When the Eras tour first started nearly two years ago, Taylor Swift'small Department of Tormented Poets it didn't even exist. Now, the trip is only a few shows in and the best-selling album is up for multiple Grammys.
At her inaugural Canadian concert in Toronto on Thursday (November 14) — the singer's first appearance since her Grammy nods were announced last week — Swift took a moment in the evening's surprise song segment to reflect on the success of her 11th studio album . “You guys have been doing something over the last few months,” he began, moments before diving into an acoustic guitar mashup of “My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys” and Reputation's “This is why we can't have nice things.”
“What you did with the hug Department of Tormented Poets album, I'm really crazy about it,” he continued, as captured fan videos. “Because it's really emotional for me. This album — I wrote it during the Eras tour. I wrote this album, I made this album, trying to keep it a secret from you, and then I announced the album. And basically we were working really hard to secretly create a new chapter of Eras tour of Department of Tormented Poetsand we wanted to surprise you with it.”
Afterward, Swift thanked her fans for being “so awesome that they dug into this album and understood where I was coming from with it.” “Everything that happens is a direct reflection of the passion that you show, and you got this album nominated for six Grammys,” he added. “So thank you.”
The “Anti-Hero” singer's first of six concerts in Toronto came six days after the 2025 Recording Academy honorees were revealed, revealing that Department of Tormented Poets — which spent 15 weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 — is up for album of the year. It makes Swift the most-nominated woman in AOTY and follows her record-breaking fourth win in the category last year with Midnightwhich made her the artist with the most AOTY wins in Grammy history.
This year, Swift is also up for record and song of the year for “Fortnight,” her Billboard Hot 100 duet with Post Malone, which also earned her a Grammy for best music video. Plus, Tormented Poets is up for Best Pop Vocal album, while superstar Gracie Abrams collaboration “Us” is recognized in the Best Pop Duo/Group Performance category.
Swift now has just eight total Eras tour shows before the culture-changing trek wraps up on December 8th in Vancouver, BC. When it first launched in March 2023, the three-hour program was a very different show. Instead of the nocturnal now Tormented Poets segment that has been running since the album was released in April, the performer used to sing extensive selections from her first 10 albums. To make room for new tracks like “Fortnight,” “I Can Do It With a Broken Heart” and “Who's Afraid of Little Old Me?”, Swift cut several of her older songs and remixed Folklore and Forever sections in one.
from our partners at https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/taylor-swift-reacts-2025-grammy-nominations-tortured-poets-1235830451/
