cadence⸆⸉ 🌲 (@notagoldrush) April 24, 2023

WHAT THE HELLLL taylor’s hand was actually so bad how did she even play guitar after this oh my beloved whoever did this TRUST you will be dealt with!!!! pic.twitter.com/TLLFeoh5uA— ali’s MIDNIGHTS (@ownedbytayla) April 23, 2023