Taylor Swift in London: Travis Kelce Makes Eras Stage Debut, ‘Us’ With Gracie Abrams Has Live Premiere
Taylor Swift‘s Wembley Stadium show got silly Sunday night (June 23) when Travis Kelce made an unexpected appearance on the London stage during the singer’s Tortured Poets Department set. Plus, the tour date marked the live debut of Swift’s newest song.
The couple had some fun at the third of a trio of Swift’s concerts at Wembley this weekend. Kelce, after watching the show among friends, family and celebrities all three evenings in London, made his Eras Tour stage debut at the start of “I Can Do It With a Broken Heart.” The Kansas City Chiefs tight end carried an exhausted Swift to the couch on set in the over-the-top final act of her Tortured Poets extravaganza.
The audience whooped in surprise at the sight of the NFL player on Swift’s stage; he’s been spotted at a handful of Eras concerts, but usually as a VIP spectator who’s trading friendship bracelets or vibing to songs like “Blank Space,” “Karma” and “So High School.” (Among those watching at Wembley Sunday night was Paul McCartney, delightfully dancing with fans to “But Daddy I Love Him.”)
Kelce played along with Swift’s dancers, in character to get the star ready to “fake it ’til you make it” for the crowd and smile, “even when you wanna die” — as the song goes.
“I was grinnin’ like I’m winnin’/ I was hittin’ my marks/ ‘Cause I can do it with a broken heart,” Swift sings on the pop track with a cheeky chorus: “I’m so depressed, I act like it’s my birthday every day/ I’m so obsessed with him, but he avoids me like the plague/ I cry a lot, but I am so productive, it’s an art/ You know you’re good when you can even do it with a broken heart.”
When The Tortured Poets Department era of the show ended, the pop star began her acoustic set, which typically features one guitar and one piano performance of songs she hasn’t ever, or doesn’t often, play live. Lately, she’s been presenting many of her surprise song picks as mashups.
On Sunday, she told the stadium that “if you know the words to this one, you get extra credit points ‘cause it’s only been out for like two days.”
“It’s my friend Gracie’s,” she added, speaking of Gracie Abrams, who just released the album The Secret of Us, which includes a duet with Swift. (The night they wrote the duet “us.” will be hard to forget, as the songwriting session wound up in flames: a candle caused a small kitchen fire that Swift managed to put out herself with a fire extinguisher.)
Swift performed “us.” live for the first time, beginning on guitar and joined by Abrams on piano when she arrived on stage alongside her.
“I just love this girl so much,” Swift said at one point.
She also praised her as a collaborator: “Writing with her, she’s just so badass. That’s a writer.”
The two hugged as the song concluded, and then Swift offered London a medley of some 1989-era fan favorites: “Out of the Woods,” “Is It Over Now?” and “Clean.”
Check out clips of all of those unique moments from Sunday’s show at Wembley Stadium below.
Watch Travis Kelce carry Taylor Swift on the stage for the “I Can Do It With a Broken Heart” bit:
Watch Taylor Swift and Gracie Abrams perform ‘Us’ together, plus Swift on piano for a mashup of “Out of the Woods,” “Is It Over Now?” and “Clean.”
Ashley Iasimone
Billboard
