We Weren't Ready for It: See All the Clues Taylor Swift's Been Dropping for Months About Her New Era
Ms. Swift will see you now.
Over the last two months, Taylor Swift has been filling her Instagram feed with 50 shades of pink and exciting fans about the possibility of a new era.
In true Swift form, the superstar, 29, took over the world — literally — last Friday (yes, Friday the 13th) by hinting that something big would be coming in, you guessed it, 13 days’ time.
A post shared by Taylor Swift (@taylorswift) on Apr 13, 2019 at 8:39am PDT
Though fans have been running wild with theories for months (Swift even cheekily addressed the speculation at the iHeartRadio Awards last month), they are only just now putting the pieces together.
Before the “Delicate” singer broke the internet with her social media clues last week, Swifties had their fingers crossed something would be announced after they noticed Swift’s reputation magazines featured a stamp on April 13.
While that would mean Swift had her new album cycle planned out before her record-breaking sixth studio album was released, we wouldn’t put anything past her.
taylor’s marketing team in the calendar printing factory when april 13 hits and nothing happens pic.twitter.com/JmM0YYxYyY
— valeria (@ssparkisfly) April 7, 2019
okay ladies. april 13 was stamped on the calendar & now we know something is happening on april 26th. now, taylor doesn’t normally release albums until the month of october. october 3rd is also stamped. so... maybe a single & then an album this year? 😏 #TaylorSwiftApril26
— nicole wants to hug taylor (@rowbrinaswift13) April 14, 2019
On a rare day off during the Australian leg of her sold-out Reputation Stadium Tour, Swift posted a seemingly innocuous photo of herself playing scrabble with her mom Andrea. The caption — a lyric from her song “Ready for It?” — caught the attention of her fans, however.
A post shared by Taylor Swift (@taylorswift) on Oct 21, 2018 at 12:55am PDT
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From analyzing the capitalization of “BEGIN” to trying to unscramble the letters Swift had left behind her, each theory sounded wilder than the next. Well, turns out the answer was pretty simple — April 13 is National Scrabble Day.
TAYLOR HAS BEEN TELLING US ALL ALONG THAT TS7 WAS COMING 👀 Taylor posted a photo of her playing scrabble && national scrabble day is April 13 && today she gave us a countdown to TS7!! ✨💖🦋💜 #TaylorSwiftApril26 @taylornation13 @taylorswift13 pic.twitter.com/kXK11a9m5n
— Taylor MET TAYLOR 😍😀 (@Tayloralexiss33) April 13, 2019
Fast-forward to New Year’s Day, and Swift’s management posted a tweet containing 115 rainbow emojis. The emoji-enthusiasm confused some fans at the time, but it turns out there are 115 days between Jan. 1 and April 26.
115 rainbows posted on New Year’s... 115 days before April 26... Taylor’s mind omg 😭 https://t.co/yEGrAjIKXw
— edgar (@schark_boyy) April 15, 2019
Swift has also seemingly been dropping clues via the media. In her Elle cover, she wrote about making countdowns for “things I’m excited about.” Is anyone surprised now that that was the 26th lesson out of her list of 30?
CAN’T BELIEVE Y’ALL WERE REALLY OUT HERE COUNTING HOLES IN FENCES BUT COULDN’T PREDICT THIS
A post shared by jen (@taylornoticed) on Apr 12, 2019 at 9:23pm PDT
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After a slithery era ruled by the snake, Swift swapped her Instagram, Twitter and Facebook photos to a pastel sky and clouds and included the date “4.26” in her bios on Friday.
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Her web site also now features a countdown clock, and fans around the world — including in Tokyo, Los Angeles and Melbourne — have spotted billboards bearing the same aesthetic with the URL “aprilTwentySix.com,” which redirects to Swift’s site.
If it is indeed a single that is dropped later this month, Swift’s new music will be her first since leaving her longtime home Big Machine Label Group and moving over to to Republic Records and Universal Music Group.