Taylor Swift Talks New Album 'Lover' & Performing at the VMAs | 2019 Video Music Awards
MTV
Published on Aug 26, 2019
Taylor Swifts hits the 2019 VMA Red Carpet and talks new album 'Lover,' VMA performance, and nominations. For more from the 2019 Video Music Awards go to http://www.mtv.com/vma.
Taylor Swift Wins Video of the Year | 2019 Video Music Awards
MTV
Published on Aug 26, 2019
Taylor Swift wins Video of the Year for 'You Need to Calm Down' at the 2019 Video Music Awards. If you missed Monday nightâs big show, catch up on the 2019 VMAs On Demand now!
Taylor Swift Performs 'You Need to Calm Down' & 'Lover' | 2019 Video Music Awards
MTV
Published on Aug 26, 2019
Taylor Swift performs 'You Need to Calm Down' & 'Lover' at the 2019 Video Music Awards. If you missed Monday nightâs big show, catch up on the 2019 VMAs On Demand now!
Thank you to the fans who voted, our excellent cast, Todrick, Drew Kirsch and everyone who worked so hard on the You Need to Calm Down video. VMAs Video of the Year đ€Ż I MEAN JUST WOW GUYS YOU DID THAT HUH đđđ
After just two full days of availability, Taylor Swiftâs new album Lover is reportedly already the bestselling title of the year in America.
Taylor Swift's 'Lover' Is Already The Bestselling Album Of 2019
Hugh McIntyre
August 26, 2019
After just two full days of availability, Taylor Swiftâs new album Loveris reportedly already the bestselling title of the year in America.
According to early numbers provided to Billboard by Nielsen Music, Lover sold nearly 500,000 actual copies in its first 48 hours on sale. That sum includes a huge number of presales that were delivered when the set was finally released, and itâs enough to give Swift the crown when it comes to the title of bestselling album of the year.
Before this week, the bestselling full-length of 2019 was Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooperâs A Star Is Born soundtrack, which has now sold over 444,000 copies. That beloved set has now been pushed to second place, though itâs still very impressive how well the release has performed all year considering it was delivered in 2018 and it was one of the most successful launches of that year as well.
That 500,000 figure is easily enough to net Swift another No. 1 on the Billboard 200 when it refreshes again in about a week, but it doesnât tell the whole story. The sum only includes pure sales, and only in the first two days. As its first full frame wraps, Lover is sure to rack up plenty more purchases, and once streaming data and one-off song sales are tabulated, that total sum will soar. Swift may even end up moving over a million units after all is said and done, which is something she has managed before.
Lover's first week sales count has been bolstered not only by Swift's immense popularity, but by the two popular singlesâ"Me!" with Brendon Urie of Panic! at the Disco and "You Need to Calm Down"âboth of which reached No. 2 on the Hot 100, as well as many different physical editions and merchandise bundles on the singer's website.
After only 13 years since the release of her first album, Taylor Swift has become a musical force of nature, with an armload of #1 hits, more Grammy Awards than The Rolling Stones, and (according to Forbes) the distinction of being the highest-paid celebrity on the planet. By any measure, an astonishing young woman. But there were times, she tells Tracy Smith, that being young, and a woman, has worked against her. She opens up to Smith about songwriting; her supportive family; critics and stalkers; the sale of her back catalog; and what the future looks like to her. She also invites Smith on the set of the new music video for her latest album, "Lover."
The 10-time Grammy-winner - the highest-paid celebrity on the planet - opens up about songwriting, family, critics, the sale of her back catalog, and the quality of forgiveness
Taylor Swift on "Lover" and haters
John D'Amelio
August 25, 2019
You might say Taylor Swift's happy place is at the piano in her Nashville home. "There have been so many songs that were written at this piano," she said.
"And it's often the middle of the night?" asked correspondent Tracy Smith.
"It's usually in the middle of the night," she replied. "Or if I'm trying to get to sleep and I can't and then I get an idea. And I'm, like, 'Well, I'm not tired anyway!' And then kind of wander over here."
Taylor Swift at her piano, with correspondent Tracy Smith.Â
It's kind of a rare sight, not just because "Sunday Morning" was there ("I haven't serenaded someone in a while, hope you know that!"), but because, for the moment, Taylor Swift was actually sitting still.
I promise that you'll never find another like Me-e-e,
Ooh ooh ooh ooh
I'm the only one of me
Baby, that's the fun of me
â "Me!" by Taylor Swift, Joel Little and Brendon Urie
And there never really has been another like Taylor Swift. After only 13 years in the business, she's become a musical force of nature, with an armload of #1 hits, more Grammy Awards than The Rolling Stones, and (according to Forbes) the distinction of being the highest-paid celebrity on the planet.
By any measure, she's an amazing young woman. But there were times, she says, that being young, and a woman, worked against her.
"You're always gonna have people going, 'Did she write all her own songs?'" she said. "Talking about your personal life, talking about your dating life.
"There's a different vocabulary for men and women in the music industry, right?"
"Gimme an example," asked correspondent Tracy Smith.
"Okay. A man does something, it's 'strategic'; a woman does the same thing, it's 'calculated.' A man is allowed to 'react'; a woman can only 'over-react.'"
And it seems her usual reaction is to get to work. Swift writes or co-writes all of her songs. And what's more, her music videos are all her vision, from the pastel wonderland in "Me!":
âŠto the giant dollhouse in her latest video, "Lover."Â
That's also the title of her critically-acclaimed new studio album, her seventh. She wrote "Lover" on her piano at home, and polished it up in the studio. And once she recorded the music, Swift (accompanied by and her cats) went to Hollywood to make the music video, and she invited Smith along to watch.
There's a love story here, and like a lot of Swift's work, it's an echo of her real life.
Born in Reading, Pennsylvania, Swift discovered her love for music as a toddler. She set her sights on a career in country music, and eventually her parents and younger brother moved to Nashville to help her do it.
"My brother's a real bro for doing that," Swift said.
"Yeah, they all upended their lives," Smith said.
"For sure."
"It worked out well!"
"Yeah, I buy 'em lots of presents," she laughed.
The rest reads like a fantasy: Swift became a country music phenomenon, and, in the last few years, a pop icon. But the superstar is, by her own admission, as emotionally fragile as any other 20-something, "I'm still someone who is the first to apologize when I'm wrong," she said. "But I think I'm better at standing up for myself when I've been wronged. So, that's something that I think also comes with growing up."
Which brings us to Scooter Braun. Earlier this summer, Braun, a talent agent with whom Swift says she has a contentious relationship, acquired the rights to her previous recordings â her masters â when his company bought Scott Borchetta's Big Machine Label Group for a reported $300 million. Borchetta, who worked with Swift for years, says she and those close to her (including her dad, who was an investor), knew about the deal in advance, and that Swift had previously been offered the chance to buy her own masters. Â
She remembers it differently, and told Smith she didn't see it coming: "I found out when it was online, like, when it hit the news."
"Nobody in your inner circle knew?" Smith asked.,
"Nobody knew."
"And you didn't smell it?"
"No. I knew he would sell my music; I knew he would do that. I couldn't believe who he sold it to, because we've had endless conversations about Scooter Braun. And he has 300 million reasons to conveniently forget those conversations."
With the sale of the masters to her first six albums, there has been speculation that Swift might re-record her back catalog, in order to control the recordings of her songs.
Smith asked, "Might you do that?"
"Oh, yeah," Swift replied.
"That's a plan?"
"Yeah, absolutely!"
Scooter Braun may not agree with her side of the story, but he did reach out to Swift in a tweet last week, calling her new album "brilliant."
It's clear that Swift wants to control her music: Â When it's time to release one of her new songs, she does it personally, talking to her fans live on Instagram. This personal connection has earned her a loyal following. But her openness comes at price: She's followed just about everywhere she goes these days, by people who are crazy about her â or just plain crazy.
Smith asked, "Where is home for you now?"
"It's a very good question," she said. "I try not to ever really say where I am the most, because since all my addresses are on the internet, people tend to show up uninvited. Like, you know, dudes that think we have an imaginary marriage."
"And you mentioned that you keep wound dressing with you?"
"Yeah. I've had a lot of stalkers show up to the house, armed. So, we have to think that way."
And she's come under attack in other ways: You need only glance at the tabloids to see some very well-publicized feuds, and she often hits back at her haters through her music. For instance, in "You Need to Calm Down," she calls out anti-gay protesters and online trolls:
You are somebody that we don't know
But you're comin' at my friends like a missile
Why are you mad?
When you could be GLAAD?
Sunshine on the street at the parade
But you would rather be in the dark ages âŠ
Control your urges to scream about all the people you hate
'Cause shade never made anybody less gay
â "You Need to Calm Down" by Taylor Swift and Joel Little
Smith asked, "I'm curious, because I feel like almost every album, you have a song where you address the haters, at least one song. Sometimes more than one song."
"I probably do have that habit. I imagine that I might have that habit, yeah."
"Why is that? Why sing to the haters?"
"Well, when they stop coming for me, I will stop singing to them," Swift replied. "You know, people go on and on about, like, you have to forgive and forget to move past something. No, you don't. You don't have to forgive and you don't have to forget to move on. You can move on without any of those things happening. You just become indifferent, and then you move on."
"Do you believe in forgiveness?"
"Yes, absolutely, like, for people that are important in your life who have added, you know, who have enriched your life and made it better, and also there has been some struggle and some bad stuff, too. But I think that, you know, if something's toxic and it's only ever really been that, what are you gonna do?"
"Just move on?"
"Just move on. It's fine."
Taylor Swift's music is always personal, sometimes intensely so. "There's one song on the album called 'Soon You'll Get Better' that it's, I can't even really hear. I can't even listen to it."
She won't talk specifically about her inspiration, but it comes at a time when her mother Andrea, who was battling cancer, suffered a relapse.
Swift said, "It's really interesting because I don't think I have written a song quite like that before. And it's just sort of, like, it's just a tough one."
"I can imagine. But I can also tell you, having listened to it, that it's universal."
"It's just not something that we deal with until we have to, until we see it, until we experience it, until someone close to us is going through something like that. And so, writing about it was really emotional. And I'm just gonna stop talking about it now."
She's more comfortable plunging into her work. On the Hollywood set, a large glass tank will become a symbolic fish bowl in the "Lover" music video.
Taylor Swift filming the fish bowl sequence from her music video "Lover." Â CBS NEWS
"I very oftentimes remark that my life is like a fish bowl, and that, like, if I were to, like, fall in love, you know, somebody's choosing to be in that fish bowl with me. To jump into the fish bowl with me and live in that world just with me â it's not as depressing as it sounds, I promise! It's just symbolic!"
Talk about fish bowls: she's been dating British actor Joe Alwyn for three years. Seems he's up for a swim.
At the moment, Swift is, well, fully immersed in today. Beyond that, she says she doesn't know ⊠and doesn't really want to.
Smith asked her, "Do you think about, you know, 'What am I gonna do in 20, 30 years?'"
"No, 'cause that puts me into what I call a panic spiral," Swift replied. "Like, I cannot do that. I've never been able to do that."
Why? "It just freaks me out. When I zoom out too far, I freak out. Do I know where I'm gonna be or even wanna be in 20 years? Absolutely not. Like, not taking a single day for granted."
"So, how far ahead do you look?"
"Six months. Just 'cause I have to plan shows and stuff. But I don't know what I'll do after this album. And I think that's great. I tell myself, like, it's actually really ungrateful to just assume that you have 20 years. Like, be stoked that you have today."
Get out the tissues. Taylor Swift's seventh album, Lover, is out now and amid all the romantic songs and personalâŠ
Everything to know about Taylor Swift's emotional collaboration with the Dixie Chicks
By Lauren Huff
August 23, 2019
Taylor Swiftâs seventh album, Lover, is out now and amid all the romantic songs and personal anecdotes one would expect from the singer, thereâs one song in particular that could be her saddest yet: âSoon Youâll Get Better.â
The track, which features the Dixie Chicks, is a deeply emotional get-well-soon ode to Swiftâs mother, Andrea, who is battling cancer. Despite her penchant for sharing details of her personal life in her music, âSoon Youâll Get Betterâ is the most the singer has ever said on the topic of her momâs illness.
The song is so emotional for Swift, in fact, that according to the lucky fans who attended the albumâs secret session listening parties held at the singerâs various homes in July, Swift had to leave the room when the song played. Several attendees reported that they cried during the track.
âThe buttons of my coat were tangled in my hair. In doctorâs office lighting, I didnât tell you I was scared,â she sings. âThat was the first time we were there. Holy orange bottles, each night, I pray to you. Desperate people find faith, so now I pray to Jesus too.â
Later in the song, she asks, âAnd I hate to make this all about me, but who am I supposed to talk to? What am I supposed to do, if thereâs no you?â
During a YouTube Originals livestream on Thursday to celebrate the release of Lover, Swift revealed that the song was one of the most difficult for her to write. The singer said it was âa family decisionâ about whether to put it on the album. âWe as a family decided to put this on the album, and itâs something that I am so proud of,â she said.
The pop sensation first revealed that her momâs cancer had returned in a personal essay for Elle back in March. âIâve had to learn how to handle serious illness in my family. Both of my parents have had cancer, and my mom is now fighting her battle with it again,â she wrote. âItâs taught me that there are real problems and then thereâs everything else. My momâs cancer is a real problem. I used to be so anxious about daily ups and downs. I give all of my worry, stress, and prayers to real problems now.â
And although the subject matter of the song was not known until recently, eagle-eyed Swifties first predicted a Dixie Chicks collaboration when Swift released her music video for her first single, âME!,â and it showed a framed portrait of the country trio in the background of one of the beginning scenes. The band stoked the fire when they tweeted a cryptic message following the videoâs release. And, in her Easter egg-filled cover shoot for EW in May, Swift wore a Dixie Chicks pin on her jacket.
Swift told EW earlier this year that the group served as an inspiration to her. âThe Dixie Chicks were making such interesting music and doing it in such an unapologetically feminine, imaginative way. I was very inspired by the album Fly and the aesthetics, because it was very clear they had really put a lot into the artwork,â she said. âAnd so it got my brain thinking bigger in terms of, you know, you make an album, but then you can choose an entire look and color palette and aesthetic and symbolism and imagery and backstories â that you can really make an album even more of an experience if you so choose.â
This isnât the first time Swift has released a song about her mother. On her second album, Fearless, the song âThe Best Dayâ tells the story about how her mom has always been there for her. Like âSoon Youâll Get Betterâ on Lover, âThe Best Dayâ is Fearlessâ 12th track.
After just one day on sale, Taylor Swiftâs 'Lover' album has already logged the biggest sales week of 2019 in the U.S. for an album.
Taylor Swift's 'Lover' Lands 2019's Biggest Sales Week in U.S. After First Day of Release
8/24/2019 by Keith Caulfield
Plus: Album set for No. 1 debut on Billboard 200 chart with huge debut week in total units earned.
After just one day on sale, Taylor Swiftâs Lover album has already logged the biggest sales week of 2019 in the U.S. for an album.
According to initial sales reports to Nielsen Music, the set sold around 450,000 copies on its first day of release (Aug. 23) â buoyed by strong pre-order sales. Previously, the biggest sales week of the year was notched by the debut frame of Jonas Brothersâ Happiness Begins, with 357,000.
Further, Lover already has the biggest sales week for any album since⊠you guessed it, Swiftâs own reputation bowed at No. 1 with 1.216 million copies sold in its first week (Dec. 2, 2017-dated chart).
Industry forecasters estimate that Lover could finish the week with perhaps over 550,000 copies sold in the U.S. (largely comprised of first-day and pre-order sales, as is the case with many blockbuster albums). Loverâs first-week sales will be aided by the setâs release in four collectible CD editions at Target, as well as dozens of merchandise/album bundles sold through Swiftâs official website.
Further, those in the know suggest Lover should easily start at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart (dated Sept. 7) with perhaps over 700,000 equivalent album units earned in the week ending Aug. 29. (Equivalent album units comprise traditional album sales, track equivalent album [TEA] units and streaming equivalent album [SEA] units.)
The top 10 of the Sept. 7-dated Billboard 200 chart is scheduled to be revealed on Billboardâs websites on Sunday, Sept. 1.
If Lover launches with 700,000 units, it would secure the biggest week of 2019 for an album, bypassing the current record, held by Jonas Brothersâ Happiness Begins, which began with 414,000 units earned at No. 1 on the June 22 chart.
Lover, which was released on Aug. 23 via Republic Records, is the superstarâs seventh full-length studio album. If Loverbows at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, it will snare Swift her sixth leader on the list.
I think the fishbowl scene is my favorite metaphor in the Lover video. And guys.. Iâve performed on stage with Christian Owens for years. Heâs unbelievably talented and it was so amazing to have him in the Lover music video!
From Cornelia Street to London: All the Shade and Easter Eggs on Taylor Swiftâs âLoverâ
The odes to Joe Alwyn are pretty apparent, but thereâs enough fruit on the vine here for Kaylor shippers too
By Kate Halliwell
Aug 24, 2019
Taylor Swiftâs much-anticipated album Lover dropped Friday, ushering in a new era full of the catchy bops and country ballads we all missed so much. But just because Taylorâs new vibe is all pastels and soft sunshine doesnât mean she canât still bring the shadeâfrom calling out everyone sheâs ever dated to more political and social commentary, there are plenty of deep cuts and Easter eggs to parse in the lengthyâ18-song!â album.Â
First of all, I hope Joe Alwyn, Taylorâs boyfriend of three years, is just as committed to this relationship as his megastar girlfriend, because judging by the lyrics on the album, she is ready for wedding bells tomorrow. Several songs on the album include shout-outs to their forever love, including âLover,â âPaper Rings,â âI Think He Knows,â and âLondon Boy.â Listen, Iâm glad sheâs happy! Joe Alwyn might be the most boring person in the world, but whatever floats your boat, girl.
Luckily, for those of us less enamored of Mr. Blue-Eyed Billy Lynn, Taylor shouts out plenty of past relationships on Lover, too. Apologies to âThank U, Next,â but âI Forgot That You Existedâ has taken the crown for Most Savage Break-up Song of 2019: âIt isnât love, it isnât hate; itâs just indifference.â Whew! Jill Gutowitz theorized for Vulture that this deeply petty song is about Calvin Harris, and considering I also forgot he existed, that checks out. It could also be a dig at Taylorâs ongoing feud with Kanye and Kim Kardashian West, but it seems like thereâs a new conflict between them every other day, so as hard as we try, itâs impossible to forget about all of that.
And please think of the Kaylor shippers in your life todayâbetween âCornelia Street,â âFalse God,â and âItâs Nice to Have a Friend,â the internet conspiracy theory that Taylor Swift and Karlie Kloss are star-crossed lovers has never been stronger. (Which is not to say that itâs particularly strong, still, but LET US HAVE THIS.) Thereâs an entire Carol reference in âItâs Nice To Have a FriendâââLost my gloves / You give me one / Wanna hang out? / Yes, sounds like fun.â No one has ever referenced a clandestine glove lunch in a totally straight way, I said what I said. Harold, theyâreâprobably not, but seriously, live a littleâlesbians.
Even if sheâs not secretly in love with Karlie, Taylor is an ally now. Sheâs political! OK, she may still have work to do, as evidenced by people lashing out at her overblown attempt at advocating for LGBTQ rights in her video for âYou Need to Calm Down.â But progress is progess, and from lyrics supporting the gay community to teaching Fighting Sexism 101 in âThe Man,â Taylor proves that she can mix Important Messages with delicious shade, like when she sings, âThey would toast to me, oh, let the players play / Iâd be just like Leo in Saint-Tropez.â I assume sheâs referring to Leoâs dating history and not his beach volleyball skills, but who can say?
And finally, in âDaylight,â the lyrics âYou ran with the wolves and refused to settle down,â could point to Harry Styles. One Direction released a song called âWolvesâ in 2015, and various online sleuths have connected the song to Taylorâs âOut of the Woodsâ music video, which was supposedly also written about Harry. But hello, are we all forgetting that Taylor dated someone who actually ran with the wolves in the 2009 cinematic classic Twilight: New Moon? This song is obviously about Taylor Lautner, and you can take that to the bank.
Even if the album boils down to 70 percent Joe Alwyn, 20 percent Kaylor, and 10 percent everyone else, it doesnât really matter who Taylor is pining for, or dragging in the dirtâpretty much every song on Lover is just as good as we hoped. Now excuse me, Iâm off to watch Carol on repeat and scour the internet for every photo of Karlie and Taylor ever taken on Cornelia Street.
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