Taylor Swift Ends Each Era with This Tradition the Night Before She Releases a New Album

Taylor Swift reveals how she ends one musical era before officially kicking off another

The musician revealed on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon that she listened to The Tortured Poets Department the night before releasing The Life of a Showgirl

The Life of a Showgirl is available to stream

Taylor Swift’s tradition for the night before album releases makes total sense.

While playing the “Game of Lasts” on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on Monday, Oct. 6, the “Fate of Ophelia” singer was asked to reveal the last song of her own that she had listened to — but not from her latest album, The Life of a Showgirl.

“So I have this tradition when the eve before I have a new album that comes out that starts a new musical era, I listen to the entirety of the last album that I made,” Swift, 35, revealed.

Fallon, 51, said that he wasn’t aware of Swift’s farewell tradition. “It’s every night before a new album comes out,” the 14-time Grammy winner confirmed.

The Tortured Poets Department came out in April 2024 while Swift was in the middle of her record-breaking Eras Tour. She revealed during an Oct. 6 appearance on Scott Mills on Radio 2’s Breakfast Show that she was “miserable” writing it.

“The cool thing about this record is that I’m in a very similar space in my life as to when I wrote it and now that I’m putting it out, which is nice… it’s nice when those things are not incongruous,” Swift said, alluding to The Life of a Showgirl.

“You know, like with the last record, I was in such a different place in my life when I wrote it.”

The radio personality asked if she was referring to The Tortured Poets Department, which Swift verified. “Just miserable. And then when I put it out, I was so happy.”

“So it was like, ah, I love this art. I love this beautiful art about misery. I, however, am not miserable anymore so it feels weird to talk about the record because it’s like, you can be proud of the work, but you can also just not relate to that person you were,” she concluded.

Her latest release is a departure from TTPD’s monochromatic album art, filled with bedazzled costumes and feathered boas.

“I can’t tell you how proud I am to share this with you, an album that just feels so right. A forever thank you goes out to my mentors and friends Max and Shellback for helping me paint this self portrait,” she wrote on Instagram upon releasing The Life of a Showgirl on Oct. 3.

“If you thought the big show was wild, perhaps you should come and take a look behind the curtain…”

Taylor Swift has captured the zeitgeist yet again. The pop phenom excited the world with the Aug. 26 announcement of her engagement to Travis Kelce and is shattering ceilings once again with pre-sales of her 12th studio album The Life of a Showgirl, which officially drops at midnight on Oct. 3. Swifties and collectors alike have been tracking the LP/cassette variants as they pop up at Swift’s official store, and Target has exclusive releases ready.

In anticipation, there’s an immersive “The Life of a Showgirl” Spotify pop-up happening in NYC that’s filled with Easter eggs, hinting at what’s to come on her 12-song album, and even a themed Kitchenaid mixer giveaway.