Jimmy Fallon’s “The Tonight Show” is in its “Life of a Showgirl” era, with the late night program’s digital views climbing 95% and engagements surging 142% since Taylor Swift‘s Oct. 6 appearance to promote her new album, TheWrap has exclusively learned.
When combined with the Oct. 7 sit-down interview with HUNTR/X and their first-ever full live performance of the record-breaking hit song “Golden” from “K-POP Demon Hunters,” Fallon generated more than 298 million online views and 38 million engagements across digital and social platforms combined.
The Swift bump for the Tonight Show comes as “The Life of a Showgirl” broke a number of streaming records across platforms like Spotify, Apple Music and Amazon Music. “The Fate of Ophelia” (the album’s lead single) became the most-streamed song in a single day in Spotify history.
Swift’s theatrical listening event, “Release Party of a Showgirl,” also brought in $33 million at the box office.
During her appearance on Fallon, Swift broke down the creation and meaning behind a number of songs on her new album, including “Opalite,” “Father Figure” and “The Fate of Ophelia. She also blushed when it came time to talk about “Wood,” a funk-infused, explicit love song about her fiancé Travis Kelce.
“I brought this into the studio and I was like I want to do a throwback, timeless-sounding song and I have this idea about ‘I ain’t gotta knock on wood’ and it would be all these superstitions,” Swift said.
“It really started out in a very innocent place,” she added before hanging her head as the audience laughed. Fallon shook his head and Questlove started riffing on his drum set to keep the moment rolling.
Swift composed herself and continued, leaning into the laughter: “I don’t know what happened, man. I got in there, we started vibing and I don’t know how we got here, but I love the song so much.”
Swifties will enjoy even more of the singer when NBC drops an extended cut of her interview with Fallon tonight at 11:35 pm ET/PT. Peacock subscribers can view the extended edition on the streaming service the following day.
“The Tonight Show” is executive produced by Lorne Michaels and produced by showrunner Chris Miller and Gerard Bradford. Universal Television and Broadway video serve as producers.
The show is taped before a live studio audience from Studio 6B in 30 Rockefeller Center.
