The typical unlucky number 13 was once again favorable for Taylor Swift at the 66th Annual Grammy Awards. Attending with 12 Grammys under her belt, fans anticipated an announcement from Swift, should she receive her 13th. 

Born on December 13, 1989, Swift has seen the number in several milestones throughout her career. Swift has often noted that early on her first album went gold in 13 weeks and her first song that ever went number 1 had an unintentional 13-second intro.  

Leading up to the hopeful acceptance of her 13th Grammy, fans believed that Swift would announce an upcoming release of Reputation (Taylor’s Version). 

In the preceding weeks, fans took notice of Swift hinting at a future announcement. Fans began their speculations when noticing that several of her close friends changed their social media profile pictures to black and white. Swift did the same on the morning of the Grammys, leading fans to believe her this represented the black and white cover of 2017 Reputation album.  

With several signs pointing towards this release, Swift shocked fans with an announcement no one had predicted. While accepting her 13th Grammy for Best Pop Vocal Album for Midnights, Swift thanked her fans, announcing a brand new album to be released. 

“I want to say thank you to the fans by telling you a secret that I’ve been keeping from you for the last two years,” said Swift, “Which is that my brand new album comes out April 19th, it’s called The Tortured Poets Department.”

The album includes 16 songs, with an additional bonus track, and features two collaborations: “Fortnight” (feat. Post Malone) and “Florida!!!” (feat. Florence + The Machine). 

Several of the album’s song titles have alluded to centering around Swift’s ex-boyfriend, Joe Alwyn. In the spring of 2023 news quickly spread that Swift and Alwyn had chosen to part ways after 6 years. With little information since the split, fans now believe this upcoming album will reflect the relationship. This includes the track titled “So long, London,” reminding fans of her song “London Boy” written about Alwyn on her album Lover. 

“I was so shocked when she announced it because everyone thought that she would release her version of Reputation, but I’m beyond excited that she chose to announce this instead,” said Jessica Fu ‘26. 

Swift has just recently begun another leg of her tour, beginning in Tokyo and ending in London. The album will release nearly halfway through the international tour, 

Fans are already on the edge of their seats, and excited to see what Swift has in store for her 11th studio album.