Taylor Swift surprises fans as she announces 12th studio album, The Life of a Showgirl
Swift said the 12 tracks were inspired by her experiences during the Eras Tour, which ran for almost two years and became the highest-grossing tour of all time
By Callum Wells
Taylor Swift has announced her 12th studio album, The Life of a Showgirl, will be released on 3 October.
The singer revealed the news during an appearance on New Heights, the podcast hosted by her boyfriend Travis Kelce and his brother Jason. More than 1.3 million viewers watched the extended YouTube version of the episode, which ran for almost one hour and 45 minutes.
Swift said the 12 tracks were inspired by her experiences during the Eras Tour, which ran for almost two years and became the highest-grossing tour of all time. She confirmed that Sabrina Carpenter features on the title track.
“This album is about what was going on behind the scenes in my inner life during this tour, which was so exuberant and electric and and vibrant,” Swift said. “It just comes from like the most infectiously joyful, wild, dramatic place I was in my life… bangers.”
“Life is more upbeat” – Taylor Swift on the album’s shift in mood
The pop superstar emphasised that the tracklist is final. “There’s no other songs coming,” she said. “There’s not a 13th, there’s not a 14th, there’s not other ones coming.”
Her previous album, 2024’s The Tortured Poets Department, was released in both standard and “anthology” versions, with the latter containing 31 songs. Swift described The Life of a Showgirl as “just right”, adding: “You couldn’t take one out and it be the same album. You couldn’t add one and it be the same album.”
Kelce described the record as “upbeat”, to which Swift replied: “Life is more upbeat.” She said she wanted the project to be “so focused on quality and on the theme, and everything fitting together like a perfect puzzle”.
Inspired by her experiences on tour
The Eras Tour sold an estimated $2.2 billion (£1.6bn) in tickets and helped Swift extend her record for the most US No 1 albums by a female artist. She is also the only artist to have won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year four times.
Swift also spoke about her relationship with Kelce, joking: “This podcast got me a boyfriend.” She recalled a viral moment where Kelce spoke about wanting to meet her, which she likened to “standing outside my apartment, holding a boom box saying, ‘I want to go on a date with you'”. She described him as “the good kind of crazy” and “a vibe booster… like a human exclamation point.”
The album’s tracklist includes: ‘The Fate of Ophelia’, ‘Elizabeth Taylor’, ‘Opalite’, ‘Father Figure’, ‘Eldest Daughter’, ‘Ruin the Friendship’, ‘Actually Romantic’, ‘Wi$h Li$t’, ‘Wood’, ‘Cancelled!’, ‘Honey’ and the title song featuring Carpenter.
The Life of a Showgirl was produced with Max Martin and Shellback, marking the first time the trio have made a full album together. Swift said working with them “felt like catching lightning in a bottle” and confirmed pre-orders are open, with shipping before 13 October.