Taylor Swift stunned her fans as she announced a surprise new album during her acceptance speech at the Grammys 2024. The singer, 34, was a...
Taylor Swift stunned her fans as she announced a surprise new album during her acceptance speech at the Grammys 2024.
The singer, 34, was awarded with her 13th Grammy for Best Pop Vocal Album at Sunday's ceremony - held at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles - for her last record Midnights, when she told the audience she had a surprise for them.
'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, which is that my brand-new album comes out April 19th.'
'It's called The Tortured Poet's Department. I'm going to go and post the cover right now backstage.'
Keeping true to her word minutes later she shared the racy cover for her upcoming 11th studio album, which saw her laying on a bed in black underwear and a sheer black top, and caused her Instagram page to temporarily go down.
Swift started out her speech by sharing that it was her 13th award - a number she considers lucky.
'Okay, this is my 13th grammy. Which is my lucky number. I don't know if I've ever told you that.'
'I want to say thank you to the members of the recording academy for voting this way, but I know that the way that the recording academy voted is a direct reflection of the passion of the fans.'
Minutes after she left the stage, the artwork for the new album was shared to her Instagram, with the caption: 'All's fair in love and poetry... New album THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT. Out April 19 [white heart emoji].'
She also posted a photo of a handwritten note that read: 'And so I enter into evidence / My tarnished coat of arms / My muses, acquired like bruises / My talismans and charms / The tick, tick, tick of love bombs / My veins of pitch black ink / All’s fair in love and poetry…'
She signed off the text with: 'Sincerely, The Chairman of the Tortured Poets Department.'
The album announcement received over 7 million likes in just an hour.
Taylor scooped the Best Pop Vocal Album prize ahead of Kelly Clarkson (Chemistry), Miley Cyrus (Endless Summer Vacation), Olivia Rodrigo (Guts), and Ed Sheeran ('-').
Her last album Midnights was released in 2022, marking her tenth original studio album.
Fans have been speculating that the singer will soon be re-releasing her 2017 Reputation album, as she has done with her previous records, though it seems nobody was expecting a new album announcement.
Thrilled Swifties took online to express their joy following Taylor's speech.
'A new album Taylor Swift? Are you f****g kidding me?' one wrote.
'Did I just hallucinate of did Taylor Swift just announce her brand new album and not reputation tv...?'
'A. BRAND. NEW. ALBUM,' someone else posted.
'My brand new album Taylor you chose chaos I love you.'
There was also a meme of a shocked dog with the caption, 'How Taylor Swift had everyone when she announced her new album.'
'A new album on April 19th!?!?!?!? I'm screaming what is happening.'
'We all were expecting Reputation Taylor's Version and instead we got a whole new album!???'
'Say what you want about Taylor Swift but her announcing a new album while on stage accepting a Grammy is pretty damn cool and some genius marketing.'
Another person shared a Ryan Gosling meme, writing, 'Me thinking Taylor was teasing us with a fake album for our Rep TV clowning during her speech but she was serious.'
'We're actually scared for an era where she's declaring herself a poet...' someone chimed in.
One fan speculated that the handwritten note Taylor posted secretly spelled out her boyfriend Travis Kelce's name.
The Kansas City Chiefs tight-end could not be at the Grammys to support his girlfriend with his 'tight Super Bowl schedule' stopping him flying to LA to be with her.
Kelce, 34, will compete in the Super Bowl in Las Vegas on February 11, but Swift could miss it due to scheduling conflicts with her Eras Tour, which has her performing in Tokyo on February 10, the night before the Super Bowl.
Swift released her fourth re-recorded album 1989 (Taylor's Version) last October.
The star initially announced that she would re-record earlier versions of her albums in 2019, after Justin Bieber's manager Scooter Braun acquired Big Machine Records and her catalog of master recordings.
Swift re-recorded four of her albums - Fearless, Red, Speak Now, and 1989 - and renamed them by adding 'Taylor's Version' at the end of the album name.
Reputation is her sixth studio album, released on November 10, 2017. It was her last album under Big Machine Records.
