Taylor Swift Across the Globe: The Best International Moments From the Eras Tour

Chaos ensued on the opening night of the Eras European leg in Paris as Swift started cutting songs from the setlist and rearranging different sections without explanation. But it all made sense when she emerged onstage in a white gown from the “Fortnight” music video to officially bring The Tortured Poets Department to the tour. Swift debuted “But Daddy I Love Him,” “So High School,” “Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me?,” “Down Bad,” “Fortnight,” “The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived,” and “I Can Do It With a Broken Heart” live and made them setlist staples for the remaining Eras shows. —M.G.

“You’re my longest music friend,” Hayley Williams told Swift as they shared a piano bench to sing their duet from Speak Now (Taylor’s Version). The pair made Swemo dreams come true as they gushed over each other and their decades-long friendship. Williams even brought the stadium back to 2010 by wearing a purple dress and scribbling lyrics down her arm with a Sharpie marker — a classic look from Swift’s 2010 Speak Now World Tour. —M.G.

It was exciting enough when Swift’s boyfriend, Travis Kelce, traveled to Argentina to watch the singer bring the Eras Tour to South America. But people lost it when Swift swapped the lyrics in closing number “Karma” and sang “Karma is the guy on the Chiefs” in a nod to her NFL player boyfriend (a tight end for the Kansas City Chiefs.) The excitement from the crowd almost created another Swiftquake — and the Midnights track did see a notable jump in streams following the live moment. —M.G.

Thanks to the Eras Tour, the world discovered Prince William is also a Swiftie. After attending the first night of Swift’s string of Wembley Stadium dates to ring in his 42nd birthday, the Prince of Wales — along with children George and Charlotte — posed for selfies with the pop megastar. While he shared one image on social media, Swift shared another, which featured her NFL beau Travis Kelce. Some luckier fans even saw Prince William rocking out to “Shake It Off” during the show. —I.K.

“You get extra credit points if you know this next song at all… It’s really old,” Swift quipped in Edinburg before breaking into a piano rendition of the love song “Crazier.” The track was included in the 2009 film Hannah Montana: The Movie. Since her cameo in the movie, Swift hasn’t played the song  live — until the Eras Tour. To make the live debut even better, Swift mashed up  “Crazier” with another flawless B-side, “All of the Girls” from the Lover era. It was a moment that left several Swifties in attendance, and offline, screaming and spinning around. —M.G.

It’s impossible not to tie the beginning of Sabrina Carpenter’s pop dominance to her co-sign from Taylor Swift, so it made sense that for the Latin America, Australia, and Asia run of the Eras Tour, Swift welcomed Carpenter onstage. “Espresso” and “Please Please Please” may have still been in the vault, but these performances let the Emails I Can’t Send pop star connect with Swift’s vast audience. And where better to connect to a devoted fanbase than in Latin America, Asia and Australia? —T.M.

Hugh Grant had a night on the town with his family at the Eras Tour. While attending the second night of Swift’s Wembley Stadium concerts, he apparently enjoyed some tequila shots with the pop star’s boyfriend Travis Kelce and had fun with some friendship bracelets. After the show, Grant penned a sweet note to Swift on X that said, “Dear @taylorswift13 , You have an incredible show, an amazing and v hospitable team and excellent if gigantic boyfriend (#tequilashots.). Thanks so much from one ageing London boy, wife and thrilled 8 year old #halfgirlhalfbracelet.” —I.K.

For more than three years, rising pop star Griff has been on Taylor Swift’s radar. Swift gave Griff’s stripped-down track “Shades of Yellow” a shoutout, the pair met and took a sweet photo together at the 2021 BRITs, and last fall, Swift promoted Griff’s single synth-pop anthem “Vertigo.” Fans suspected something could be brewing between the pair — and they were right. Griff opened the second night of her Wembley Stadium Eras Tour dates in London. For the special performance, Griff — who has made many of her costumes over the years — even crafted a dress in honor of Swift’s TTPD track “But Daddy I Love Him.” —I.K.

Tom Cruise left his action-hero career behind for one night to join the Swifties. The actor was spotted at night two of the Wembley Stadium Eras Tour dates where he could be seen enjoying the concert from the VIP tent. But like any good Swift fan, Cruise joined in on the fun and was seen exchanging friendship bracelets with fans. —I.K.

Gracie Abrams spent most of 2023 as an Eras Tour opener, and fans kept wondering when the two would perform their new duet “Us.” On the third night of Swift’s Wembley run, Abrams was spotted in the VIP tent. She ended up joining Swift during the “surprise song” part of the show for a special piano-and-guitar performance of “Us.,” which appears on Abrams’ latest album The Story of Us. This marked the second time they’ve duetted together during the surprise song portion: Swift previously invited Abrams to sing “I Miss You, I’m Sorry” during a show in Ohio after weather forced Abrams’ opening slot to be cut that night. —B.S.

During the Sydney stop of the Eras Tour in late February, Taylor Swift had an “old friend” in the audience: Katy Perry. The Teenage Dream singer shared a selfie video singing along to “Bad Blood,” the track Swift allegedly wrote about her while they were feuding and had been (as Swift told Rolling Stone in 2014) “straight-up enemies.” The pair even shared a photo together after the show: “Got to see an old friend shine tonight,” Perry wrote about Swift. —T.M.

Even the best things must come to the end, and Swift acknowledged as much when she announced the official end of the Eras Tour. During the surprise song set in Liverpool, Swift announced that the tour would finish in December, after the second U.S. leg finishes. —M.G.

On her first night back at Wembley Stadium in London, Swift was joined by her best friend and collaborator, Ed Sheeran, to perform their Red track, “Everything Has Changed.” “This is one of my best friends in the world, to the point where I feel like he’s a second brother,” Swift told the audience when Sheeran joined her onstage. “We toured together on the Red tour. Every time I’m doing the Red part of the show, I think about the memories that we’ve made. And now he is someone who plays Wembley like every week,” she added. Their performance finished off with a mash-up of Sheeran’s top 40 ballad, “Thinking Out Loud” from his second album X (Multiply). — M.G.

A couples weeks before wrapping up her stint at Wembley Stadium, Swift announced that five new opening acts would be joining her in London: Suki Waterhouse, Holly Humberstone, Maisie Peters, and RAYE. “I asked them to play on this tour because I love their music and I think they’ll absolutely smash it in Wembley Stadium!! Go check out their music if you haven’t already. Gonna be a fun 5 nights!!!,” the singer wrote in an Instagram story. Waterhouse, Humberstone, Peters, and RAYE all charmed The Eras Tour stage in their own way. — M.G.

Swift brought a hurricane of surprises when Florence Welch joined her onstage in London in the middle of the The Tortured Poets Department set to sing their collaboration “Florida!!!.” Right after Swift sang “So High School,” the stage lights flashed jade green as the haunting chords from the TTPD track rang out, and Welch emerged to join Swift for a tortured rendition. — M.G.