Taylor Swift stunned fans on Tuesday night with a surprise performance during Travis Kelce‘s Tight Ends and Friends concert in Nashville, but why was she uncertain ahead of the act? George Kittle reveals the answer.
The event, held as part of the annual Tight End University summit, was co-hosted by the Kanas City Chiefs‘ ace, as well as the San Francisco 49ers’ Kittle and ex-NFL star, Greg Olsen.
Swift‘s appearance was unannounced and marked a rare time she and her tight end boyfriend shared a public event together, further fueling interest in their high-profile relationship.
While Kelce was in Nashville for work during the three-day Tight End University, a training camp founded in 2021 for NFL tight ends to network and develop their overall games, Taylor’s participation added a cultural twist to the football-focused gathering.
But in another universe, it might not have happened as it turns out the Eras Tour star was on the fence about which song she wanted to perform, and needed friends of her three-time Super Bowl-winning boyfriend to encourage her.
“For the venue that, I think, it was maybe 1,000 people, that was the loudest 1,000 people I’ve ever heard in my entire life,” Kittle told Fox News Digital. “It was an incredible experience. She could not have been kinder, more nice.
“And she was like, ‘I think it might be fun to go sing Shake It Off.’ And we were like, ‘It’d be amazing. Twist my arm, Taylor, please.'”
Swift stuns star-studded line-up in Nashville
The evening also featured performances from country artists Kane Brown, Jordan Davis, and Luke Combs, but Swift‘s brief acoustic set stole the spotlight as she proved why she’s arguably the biggest name in music once again.
Despite the excitement it generated, Taylor‘s involvement had been largely unplanned, and her performance of Shake It Off came as a surprise even to some of the other performers.
“Me, Greg and my wife kind of bullied Luke [Combs] into performing,” Kittle added. “Like, ‘Oh, come on man. Taylor Swift said she might perform. You’re going to not perform?’
“And so he went out and did a song with Jordan Davis.”
Her appearance took place during Kane Brown‘s set and culminated in an acoustic rendition of one of her most popular tracks, released all the way back in 2014, which she dedicated “to our favorite players.”
The crowd-numbering around 1,200 people-erupted as Swift took the stage, many having taken a chance by attending in hopes of catching a glimpse of the global superstar.
For some, it was a well-calculated gamble. Tickets to the event were available to the public, and a number of Swift‘s devoted fans, known as “Swifties,” were in attendance.
One fan even livestreamed her performance on X (formerly Twitter), capturing the moment Swift joined the other artists on stage and surprising even the most optimistic attendees.
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