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Taylor Swift is reliving 1989 all over again. Her latest entry in the “Taylor’s Version” re-recording series is her 2014 album, which includes three Number One singles — “Shake It Off,” “Blank Space,” and “Bad Blood” — and fan favorites like “Out of the Woods,” and “Clean.”
Swift announced that she would be releasing 1989 (Taylor’s Version) on Oct. 27, 2023 — exactly nine years after the original came out on Oct. 27, 2014 — on Wednesday during the last U.S. leg of the Eras tour at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles.
“You might have noticed there were some new outfits on the show… There’s something I’ve been doing for a really, really ridiculously, embarrassingly long time. I think instead of telling you about it, just show sort of show you,” she said. As she turned towards the screen behind her, the cover of 1989 (Taylor’s Version) appeared, revealing a smiling Swift against a blue sky with birds, echoing the original 1989 cover while making the new version entirely her own.
Prior to the reveal, Swift took the stage in previously unworn blue dresses including a blue gown during her performance of “Enchanted,” a new blue outfit during Folklore era, and a shimmering cobalt dress during her acoustic set, hinting at the announcement.
Swift also teased that 1989 would be her next re-recording in her “I Can See You” video from Speak Now (Taylor’s Version), which released on July 7. At the end of the visual, a sign on a bridge read “1′ 9″ 9.9tv.” She also performed “I Know Places” as a surprise song during Tuesday night’s show.
The singer has previously shared the “Taylor’s Version” of 1989 tracks “This Love” and “Wildest Dreams” — the former arrived May 2022 after being featured in The Summer I Turned Pretty, while the latter released after the song went viral on TikTok in September 2021.
Swift has been re-recording albums from her catalog that came out on Big Machine Records since 2019, when its former owner Scott Borchetta sold the label to music exec Scooter Braun, who also manages Justin Bieber, Ariana Grande, and J Balvin. Swift told CBS News that year that she had a contentious relationship with Braun and that her intention was to re-record her music so she had control of the masters, since the originals now belonged to Braun. So far, she’s issued “Taylor’s Version” editions of Fearless, Red, and Speak Now — all of which debuted at Number One on Billboard’s albums chart. Red’s “All Too Well (10 Minute Version)” won Swift a Grammy for Best Music Video and was a Number One hit despite its length.
1989 is the most recent recording in Swift’s catalog to get the “Taylor’s Version” treatment. At the time of its release, Rolling Stone dubbed the record a “reinvention,” since it was the moment when she broke from country music. She recalled in a Rolling Stone cover story how Borchetta listened to the album and said, “This is extraordinary – it’s the best album you’ve ever done. Can you just give me three country songs?” Her response was, “Love you, mean it, but this is how it’s going to be.”
At the time, she said her guiding principle was that there were no guiding principles. “With this record, I thought, ‘There are no rules to this,’” she told Rolling Stone. “I don’t need to use the same musicians I’ve used, or the same band, or the same producers, or the same formula. I can make whatever record I want.’” So if she’s keeping with that spirit, and the fact that she had many B sides and outtakes and several notable guests who joined her on the 1989 tour, there is no limit to what the “Taylor’s Version” of the album could be.
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