Swifties react to middle of night album announcement 'The Life of a Showgirl'
Swifties were met with a late-night surprise on a seemingly random Monday night — a cryptic countdown appeared on Taylor Swift’s website.
The countdown, which appeared in front of a sparkly orange background on the site, ended at 12:12 a.m. Tuesday morning, which is Aug. 12. With all of the 12s, fans thought Swift’s 12th album could be released.
Swift revealed through the countdown that her 12th album is on its way, but none of the tunes were released Tuesday.
The next era and album, which has an orange and teal theme, will be titled “The Life of a Showgirl,” according to Swift’s website.
As of now, the album cover is pictured as a lock icon, signaling that the real photo will later be revealed.
Swifties took to social media to discuss the announcement, which started with two notable social media posts connected to the megastar on Monday.
The hashtag #TSTheLifeofaShowgirl is trending on the social media platform X.
Good luck to all the families and friends of swifties today and going forward. We are back to being insufferable #TSTheLifeOfAShowgirl pic.twitter.com/i7cZ7tIw1P
— Lucy (Taylor’s Version) ⸆⸉ (@erastourhoe) August 12, 2025
????????https://t.co/5pV6JZcNk5
— Richard (@plumbocat) August 12, 2025
the concept of #TSTheLifeofaShowgirl being a glitter gel pen album…????? pic.twitter.com/OvS0Saq2Bo
— abby❤️???? (@aquamarinemoonn) August 12, 2025
taylor’s easter eggs are insane cus THE MIDNIGHTS DOOR WAS ORANGE, the STAR on her cheek in anti-hero, the emoji is ❤️???? like the LOVER HOUSE BURNING, the whole icdiwabh choreography being on theme, the stage was a key and the album is locked???
#TSTheLifeofaShowgirl pic.twitter.com/ypt7kmQ218
— mari ❤️???? ⁷ (@guysplse) August 12, 2025
WHAT IF I TOLD YOU NONE OF IT WAS ACCIDENTAL!!!! #TSTheLifeOfAShowgirl pic.twitter.com/iyL7yvdKXB
— poppy❤️????????fan girly (@taylormoments13) August 12, 2025
Revealing the album title
Fans first suspected the next album after an official Instagram account run by Swift’s team posted a carousel of 12 photos of various moments and outfits from her tour, NPR reported. Each of Swift’s albums — or eras — is associated with a specific color, and in each photo of the post’s slideshow, she’s wearing orange.
“Thinking about when she said ‘See you next era …’ ” the caption said.
Orange hasn’t been associated with one of Swift’s era until now, which clued fans in to the impending announcement.
Around the same time, the New Heights podcast hosted by Swift’s boyfriend, Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, and his brother, retired fellow footballer Jason Kelce, teased this Wednesday’s upcoming episode, writing on Instagram that it will have a “VERY special guest,” according to NPR.
In the photo, the brothers are sitting on either side of a suspiciously Swift-shaped silhouette — against a sparkly orange background.
After 12:12 a.m. hit, the countdown revealed a preorder page on Swift’s website where fans can order “The Life of a Showgirl” on vinyl, cassette or CD with a poster.
The vinyl record is $29.99, the cassette is $19.99 and the CD/poster combo is $12.99 while supplies last.
But before the products were revealed, Swift’s website crashed — revealing a 503 Service Temporarily Unavailable message.
According to Swift’s website, the products will ship before or on Oct. 13. However, the site notes that this date is “not the release date,” as the official album release date will be announced.
Along with the products, another video was posted on Instagram as a collaborative post between Swift’s account and the New Heights podcast.
“So, I wanted to show you something,” she tells the Kelce brothers in the video, NPR said, opening up a vinyl record case with her initials in orange. She pulled out a record with the cover blurred out. “This is my brand new album, ‘The Life of a Showgirl.’ ”
This will be Swift’s 12th studio album and first since she bought back the rights to her master recordings in May from Shamrock Capital, the private equity group that acquired them from Scooter Braun, according to NPR.
On Tuesday, a search of “Taylor Swift” on Google revealed an interactive graphic with orange confetti and a floating fiery heart icon that reads “And, baby, that’s show business for you.”
Fans can push a fiery heart button at the bottom of the page as well to “like” it, and as of Tuesday afternoon, the icon had over 18.5 million likes.
This is exactly what happens in our brains when someone mentions Taylor Swift ???? #TSTheLifeofaShowgirl https://t.co/1PSEstRRZQ
— Taylor Nation (@taylornation13) August 12, 2025
plot twist: there is no magic number for the heart on google. it’s a social experiment to see how long swifties will keep clicking a button if we think something taylor-related will happen as a result (and i’m gonna keep clicking it) #TSTheLifeofaShowgirl
— swiftie wins (@swifferwins) August 12, 2025
Swift posted a Spotify playlist of 22 songs on her page following the announcement as well.
SHE POSTED A PLAYLIST WITH 22 SONGS AND THEY’RE ALL MAX MARTIN BANGERS OH MY GOD??? #TSTheLifeofaShowgirl pic.twitter.com/77FplRp493
— michael ???? (@thatgaymichael) August 12, 2025
All songs on the playlist were produced by Max Martin, who worked with Swift on her “1989” and “Reputation” albums, USA Today reported.
Megan Swift is a TribLive reporter covering trending news in Western Pennsylvania. A Murrysville native, she joined the Trib full time in 2023 after serving as editor-in-chief of The Daily Collegian at Penn State. She previously worked as a Jim Borden Scholarship intern at the Trib for three summers. She can be reached at mswift@triblive.com.
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