TIME Names Taylor Swift 2023 Person of the Year
Taylor Swift was named TIME’s 2023 Person of the Year. In an exclusive interview, she reveals some behind-the-scenes information from her Eras Tour.
Over eight months, Swift performed 66 sold-out shows across the Americas. During each show, Swift sang over 40 songs while performing multiple hours of intricate choreography.
In addition, she tried “trying to make sure tens of thousands of fans were having the time of their lives.”
Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) is TIME's 2023 Person of the Year https://t.co/oyjR55azCZ pic.twitter.com/m2qbIbd5TX
— TIME (@TIME) December 6, 2023
According to Swift herself the first tour “required intense physical, mental, and emotional fortitude” because she wanted to “superserve the fans.” The iconic artist has continuously thanked her fans for the immense effort that they put into attending the tour.
“They had to work really hard to get the tickets,” she stated. “I wanted to play a show that was longer than they ever thought it would be, because that makes me feel good leaving the stadium.”
Six months before the infamous tour kicked off in March in Glendale, Arizona, Taylor Swift started her training journey. “I knew this tour was harder than anything I’d ever done before by a long shot,” she explained. “I finally, for the very first time, physically prepared correctly.”
Swift’s training routine consisted of running on the treadmill every day while singing the entire Eras setlist aloud. Depending on the song she’s singing will determine the speed of her rune. She explained, for example, “Fast for fast songs, and a jog or a fast walk for slow songs.”
But that’s not all. Swift also participated in a specialized strength, conditioning, and weights program at her gym, Dogpound, and did three months of dance lessons. In the interview, she admits that learning choreography is not her strong suit. After working with choreographer Mandy Moore her relationship with choreography did a complete 180.
Almost a month before the first show in Glendale, Swift and her team got to run the show several times a week in the stadium. “I wanted to get it in my bones. I wanted to be so over-rehearsed that I could be silly with the fans, and not lose my train of thought,” she stated.
Swift also admits that she stopped drinking for a couple of months to prepare more rigorously. However, the night of the Grammy’s was her one exception. “Doing that show with a hangover,” she states, “I don’t want to know that world.”
During the hiatus between tour legs, Swift would spend a “dead day” recovering to get ready for the next string of concerts.
The Eras Tour will resume in February 2024 starting in Asia traveling to Australia, Europe and returning to North America. Read Taylor Swift’s 2023 Person of the Year article here.
