Donna Kelce Had Taylor Swift’s ‘Tortured Poets Department’ on Repeat on Release Day: ‘Probably Her Best Work’
It never hurts when your boyfriend’s mom thinks you’re really good at your job. In Taylor Swift‘s case that means getting a five-star review from Donna Kelce for her record-shattering new double-album, The Tortured Poets Department. Mama Kelce spoke to People magazine this week at a QVC event in Las Vegas, where boyfriend Travis Kelce’s mom admitted that she was just like the rest of you.
“I listened to the whole album, and I listened to it all morning long when it was released,” the Kelce family matriarch said of the 31-song collection that is on pace to have one of the biggest first weeks in chart history. “I was just very impressed. She is a very talented woman, and I think it is probably her best work.”
That wasn’t the only tea Donna spilled at the event. According to People, Donna found out that Maestro star Bradley Cooper and his perennial awards show date mom Gloria would be attending the same QVC event in Vegas when her Super Bowl champ son texted her a photo of himself and Swift on a double vacation date in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California with Cooper and girlfriend model Gigi Hadid.
When Cooper showed up at the QVC event to promote his food truck Danny and Coops Philly Cheesesteak, Donna told the mag she had a big hug for him, saying, “Travis told me you were going to be here.”
And while she didn’t comment on which tracks she thinks are about Travis, Swifties have speculated that at least a couple songs on the collection appear to reference the Kansas City Chiefs tight end, including “The Alchemy” and “So High School,” with Swift seemingly dipping into her gym bag of metaphors on the former. “These blokes warm the benches/ We’ve been on a winning streak/ He jokes that ‘It’s heroin, but this time with an E’/ ‘Cause the sign on your heart said it’s still reserved for me/ Honestly, who are we to fight the alchemy?” she sings.
The “So High School” hints require a stronger decoder ring, but Swifties are pretty sure that around the 40-second mark the lyrics “cheeks pink in the twinkling lights” feature a coded reference to his initials (“TK”) and hers, “TS” in “lights” in a light pink shade in the song’s lyric video.
Gil Kaufman
Billboard