Octavio Jones/TAS23/GI for TAS Rights Management
Something unexpected in the crowd caught Taylor Swift’s attention during her performance of “Marjorie” in Nashville Friday night (May 5).
Dozens of printed images of Swift’s grandmother Marjorie, who inspired the character forever song, which was hung by fans near the main stage for Swift to see. The thoughtful tribute to Swift’s grandmother left her affectionate in front of a house an audience of 70,000 In the first of three shows at the city’s Nissan Stadium this weekend.
With her mouth wide open upon seeing a photo of Marjorie displayed on the Iras Tour, Swift remained composed enough to continue singing: “If I didn’t know better, I guess you’d still be around.” Then she smiled and placed her hand over her heart as the song ended.
The stadium-wide audience, from floor seats to nosebleeds, also lit up their phones with their phone lights throughout Swift’s performance of “Marjorie” just as they had spent the weekend before at her Atlanta station.
“What are you trying to do to me?” she asked the crowd as she sat down at the piano in Nashville. “Oh my God, that was so beautiful.”
“So that song, Marjorie,” she said, “was a song I wrote about my mother, my grandmother,” and gave the backstory to anyone in attendance who might not have known. “She was also a singer. She passed away when I was 13.”
“I just know my mom, right now, is just like screaming and she’s been for the last five and a half minutes, and I love you guys so much. That was so helpful and so special,” Swift said.
The project was spearheaded by a fan who handed out hundreds of prints of Marjorie to the Swifties in her section of the concert. She documented her experience on TikTok.
“I couldn’t be more proud of turning this crazy idea into a reality. Dragging 300 copies around a packed stadium wasn’t ideal, but for her I would have done it, ‘a million times small’!” Written by TikTok user Jessica Morris (@auntie_hero) From “Project Marjorie” after party Friday night.
The May 5th party in Nashville was special for other reasons, too. It was here that Swift finally announced a release date Speak now (Taylor version)and appeared for the first time in red The vault track “Nothing New” live with Phoebe Bridgers. Fans also pointed out that 1975 Matty Healy was at Nissan Stadium watching the show.
Watch Swift’s reaction to Marjorie’s moment on a TikTok account A fan behind the idea, and in another fan clip below.