Taylor Swift fans have been fed with recent news: the announcement of Swift’s 12th studio album “The Life of a Showgirl” and engagement to her boyfriend of two years, Kansas City Chiefs’ football player Travis Kelce.
After Swift’s release of “The Tortured Poets Department” in April 2024 and wrap up of the Eras tour in December, “Swifties” have been speculating what her next move would be.
Swift announced the new album on Kelce’s podcast, “New Heights,” on Aug. 13. In the episode, the couple and Kelce’s older brother, Jason Kelce, discussed the reclamation of Swift’s master recordings, the Eras tour, and her romance with her boyfriend.
“The Life of a Showgirl” was announced when Swift opened a briefcase and showcased the blurred out new record inside. This announcement method shocked many fans, as it was rather direct, which is unlike her usual perplexing easter eggs.
The podcast episode was a big hit, even breaking a Guinness World Record of more than 1.3 million concurrent listeners on Youtube.
Photo courtesy of Deadline.com
“The Life of a Showgirl” is slated to be released on Oct. 3. Fans have noticed that the digits of this date add up to 13 – Swift’s longstanding lucky number.
Swift wrote this album while she was on the Eras tour. On the podcast, she mentioned that this album was about every aspect of the tour – not just being onstage, but her feelings offstage as well.
“I wanted to sort of like glamorize all the different aspects of how that tour felt. And that’s how that felt at the end of the night when all this has gone down,” Swift said. “The reason I wanted to have sort of like an offstage moment as the main album cover is because this album isn’t really about what happened to me on stage. It’s about what I was going through offstage.”
The album cover features Swift partially submerged in a bathtub, which, as mentioned, is how she ended her nights after tour. It highlights hues of turquoise and orange, which seem to be the main color scheme of this era.
Swift chose these colors because she wanted to encapsulate “what was going on behind the scenes in [her] inner life during this tour, which was so exuberant and electric and vibrant.”
Made by Diya Gandhi on Canva
Evidently, it seems that this album will not just solely present the “showgirl” she is, but that it will also elucidate the real person she embodies behind the microphone.
Swift has gone full-storm with releases. “The Life of a Showgirl” vinyls, CDs, posters, and more, have been released for pre-sale. Not to mention, Swift has revealed seven different vinyl variants and five different album covers, possibly used to display her different eras and lives. This allows Swift to drive up sales and maintain chart dominance.
“The Life of a Showgirl” will feature 12 songs. The tracklist (in order) includes: “The Fate of Ophelia,” “Elizabeth Taylor,” “Opalite,” “Father Figure,” “Eldest Daughter,” “Ruin The Friendship,” “Actually Romantic,” “Wi$h Li$t,” “Wood,” “CANCELLED!,” “Honey,” and “The Life of a Showgirl (Ft. Sabrina Carpenter).”
Fans are very excited to see that Sabrina Carpenter is featured in the title track, as it is a collaboration that has been long-awaited.
On Aug. 26, thirteen days after the album announcement, Swift and Kelce shared that they have gotten engaged. The couple had supposedly gotten engaged around two weeks before it was publicized.
Photo courtesy of the New York Times
The engagement was announced with an Instagram post on Swift’s account. It was captioned with “Your English teacher and your gym teacher are getting married.”
Kelce proposed to Swift in a courtyard garden in Lee’s Summit, Missouri. The engagement was discussed for the first time on Kelce’s podcast, in which Kelce declared his enthusiasm.
“It’s been really fun telling everybody who I’m going to be spending the rest of my life with,” Kelce said. “I still get giddy … It’s exciting times.”
Fans were raving about the engagement ring: a giant custom diamond ring designed by Kelce with New York jeweler, Artifex Fine Jewelry.
As of right now, the couple is reportedly planning a summer wedding in a Rhode Island retreat.
The Prowler will keep you updated on all the Swift and Kelce updates. Until then, check out Swift’s upcoming album, “The Life of a Showgirl,” on Oct. 3.
