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The Curtain Finally Rises on Taylor Swift’s ‘The Life of a Showgirl’: Stream It Now

The project was produced by Max Martin and Shellback and features Sabrina Carpenter on its title track.

Taylor Swift

Taylor Swift

Mert Alas & Marcus Piggot

It’s showtime! Taylor Swift‘s The Life of a Showgirl has finally arrived after months of buildup, complete with 12 new songs.

Released on Friday (Oct. 3) and produced entirely by the pop star, Max Martin and Shellback, the album finds Swift looking back on her past two years of life — which she largely spent on the road on her global Eras Tour. On “Father Figure,” she interpolates George Michael’s 1987 hit of the same name, and on title track “The Life of a Showgirl,” Sabrina Carpenter joins her for their first official duet since touring together last year.


“The Fate of Ophelia” serves as the LP’s lead single, with Swift premiering a music video for the track in her The Official Release Party of a Showgirl event that will run in theatres all weekend.

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Arriving about 18 months after 17-week Billboard 200-topper The Tortured Poets Department, the 14-time Grammy winner’s newest full-length almost feels like a complete 180 for her. Following the black-and-white aesthetics and melancholy lyricism of TTPD, the high saturation and sparkles associated with Showgirl — which is comprised of flashy pop bangers — feel even more vibrant.

Leading up to the release of Showgirl, Swift kept fans guessing about the project through a number of methods. Teaming up with Spotify, the singer dropped a handful of lyrics through a pop-up immersive experience in New York City, and with Apple Music, Swift revealed even more snippets by capitalizing “random” letters in her lyrics.

Tonight, Swift will appear on The Graham Norton Show to promote the album. In the coming days, she’ll do the same on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and Late Night With Seth Meyers.

Listen to Swift’s new album The Life of a Showgirl below.

This story was first published by Billboard U.S.

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William Shatner at the 22nd Annual VES Awards hosted by the Visual Effects Society held at The Beverly Hilton on February 21, 2024 in Beverly Hills, California.
JC Olivera/Variety

William Shatner at the 22nd Annual VES Awards hosted by the Visual Effects Society held at The Beverly Hilton on February 21, 2024 in Beverly Hills, California.

Rock

William Shatner To Go Where He’s Never Gone Before on Heavy Metal Album Featuring Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden Covers

The 94-year-old TV icon teased that the untitled LP will feature 35 "metal virtuosos."

Forget about second acts in American life, TV legend William Shatner is up to his fourth, maybe 10th act at this point. The 94-year-old actor best known for playing the irascible James T. Kirk on the original Star Trek series and movies, as well as police sergeant T.J. Hooker in the 1980s is boldly going where even he hasn’t gone before.

In an Instagram post on Thursday (Feb. 19), the mutli-hyphenate performer who made his musical debut in 1968 with the beyond bizarre The Transformed Man LP featuring his florid readings of The Beatles’ “Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds” and Elton John’s “Rocket Man,” announced that he’s prepping his first heavy metal album at an age where metal typically goes into your body rather than comes out.

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