Taylor Swift shocked her devoted fanbase on Friday night when she announced her next re-recording of the album will be Speak Now.
The 33-year-old music sensation performed in Nashville — where her alleged love interest Matt Healy was in the audience — at Nissan Stadium and shared the update while on stage.
The beloved singer-songwriter told fans, “There’s another reason why I’m really excited about this part of the set tonight. Because I’ve been planning something for a while,” said a report by People.
She added, “You know how much I like to plan things and how much I like to surprise you with the things I plan. It’s my love language with you – I plot, I plan, I plan and I get to tell you about it. If you were to focus your attention on the rear big screen…”
At that time, the new cover of Speak Now titled Taylor’s Version appeared along with the release date – July 7, 2023.
Update: Taylor Swift shocked her devoted fan base Friday night when she announced her next re-recording of the album will be Speak Now
Note: Swift also used Instagram to spread the word to fans who weren’t at her live show
Swift used the next moment to transition to one of her Speak Now hits, Sparks Fly.
Taylor took to Instagram to interact with her 257 million followers and wrote a lengthy caption to share the news online as well.
‘It fills me with so much pride and joy to announce that my version of Speak Now will be out on July 7 (just in time for July 9, iykyk) I made Speak Now for the first time, completely self-written, between the ages aged 18 and 20,” she wrote.
“The songs that came out of this time in my life were characterized by their raw honesty, unfiltered diary entries and wild melancholy.
“I love this album because it tells a story about growing up, swinging, flying and crashing… and living to talk about it.
“With six more songs I’ve popped out of the vault, I absolutely can’t wait to celebrate Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) with you on July 7th.
“Pre-order now on TaylorSwift.com,” she finished the post.
Some fans who closely followed the artist’s every move suspected that Speak Now would be her next re-release.
Original cover art: Speak Now was initially released on October 25, 2010
Committed: Some fans who closely follow the artist’s every move suspected that Speak Now would be her next re-release
Flashback: Taylor can be seen performing on NBC’s Today show during her Speak Now release
In February, they noticed Taylor wearing a midnight blue combination from Roberto Cavalli, who she collaborated with during her Speak Now era.
And before that, in January, after the release of music videos for the album Midnights, her followers noticed some other hints.
The Anti-Hero video noted her playing the guitar she played every night on her Speak Now tour.
In addition to her Bejeweled video, Taylor also recorded an instrumental of the song Enchanted from the Speak Now album.
Following the news, fans quickly took to social media to share their excitement about the new renditions of Taylor’s old music.
One fan account posted a meme on Twitter with the caption “F*** you Matty Healy we got speak now taylors version,” in all caps.
Another user on the platform tweeted, “Oh you’re dropping Speak Now (Taylor’s Version)?” Should we celebrate? Should we throw a party? Should we invite Matty Healy?’
One fan was jealous when they said, “Matty Healy is witnessing both nothing new and the speak now TV announcement live and not me.”
Hype: After the news, fans quickly took to social media to share their excitement about Taylor’s new renditions of old music
Excitement: Another user on the platform tweeted, “Oh, you’re dropping Speak Now (Taylor’s Version)?” Should we celebrate? Should we throw a party? Should we invite Matty Healy?’
Jealous: A fan shared a snapshot of Stranger Things saying, ‘Matty Healy is live witnessing both nothing new and the speak now TV announcement and not me’
Another comment: Someone said ‘Sparks fly and tears on my guitar for tonight. Matt Heally. Now TV announcement. i am so [expletive] dead’
Taylor’s choice to re-record her early music follows Scooter Braun’s acquisition of her former music label Big Machine.
The purchase saw him take the rights to the masters of the star’s first six albums, which he later sold to Shamrock Holdings for $300 million.
Since then, Swift has released re-recordings of her 2012 album Red and 2008 Fearless.
She started sharing the new versions in 2021, noting that although the private equity firm approached her, she decided not to work with them because Braun would make money off her music for years to come.