The chairwoman of the Tortured Poets Department has a message about the album’s continued success.
Addressing “everyone who’s supported The Tortured Poets Department” in an Instagram post on Saturday, July 20, Taylor Swift gushed, “I am completely blown away by what you’ve done — it stayed at #1 for the first 12 weeks of its release.”
That’s never happened to an album of mine before, not even close!! You’re just the greatest,” she added to her post, which recapped highlights of her latest Eras Tour stop in Gelsenkirchen, Germany.
Swift, 34, dropped TTPD, a breakup album presumed to be inspired by her respective splits from Joe Alwyn and Matty Healy, in April in the middle of her Eras Tour run. When the European leg of the concerts kicked off in May, Swift added a selection of TTPD tracks to the setlist.
“It was fun, it was a blast. I had a blast at Tay’s show. Her new rendition of The Eras Tour, I suggest everybody go see it,” Swift’s boyfriend, Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, said during an episode of his “New Heights” podcast later that month. “It has her new Tortured Poets Department, a handful of those songs in the new show, which means there’s a new segment and new lights and new dancing, new everything to the f—king show. I suggest everybody get out there and see [her]. It is absolutely unbelievable.”
One of the TTPD songs that Swift added to the setlist is “So High School,” a track inferred to be inspired by the 34-year-old football star, as well as “I Can Do It With a Broken Heart.” During Swift’s third London concert last month, Kelce even hopped on stage for the “I Can Do It With a Broken Heart” transition. (He joined dancers Kam Saunders and Jan Ravnik to help revive the pop star after “The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived.”)
“It’s very unlike me. I’m not big, I don’t like going on stages. There were a lot of people out there, really didn’t feel at home,” Kelce said on his podcast earlier this month, regarding the cameo. “I initially mentioned to Tay, I was like, ‘How funny would it be if I just rolled out on one of the bikes during the 1989 [set]?’ She started laughing, she was like, ‘Would you seriously be up for doing something like that?’”
He added, “I was like, ‘I would love to do that, are you kidding me?’ I’ve seen the show enough, might as well put me to work here. And sure enough, she found the perfect part of the show for me to come in.”
Kelce went to Swift’s first two shows in Gelsenkirchen before returning to the United States for the Chiefs’ NFL training camp. Swift, meanwhile, will remain in Europe performing her concerts for the rest of the summer.
