Let the record show that some good things did, in fact, come from 2020 and that two of things were courtesy of Taylor Swift.
Mere months after surprising fans by releasing her eighth studio album Folklore, Swift has done it again with the announcement that its sister album, Evermore, is about to drop.
well, she's not named taylor slow
— Cohen is a ghost (@skullmandible) December 10, 2020
As one fan pointed out on Twitter, “well, she’s not named Taylor Slow”.
The Grammy-award winning singer-songwriter posted the news on Instagram explaining that this was a first for her, but that she just couldn’t stop writing songs.
“I’ve never done this before,” Swift wrote. “In the past I’ve always treated albums as one-off eras and moved onto planning the next one after an album was released. There was something different with Folklore. In making it, I felt less like I was departing and more like I was returning.”
Swift wrote that she also hoped the album would be a source of comfort during the holiday season as millions of people will be unable to see their families due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
The Lover singer, who turns 31 on December 13, revealed the significance of her impending birthday in an additional Instagram post writing: “Ever since I was 13, I’ve been excited about turning 31 because it’s my lucky number backwards, which is why I wanted to surprise you with this now. You’ve all been so caring, supportive and thoughtful on my birthdays and so this time I thought I would give you something!”
It’s a sweet sentiment from an artist who is known for giving back to her fans, whether dropping unexpected albums or encouraging a new generation of young people to vote.
Here, we take a look at five times Taylor Swift surprised and delighted us.
When She Dropped a Surprise Documentary
A couple of months after surprising us with the announcement of Folklore, Swift announced out of the blue that there was a documentary about to drop featuring her and her collaborators performing the tracklist from the album. Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions, which can be streamed on Disney +, offers fans the chance to witness Swift’s songwriting process as well as glimpses into her personal life.
When She Surprised Sick Children at a Hospital in Brisbane
In 2016, Swift unexpectedly dropped by the Lady Cilento Children’s Hospital in Queensland’s capital city to visit the children who were being treated there. The singer spent hours chatting to the kids and their parents and took endless selfies with her delighted fans. In a message posted to its Facebook page, the hospital thanked Swift for her actions, writing, “They’ll never ‘shake off’ the memories you made tonight”.
When She Invented “Swiftmas”
In 2014, Swift reminded us of why her “Swifties” love her so much when she found out what a bunch of them wanted for Christmas and then sent them packages containing their dream gifts. I mean, at this point she is just making us all look bad. It doesn’t stop there though. The chart-topper also included personalised notes with each gift because of course she did and that is how Swiftmas was born.
When She Surprised a Fan at His Wedding
Swift appointed herself as unofficial maid-of-honour when she appeared at the wedding of Max Singer and Kenya Smith. Get your tissues ready for this next part because the surprise was orchestrated by the groom’s sister who wrote to Swift to explain that her brother and his bride had legally wed in her mother’s hospital room just before she died, so she did not miss out on their big day. The songstress performed a version of Blank Space, which was played at the couple’s hospital nuptials. Sob.
When She Finally Got Political
For the better part of her career, Swift remained decidedly coy about her political leanings, presumably so as not to alienate a large part of her middle-American fanbase. That all changed in 2018 when she endorsed two Democratic candidates in her home state of Tennessee. It was a move that prompted President Donald Trump to say that he liked her music 25% less (big loss, I’m sure) and galvanised scores of young Americans to register to vote. The swift (sorry, had to) criticism the singer faced in response to her partisanship was documented in Netflix’s Miss Americana.