Taylor Swift postpones Rio de Janeiro show due to extreme heat

Taylor Swift has been forced to cancel today’s (November 18) show in Rio de Janeiro due to extreme heat. 

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The announcement comes in the wake of the tragic news that a fan died yesterday (November 17) before her previous show in the city. 

Writing on Instagram, Swift said: “I’m writing this from my dressing room in the stadium. The decision has been made to postpone tonight’s show due to the extreme temperatures in Rio.” 

“The safety and well-being of my fans, fellow performers and crew has to and always will come first.” 

Temperatures in the Brazilian city have broken records this week, with a daytime peak of 39.1C recorded on Friday. 

The fan who died on Friday has been named as Ana Clara Benevides Machado, 23. She was attended to by paramedics at the concert venue, before being taken to hospital, where she passed away an hour later. It has been reported by Brazilian newspaper Fohla de S Paulo that she collapsed at the show and had a cardiac arrest. 

Swift wrote on Instagram of being “devastated” by the news, adding: “I can’t believe I’m writing these words but it is with shattered heart that I say we lost a fan earlier tonight before my show.” 

“I’m not going to be able to speak about this from stage because I feel overwhelmed by grief when I even try to talk about it. I want to say now I feel this loss deeply and my broken heart goes out to her family and friends. 

“This is the last thing I ever thought would happen when we decided to bring this tour to Brazil.” 

At the Friday night show, Swift paused the concert to make sure that fans were about to receive water. 

“There’s people that need water right here, maybe 30, 35, 40 feet back,” she said to the crowd during the ‘Evermore’ segment of her show. 

“So whoever is in charge of giving them that, just make sure that happens. Can I get a signal that you know where they are?” 

Swift is scheduled to play one more show in Rio on November 20, before taking the Eras Tour on to Sao Paulo for three dates to round out the year. 

Last week (November 10), she was forced to push back her second scheduled date in Argentina by two days due to bad weather. 

“I love a rain show but I’m never going to endanger my fans or my fellow performers and crew,” Swift wrote in a post on social media to announce the delayed concert. 

It was previously reported that some ticketholders had been camping outside the River Plate Stadium in Buenos Aires since June in a bid to get a good spot in the audience at the gigs. 

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