The news that legions of Swifties have been waiting for – Taylor Swift revealed details of her new album. Fans were buzzing when a mysterious countdown appeared on the singer’s official website, ticking down to 12:12 a.m. Eastern Time. As the clock hit zero, Swift unveiled her upcoming release: The Life of a Showgirl.
With plenty of symbolism for Swifties to get to grips with – the number 12 clearly has a significance – it’s Taylor’s 12th studio album, the announcement time (00:12) and while her last album, last year’s The Tortured Poets Department contained 16 songs, The Life of a Showgirl will have that magical number again, 12…
1. The Fate of Ophelia
2. Elizabeth Taylor
3. Opalite
4. Father Figure
5. Eldest Daughter
6. Ruin the Friendship
7. Actually Romantic
8. Wi$h Li$t
9. Wood
10. CANCELLED!
11. Honey
12. The Life of a Showgirl (feat. Sabrina Carpenter)
The name of the album stems from Swift’s experience writing the songs while on her Eras tour. The singer said that she was physically exhausted, but that she was “mentally stimulated,” and was “so excited to be creating.”
Living by numbers
The power of numerology has played a big part in Swift’s recent career to the point where it seems everything she does has significance to a number, pattern or code, which her fans eagerly decrypt and decipher.
The Grammy-winning singer-songwriter announced details of her forthcoming album in a promo clip for Travis Kelce’s New Heights podcast, which will be aired tonight. Swift is seen tantalizingly slipping a blurred-out album cover out of a briefcase, before beaming: “This is my brand-new album: The Life of a Showgirl”.
Later, another blurred photograph of the album sleeve appeared on the singer’s Instagram page, where fans can sign up for pre-preorders of The Life of a Showgirl, which will be available on colored and standard black vinyl, CD (with double-sided poster!), and cassette. Orders will be shipped before October 13, 2025.
Tribute to the late George Michael
The Life of a Showgirl features 12 songs, including a re-imagined version of George Michael’s 1987 hit Father Figure, complete with new lyrics. The song reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in February 1988 and remained in the top spot for two weeks. Michael died on Christmas Day 2016, aged just 53.
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