Taylor Swift announces release date for latest re-recorded multi-platinum album ‘1989′

On the final show of the US leg of era's tour, Taylor Swift revealed the latest album she has re-recorded. Photo / Jeff Kravitz

In the final show of the United States leg of her incredibly successful Eras tour, pop superstar Taylor Swift announced the release date of 1989 (Taylor’s Version).

She revealed the news to a screaming crowd of fans attending her sixth sold-out show in Los Angeles at So-Fi stadium. The album will be released on October 27 and will contain five “vault tracks”, which are previously unreleased songs.

The original 1989 album was released on October 27, 2014 and became a multi-platinum hit.

This will be the fourth album from her original library after losing the rights to her catalogue in 2019 when Scooter Braun acquired them as part of the Big Machine Records deal. The music mogul ultimately sold the masters to a private equity firm for $300 million.

“I figured that [this tour] would be fun but I did not know it would be like this,” Swift said to a frantic crowd moments before the surprise song section of her concert.

“The last time I was pleasantly surprised by something you guys did was when I announced that I was going to be re-recording my first six albums ... the way you have embraced and celebrated that you’ve really decided it was your fight too and you were 100 per cent behind me and if I care about it you care about it.

“And so now here we are, the last night of the US leg of the Eras Tour in the eighth month of the year on the ninth day. You might have noticed there are different outfits in the show there’s something I’ve been planning for a really, really long time and I think instead of just telling you about it I’ll just show you.”

Before starting an acoustic rendition of “New Romantics,” a fan favourite extra track from the original 1989 and the last song she hasn’t yet performed live from the album on tour, Swift gestured to the screen behind her, which displayed the 1989 TV album cover.

The big announcement was followed by a social media post, where she reflected on how the album when it was originally released impacted her life.

“The 1989 album changed my life in countless ways, and it fills me with such excitement to announce that my version of it will be out October 27th,” she wrote via her social media accounts.

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A post shared by Taylor Swift (@taylorswift)

Before Swift wraps up the re-recording saga, there are three more albums to release. Taylor’s Versions of Fearless, Red, and Speak Now have all already been made available by the artist. All three have achieved both commercial and critical success, rising swiftly to the top of the Billboard 200 chart.

In a candid Instagram post, the 12-time Grammy winner previously revealed the main reason why she’s opting to rerecord her work.

“I’ve spoken a lot about why I’m remaking my first six albums, but the way I’ve chosen to do this will hopefully help illuminate where I’m coming from,” Swift wrote.

“Artists should own their own work for so many reasons, but the most screamingly obvious one is that the artist is the only one who really knows that body of work.”

Rachel Maher is an Auckland-based reporter who covers breaking news. She has worked for the Herald since 2022.