Summary:
-
Taylor Swift launched her 12th album, The Life of a Showgirl, on a sports podcast hosted by NFL players.
-
The album reveal followed a 24-hour countdown, with Easter eggs on social media and a teaser video.
-
The Life of a Showgirl is Swift’s first album since regaining ownership of her music catalog in a victory.
Taylor Swift just turned a sports podcast into a global album launch.
The 14-time Grammy winner announced her 12th original studio album, The Life of a Showgirl, during her debut appearance on New Heights, the podcast hosted by Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce and his brother, retired Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce. The episode premiered on Wednesday at 7 p.m. ET, marking a rare intersection of NFL banter and pop-star spectacle.
Seated between the Kelce brothers, Swift pulled out a mint green briefcase stamped with her orange “TS” initials and declared, “This is my brand new album.” Behind her, eagle-eyed fans spotted a shelf lined with orange-covered books featuring works by Jean-Michel Basquiat, Marc Chagall, and Ruth Asawa — possible hints at sonic or lyrical influences.
🚨Taylor Swift announces new album, ‘The Life of a Showgirl.’ pic.twitter.com/hX3dcJPiMe
— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) August 12, 2025
The reveal capped off a dramatic 24-hour lead-up. On Monday, Swift’s website launched a countdown clock that expired at 12:12 a.m. ET Tuesday. At that moment, she posted a teaser video from the New Heights set, fueling speculation that the long-rumored crossover moment with her NFL-star boyfriend was finally happening.
True to form, Swift layered the rollout with Easter eggs. A carousel of 12 cryptic images appeared on her Instagram with the caption, “Thinking about when she said ‘See you next era…’” Meanwhile, the Empire State Building glowed orange on Tuesday night — the same shade as the album’s branding — with a caption reading, “Onto the next era.”
The Life of a Showgirl marks Swift’s first new album since concluding her record-breaking Eras Tour in December and is already available for pre-order in vinyl, cassette, and CD formats on her official site. It’s also her first release since reclaiming ownership of her entire music catalog, a victory she announced in May after purchasing her masters outright from Shamrock Capital.
ADVERTISEMENT
Swift’s last studio project, The Tortured Poets Department, was a 31-song double album released in 2024 amid her Eras Tour. The new record arrives six years after her battle with former label Big Machine over the sale of her master recordings to Scooter Braun’s Ithaca Holdings, a dispute that inspired her to re-record her early work as “Taylor’s Version.”
