Taylor Swift credits two terrible things for inspiring her to set out on her record-breaking Eras Tour.
In her Disney+ docuseries “Taylor Swift: The End of an Era,” out Friday, she said that if it weren’t for these “two bad things that happened” this particular concept of a tour would not have come to fruition.
The first obstacle was Scooter Braun’s Ithaca Holdings LLC selling the masters to her first six albums in November 2020. The deal was believed to be worth $300 million and valued at over $450 million.
“My entire catalogue was sold out from under me,” Swift said in the docuseries.
The sale inspired her to re-record her albums, famously known as “Taylor’s Versions,” so that her fans would stream the albums she owned rather than putting money in someone else’s pocket. She re-recorded “Fearless,” “Red,” “Speak Now” and “1989,” but has yet to re-record her debut album or “Reputation.”
The second reason for the Eras Tour was the COVID-19 pandemic, which caused her to reflect on her career trajectory at large. During the pandemic, she released “Folklore” and “Evermore” within months of each other in the latter half of 2020.
“I clung to songwriting almost as a life raft,” she shared. Swift even released “Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions” in November of 2020, documenting her newfound storytelling process in songwriting.
The Eras Tour broke records, making over $2 billion in ticket sales alone. Swift performed 149 shows for 10 million fans in 51 cities worldwide.
The first two episodes of “Taylor Swift: The End of an Era” are available to stream on Disney+. New episodes will release on Fridays until Dec. 26.
