Taylor Swift has arguably forged one of the most successful music careers of all time with her incomparable story telling, clever lyrics and unique ability to capture the imagination of her Swifties with her girl next door image.
The Wildest Dreams hitmaker, 35, has noticably never relied on overly sexualised or racy outfits, performances or lyrics to sell her music.
And it has always served her well with the star winning 14 Grammys, becoming the highest-grossing live music artist and a cultural icon of the 21st century.
But on Thursday she sent sent shockwaves through the music industry and her fanbase with a huge change in tack as she revealed the sexy cover for her upcoming album The Life of a Showgirl – one of which showed her posing provocatively as she bit her finger.
She confirmed that the album will be released on October 3 – just over a year and a half after the release of her 11th studio album, The Tortured Poets Department, while appearing on her boyfriend Travis Kelce‘s New Heights podcast.
The fiercely private star gave an unprecedented look into her relationship in her most personal interview to date as they packed on the PDA while sat next to each other.
In the cover Swift flashed the flesh in a skimpy green jeweled bodysuit while submerged in water in what appeared to be a bathtub.
Taylor Swift sent sent shockwaves through the music industry on Thursday as she revealed her raunchy covers for new album The Life of a Showgirl
Taylor could possibly be taking inspiration from the recent more raunchy pop stars of recent years including her collaborator on the album Sabrina Carpenter
Another shot saw her in a very revealing silver outfit with feathers and headgear as she flaunted her gym-honed physique
Another shot saw her in a very revealing silver outfit with feathers and headgear as she flaunted her gym-honed physique.
It is in stark contrast to her some of her previous aesthetics for slow albums like folklore and evermore – as fans are now anticipating the ‘next pop album’ with her new upcoming offering.
Taylor could possibly be taking inspiration from the recent more raunchy pop stars of recent years including her collaborator on the album Sabrina Carpenter.
Sabrina, 26, appears on the new album on track 12 and has worked with Taylor on the Eras Tour as her support act.
The star has raised eyebrows with her live shows in the past year, performing sex positions on stage and writing very raunchy lyrics.
In another unprecedented element of the new album reveal, she spoke in her most open and personal interview ever with Travis on the podcast.
She revealed the album’s official 12-song track list, confirming the inclusion of the song, Ruin The Friendship, which fans are convinced is a Blake Lively diss track.
The album covers were captured by famed photographers Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott, who she last worked with on the album artwork for 2017’s Reputation.
‘I loved what they did with those photos, so I called them up for [this album],’ she shared on Kelce’s New Heights podcast. ‘I am so happy with the way the photos came out with this one.’
Swift said she wanted to go ‘all out’ on the imagery for The Life Of A Showgirl because she is ‘so proud’ of the music.
The fiercely private star gave an unprecedented look into her relationship in her most personal interview to date as they packed on the PDA while sat next to each other
In the cover Swift flashed the flesh in a skimpy green jeweled bodysuit while submerged in water in what appeared to be a bathtub
She confirmed that the album will be released on October 3 – just over a year and a half after the release of her 11th studio album, The Tortured Poets Department
Sabrina, 26, appears on the new album on track 12 and has worked with Taylor on the Eras Tour as her support act
It is in stark contrast to her some of her previous aesthetics for slow albums like folklore and evermore – as fans are now anticipating the ‘next pop album’ with her new upcoming offering
A fresh-faced Taylor on the album cover for Fearless in 2008
‘This is a full send. I care about this record more than I can even overstate.’
Swift revealed that the album cover is meant to depict what the ‘end of [her] night’ looks like on tour,
‘My day ends with me in a bathtub — not usually in a bedazzled dress — but we try to keep it decent,’ Swift joked. ‘I wanted to glamorize all the different aspects of how [the Eras Tour] felt and [the The Life Of A Showgirl cover] is how that felt at the end of the night.’
Swift said she chose that image because it best represents the album, which centers around the feelings and experiences in her ‘offstage’ life.
As revealed by Swift, the album’s song titles are: 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 Life Of A Showgirl.
The podcast episode also provided devout Swift and Kelce fans with a rare look at their nearly two-year romance – with many on X calling him a ‘green flag’ boyfriend.
During the sit-down with Kelce and his brother Jason Kelce, Swift recalled how her boyfriend first got her attention, when he attended one of her Eras Tour concerts in July 2023.
Kelce planned to give her a friendship bracelet with his phone number on it, but he was unable to meet her after the show. Later, he talked about it on the podcast, which Swift heard, leading to them finally meeting.
‘This dude didn’t get a meet and greet, and he’s making it everyone’s problem,’ Swift joked.
The Karma hitmaker compared their love story to being in ‘an 80’s John Hughes movie’ adding, ‘and he was just like standing outside my window with a boom box just being like ‘I wanna date you!”
‘I was like, if this guy isn’t crazy — which is a big if — this is sort of what I’ve been writing songs about wanting to happen to me since I was a teenager.’
The sweet appearance also featured plenty of PDA, including Kelce kissing Swift’s hand and gushing that he was ‘the luckiest man in the world.’
Swift shared how she owed a lot to the New Heights podcast, joking it helped her get a boyfriend because ‘Travis decided to use [the podcast] as his personal dating app.’
Travis’ brother and co-host Jason then inquired, ‘Were his friendship bracelets that good? Did you get the friendship bracelet?’
‘I’ve never seen the original,’ Swift quipped.
Travis then explained that the bracelets ‘didn’t leave the stadium because he was ‘butthurt’ that he didn’t get to meet Swift.
‘He threw a tantrum. He threw a man tantrum,’ Taylor joked.
‘It was such a wild, romantic gesture, to just be like, ‘I wanna date you!” the singer gushed.
‘Sweetie, that’s what it does when you’re on stage, you performed in Arrowhead, that’s what it did to me,’ Kelce said. ‘You come to Arrowhead, I get to meet you. That’s the perk of playing for the Chiefs,’ the NFL star added.
Taylor then humorously recalled how Travis ‘didn’t even reach out’ to her management.
In another snap, the Shake It Off singer wore huge pink feathers and traded her blonde hair for a bobbed black wig as she perched on a table sipping a cocktail
Last but not least, Swift dropped jaws in a black and red glittering strapless bodysuit as she posed lying on a chair
Swift also revealed the album’s official 12-song track list, confirming the inclusion of the song, Ruin The Friendship, which fans are convinced is a Blake Lively diss track
‘He thought that ’cause he knows the elevator lady, that he could talk to her about just getting down.’
‘And I got denied,’ Travis chimed in.
‘He really was just like, ‘I know a guy, I can figure this out.”
She then compared Travis to a John Hughes movie character, joking he was outside her window with a boombox yelling ‘I wanna date you! Do you wanna go on a date with me? I made you a friendship bracelet. Do you wanna date me?’
Travis then added with a pleading voice, ‘Just come outside and meet me. Just meet me once. Just give me a chance.’
Travis also jokingly said he was listening to all of Taylor’s songs and knew she wanted him to come to her concert.
Taylor then imitated Travis’ voice, stating, ‘I’m upset that you didn’t meet me, even though you didn’t know I wanted to meet you because I didn’t do any proper logistical planning.’
‘Who plans nowadays?’ Travis quipped.
‘It was wild, but it worked,’ Taylor said.
Travis then kissed Taylor’s hand, and said he was ‘the luckiest man in the world.’
Jason then asked Taylor, ‘How did you know he wasn’t crazy?’ to which the singer humorously replied, ‘He is crazy, Jason’ before adding, ‘He’s the good kind of crazy.’
She then recalled how Travis went about getting to know her better in a was that was ‘very natural, very pure, very normal.’
The Grammy winner praised Travis for ‘the way he could make me laugh so immediately about normal things. He’s just a vibe booster in everyone’s life that he’s in. He’s a human exclamation point.’
She also gushed about the athlete being ‘so non-judgmental about people’ adding that he didn’t mind that she lacked knowledge about football when they met.
‘Jason, on our first date, I legitimately asked him what it was like when the Chiefs played the Eagles in the Super Bowl (in February 2023) and he looked across the field, across the line of scrimmage, and saw his brother standing 5ft in front of him on the field,’ she shared.
‘It didn’t happen’ Jason chimed in, as both Travis and Taylor laughed.
‘And he didn’t even look at me… I now know what an insane question that was. He was like: ‘Actually I’m on the offense and my brother is the offense and I’m only on the field at the same time as the defense.’ I thought everyone was out there at the same time,’ Taylor shared.
‘Well that’s how you played on the playground growing up, so I understand…’ Travis said.
‘I thought it was like Jared Goff is here and Josh Allen is here and they’re going to blow a whistle and they go at each other… and who’s going to win?’
‘I didn’t know what a first down was, I didn’t know what the chains were, I didn’t know what a tight end was,’ Taylor said.
Travis then thanked her, stating, ‘I’m forever thankful for you diving into the football world wholeheartedly.’
The sweet appearance also featured plenty of PDA, including Kelce kissing Swift’s hand and gushing that he was ‘the luckiest man in the world’
Fans took to X to say her was a ‘green flag’ boyfriend
‘I fell in love with it, I became obsessed with it, I became like a person who was running through the halls of my house screaming ‘WE DRAFTED XAVIER WORTHY!’ and my friends are like ‘Who body snatched you? What do you mean?”
Travis then revealed she was the first person who told him the news.
‘I couldn’t believe it either. I was like ‘Is she right?’ I have to look this up. Did she get the wrong information here?’
Elsewhere on the podcast Taylor broke down in tears as she opened up on how she fought for years to reclaim the masters of her music.
With over a million fans tuning in for the live stream, she explained how Kelce was playing video games when she found out she had bought the rights back but the NFL star even started weeping when he was told the news. Swift had sent her mother and brother to Los Angeles to negotiate with Shamrock Capital, the owners, on her behalf.
‘He was playing video games, and he put his headset down. I was like ‘I got my music back!’ And I was heaving crying. This changed my life.’
