Taylor Swift officially announced the release date of her next album re-recording, 1989 (Taylor’s Version), during the final show of the U.S. leg of her record-breaking Eras Tour on Wednesday (Aug. 9) at Sofi Stadium in Los Angeles, California.
In the midst of her sixth consecutive sold-out concert at the iconic stadium in the City of Angels, the “Midnights” singer surprised fans with the announcement that she is re-recording her fifth studio album, 1989, which was first released in October of 2014.
Announced 1989 (Taylor’s Version)
The 33-year-old singer/songwriter took to the stage for part of her set where she performs surprise songs and admitted, “The last time that I was so pleasantly surprised by some stuff that you guys did was when I announced that I was going to be re-recording. That was something that I expected to be just a me thing, just a personal thing. Since I was a teenager, I wanted to own my music.”
Swift then told the capacity crowd, “The way to do it was to re-record my albums, and the way that you have embraced … that you have celebrated, that you really decided that it was your fight too, and that you were 100 percent behind me … I will never stop thanking you for that.”
She then told the sold-out crowd of over 70,000 “Swifties” that she loves planning things before revealing the exciting news of 1989 (Taylor’s Version).
“And so now, here we are on the last night of the U.S. leg of the Eras tour in the eighth month of the year on the ninth day. You might have noticed there are some new outfits in the show. There’s something that I’ve been planning for a really, really, really ridiculously, embarrassingly long time, and instead of telling you about it, I think I’ll just sort of show you,” Swift continued as the cover art and release date for the new project appeared behind her.
Sends Fan Into A Frenzy
The album art and release date for Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) then appeared on the massive video screen that fills the entire background of the stage, which sent fans into a screaming frenzy as they were thrilled to hear the news.
Taylor Swift went on to perform a fan-favorite hit from 1989, “New Romantics.”
Following the surprise announcement of 1989 (Taylor’s Version), the “Anti-Hero” took to social media to further detail the re-recorded project.
“Surprise!! 1989 (Taylor’s Version) is on its way to you 🔜! The 1989 album changed my life in countless ways, and it fills me with such excitement to announce that my version of it will be out October 27th,” Swift shared on Instagram.
Five New Songs On 1989 (Taylor’s Version)
The project will feature five new songs in addition to the album’s original 13 tracks. 1989 features several fan-favorite tunes, including “Welcome To New York,” “Blank Space,” “Style,” “Out Of The Woods,” “All You Had To Do Was Stay,” “Bad Blood,” “Wildest Dreams,” “How You Get The Girl,” “I Know Places” and more.
“To be perfectly honest, this is my most FAVORITE re-record I’ve ever done because the 5 From The Vault tracks are so insane,” Swift added. “I can’t believe they were ever left behind. But not for long!”
Pre-orders for 1989 (Taylor’s Version) are available now at TaylorSwift.com.
Speculation Began With Cryptic Tweets On Twitter
Buzz of 1989 (Taylor’s Version) first began with a teaser at the end of her “I Can See You (Taylor’s Version)” music video and then were re-ignited on Wednesday (Aug. 9) when Taylor Nation on Twitter shared a post that read, “53 shows, 20 cities, 10 eras, 5 months, and 1 thing’s for sure… the first leg of #TSTheErasTour presented by @CapitalOne left a permanent mark.”
Fans quickly took to social media to piece together clues from that tweet, saying that the numbers in the tweet add up to 89 and that “left a permanent mark” is lyrics from “This Love,” which is a track from Swift’s album, 1989.
Speculation of the re-recorded project swirled even more when the tour’s sponsor, Capital One, shared a tweet that read, “What if we pretended it could last forever,” which are lyrics to another song from the deluxe edition of 1989, titled “Wonderland.”
Aside from the Tweets, fans at the Los Angeles concert shared that upon their arrival at the concert, the lights on their wristbands were lit up with a blue glow reminiscent of Swift’s announcement of Speak Now (Taylor’s Version).
The news comes just three months after Swift surprised fans in Nashville with the announcement of Speak Now (Taylor’s Version), which has since been released and included six new songs from the vault.
Why Is Taylor Swift Re-Recording Her First Six Albums?
Taylor Swift is currently in the process of re-recording her first six albums, from her 2006 Self-Titled debut to 2017’s Reputation. Her decision to re-record the projects came after Scooter Braun purchased Big Machine Label Group, Swift’s former label, which found Braun taking control of the master recordings of Swift’s first six albums.
In November of 2020, Braun sold the masters of Swift’s albums to Shamrock Holdings , which prompted her to re-record the albums to regain control of the masters. While Shamrock Holdings did want to work with Swift after they purchased her master recordings, she declined to work with them since Ithaca Holdings (Braun’s company) would still earn profits from her music for “many years.”
Swift has already re-recorded and released three of the six albums. She has re-recorded and released Taylor’s Version of 2012’s Red, 2008’s Fearless and 2010’s Speak Now. She is currently working on her version of 1989, which will be released on October 27 and marks her fourth re-recorded project.
Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour
The world renowned superstar’s concert in Los Angeles on Wednesday (Aug. 9) marked the final show of the U.S. leg of her highly-successful The Eras Tour, which kicked off on March 17 at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.
Presented by Capital One, produced by Taylor Swift Touring and promoted by the Messina Touring Group (MTG), The Eras Tour will soon head to Latin America, Tokyo, Australia, Singapore, Europe and Paris before returning to North America for the newly-announced dates, which begin with three shows in Miami starting on October 18.
Additionally, Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour is expected to become the first-ever tour to gross over one billion dollars.
Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour marks her first trek since her history-making Reputation Stadium Tour in 2018, an outing that grossed $266.1 million and sold 2,068,399 tickets, according to Billboard Boxscore. The Reputation Stadium Tour ran from May 8th, 2018 through October 6th, 2018.
READ: Taylor Swift Proves She’s The Greatest Entertainer Of All Time With Career-Spanning Eras Tour
Paramore, GAYLE, beabadoobee, Phoebe Bridgers, girl in red, MUNA, HAIM, GAYLE, Gracie Abrams, and OWENN served as support for Swift on select dates of The Eras Tour.
“Feeling like the luckiest person alive because I get to take these brilliant artists out on tour with me,” Swift previously shared.
New Album, Midnights
The Eras Tour comes after the release of Swift’s tenth studio album, Midnights, which arrived on October 21, 2022, via Republic Records. Midnights features 13 tracks, including her current single “Anti-Hero” as well as fan-favorite hits such as “Bejeweled,” “Lavender Haze,” “Vigilante Shit,” and more.
“Midnights, the stories of 13 sleepless nights scattered throughout my life, will be out October 21. Meet me at Midnight,” Swift previously shared of the album. “This is a collection of music written in the middle of the night, a journey through terrors and sweet dreams. The floors we pace and the demons we face. For all of us who have tossed and turned and decided to keep the lanterns lit and go searching – hoping that just maybe when the clock strikes twelve … we’ll meet ourselves.”
