Taylor Swift is capping off a great 2024! She won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year for “Midnight,” released her 11th studio album, “The Tortured Poets Department,” and released a record-breaking album. Between wrapping up a concert tour, making countless public appearances with boyfriend Travis Kelce, and becoming the most streamed artist on Spotify, it’s something no one has ever experienced before. I’m doing exactly the same as Taylor. This year, she catapulted her stardom to levels not seen in years. (Also read: Taylor Swift is everywhere you look now. Wondering what’s so great about her? Check out our special story, your primer on all things Swift. Please read)
Great night at the Grammy Awards
Taylor made a big surprise announcement at the Grammy Awards in February when she took to the stage to accept the award for Best Pop Vocal Album. She has announced that her new album, The Tortured Poets Department, will be released in April.
Shortly after, the singer shared the album cover on Instagram. That same night, she also made history by becoming the first performer to win Album of the Year four times. She has previously won Album of the Year three times, for 2010’s Fearless, 2015’s 1989, and 2021’s Folklore.
Release of “Tortured Poets”
The Torture Poet Department released several records and instantly broke them. But true to the singer’s style, she had another big surprise in store. She went on to release 31 new songs instead of the previously announced 16 main tracks and four bonus tracks.
With 300 million streams, it became Spotify’s most streamed album in a single day within 12 hours of its release. “Fortnite,” featuring Post Malone, broke Spotify’s record for most streams of a single song in a single day. It also became the fastest album in Spotify history to surpass 1 billion streams in one week.
The Elas Tour
The Eras tour was a shining highlight of the year for Taylor. The tour began on March 17, 2023 in Glendale, Arizona, and returned with a pick-up by the singer in Paris, France, on May 9, 2024. The show’s set list was rearranged to include new songs from The Tortured Poets Division. Meanwhile, the singer also added a surprise song, a new arrangement with a piano version, and a new costume. Since then, she has made stops in Sweden, Portugal, Spain, France, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland.
According to a report by Forbes, the record-breaking Elas Tour boosted the economies of several countries. Tourism agency London & Partners estimates that the eight performances in London generated £300m for the local economy. According to the report, Taylor’s stay in Melbourne generated a whopping $1.2 billion in Australian dollars.
According to the New York Times, Taylor Swift’s production company, Taylor Swift Touring, confirmed that the tour’s ticket sales totaled $2,077,618,725, which is “more than any other concert tour in history. This is equivalent to twice the total ticket sales.
In eight months, The Eras tour grossed over $1 billion per tour. Social media was awash with clips of the tour’s brightly lit sets, thriving in glorious melodrama and tied to the exchange of friendship bracelets. After her July concert at Seattle’s Lumen Field triggered seismic activity, researchers at the California Institute of Technology sought to better understand the causes of “concert shaking.”
Many celebrities flocked to attend her show, from Haim, Emma Stone, Reese Witherspoon, and Laura Dern to Selena Gomez, Diplo, Cara Delevingne, and Jack Antonoff. Bollywood star Sonam Kapoor, her younger sister Rhea Kapoor, Ranbir Kapoor’s mother Neetu Kapoor and younger sister Riddhima Kapoor Sahni also became ‘certified Swifties’ as they made sure to attend the Elas tour.
Retired tennis legend Roger Federer attended the Elas Tour in Zurich, Switzerland, and announced that he too is a Swiftie.
The Eras tour ended on December 8th. The singer became emotional on stage after receiving a standing ovation during her performance at her final show in Toronto. “My band, my crew, and all of my fellow performers, we’ve spent so much of our lives doing this. And I’m glad that you guys are with us tonight, and You’ve spent so much of your life giving us moments we’ll never forget,” she said. “Our time in Toronto was so much fun, thank you so much.”
taylor and travis
Last year, when news broke that Taylor and NFL star Travis Kelce had started dating, the internet went into a collective meltdown. Throughout this year, the two appeared together countless times. She attended his matches, and he made further appearances on the set of the singer’s Elas Tour in London on June 23rd. Travis joined Swift during a performance of “I Can Do It.” The costume changes in Broken Heart carried her as part of the act.
What more? Travis recently celebrated Taylor’s 35th birthday party with a huge surprise party filled with iconic props and references to her illustrious career.
In short, 2024 was the year Taylor Swift reigned. Fans got new songs, lots of new versions, and tons of memories from the Eras tour. Who knows what 2025 has in store for the singer, but no matter what happens, we’ll definitely be there for whatever comes next.
