The Easter Eggs You Might Have Missed From Taylor Swift's New Album Announcement
In an industry increasingly focused on viral moments over lasting impact, Swift's Easter egg mastery proves that mystery still matters. The Life Of A Showgirl may be her 12th studio album, but it feels like the opening act of something even bigger. Here are all of the Easter eggs you may have missed.
The number twelve became Swift's calling card throughout this announcement: the countdown on her website ticked toward 12:12 AM on August 12. But Swift's numerical obsession runs deeper than surface-level symmetry. Eagle-eyed fans traced the podcast silhouette teased on the New Heights Instagram post back to her December 12, 2022 Variety interview, which itself connected to All Too Well: The Short Film's November 12, 2021 release. It's a breadcrumb trail spanning years.
While Swift's connection to the number 12 are widely debated, it's a commonly held belief among her fans that it's a nod to her birthday, December 13, which obviously occurs in the twelfth month of the year.
Eagle-eyed fans have spotted a connection between the moniker of Swift's upcoming album and a 2010 Audible book, Diary of a Showgirl. Per an official description, the audio book explores the story of Marjorie Orbin, a former Las Vegas showgirl, who just happens to also share a forename with Swift's maternal grandmother.
Even her website transformation itself deserves particular attention. That glittering orange aesthetic wasn't arbitrary — orange has become Swift's visual shorthand for reinvention, previously appearing during her Reputation era's snake imagery and Lover's rainbow palette. That's not all: on the final night of her headline-making, billion dollar-making Eras Tour, Swift left the stage through the orange Karma door rather than descending underneath the stage as usual.
The colour choice suggests The Life Of A Showgirl might bridge her darker, more theatrical periods with something entirely new.
Taylor Nation's Instagram carousel proved equally deliberate. Those twelve carefully curated Eras Tour images weren't random fan service — they were a retrospective designed to prime audiences for what's next. The caption's reference to 'See you next era...' felt like Swift addressing her own artistic mortality, acknowledging that every era must eventually bow out for the next act to begin.
Making the announcement on her partner's podcast elevated the unveiling from standard celebrity reveal to intimate family moment. Swift's choice to unveil her album on her boyfriend's platform nods to potentially a new chapter in her relationship with vulnerability. This isn't the guarded Swift of previous eras; this is an artist comfortable enough to let love infiltrate her professional narrative.
By obscuring the album artwork while revealing the title, Swift also created a perfect metaphor for her artistic process by keeping some details crystal clear, others deliberately mysterious. Jason Kelce's gleeful screaming provided the perfect soundtrack to the moment, capturing the unbridled joy that Swift's announcements consistently generate among her fans.
The shipping date Easter egg — October 13 with emphatic disclaimers about it not being the release date — feels like Swift training her audience in patience. In an era of instant gratification, she's teaching fans to savour anticipation and to appreciate delayed gratification. The number 13 also used to be Swift's go-to number that she'd wear on her hand during performances, although this appears now to have been swapped out for the number 12.
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Naomi May is a seasoned culture journalist and editor with over ten years' worth of experience in shaping stories and building digital communities. After graduating with a First Class Honours from City University's prestigious Journalism course, Naomi joined the Evening Standard, where she worked across both the newspaper and website. She is now the Digital Editor at ELLE Magazine and has written features for the likes of The Guardian, Vogue, Vice and Refinery29, among many others. Naomi is also the host of the ELLE Collective book club.
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Taylor Swift's 50 Biggest Billboard Hot 100 Hits
At 12:12 a.m. ET on Aug. 12, Taylor Swift revealed her forthcoming 12th studio album, The Life of a Showgirl. The set will surely be another Billboard chart behemoth for the superstar, kicking off her next era in a chart career that began 19 years ago. More from Billboard Oasis Announce Locations For Live '25 Fan Stores Ahead of North American Dates Twenty One Pilots Hosting 'Breach' Album Listening Parties at Record Stores Across the U.S. and Globe Zoë Kravitz and Mom Lisa Bonet 'Destroyed' Taylor Swift's Bathroom Looking For Pet Snake During L.A. Wildfires: 'I Was Panicking' On the Billboard Hot 100 chart dated Sept. 23, 2006, Swift made her arrival as her debut single, 'Tim McGraw,' entered at No. 86. (It was already scaling the Hot Country Songs chart at the time.) Since then, Swift has become one of the most accomplished artists in the Hot 100's entire history. As of the Hot 100 dated Aug. 16, 2025, Swift boasts 264 career charted titles – the most among women. Her 59 top 10s and 165 top 40 hits (of which 'Tim McGraw' became her first, rising to No. 40) are also the most among women, while her 12 No. 1s place her in a tie for the sixth-most leaders among all acts. Swift, having deftly traversed country, pop, adult alternative and more genres, has consistently added to her Hot 100 legacy. In 2012, she scored her first No. 1 with 'We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together,' while in 2021, she defied the belief that pop music caters only to shorter attention spans, as, thanks to an update of a fan favorite, she notched the longest No. 1 single in the survey's archives: 'All Too Well (Taylor's Version),' at 10 minutes and 13 seconds in length. A year later, Swift achieved the unprecedented feat of monopolizing the Hot 100's top 10 in a single frame, as, on the chart dated Nov. 5, 2022, she infused the region with 10 tracks from her 2022 album Midnights, led by the No. 1 launch of the set's lead single, 'Anti-Hero.' On the May 4, 2024, Hot 100 she rewrote her own record, charting the entire top 14 titles with songs from her LP The Tortured Poets Department. Meanwhile, beyond her chart triumphs, Swift was honored as the first Woman of the Decade at Billboard's 2019 Women In Music celebration, not just for her commercial success, but for her commitment to protecting creative rights, music education, literacy programs, cancer research, disaster relief and the Time's Up initiative. Plus, when she was unable to reclaim the masters of her first six albums, she forged a new path by re-recording her catalog, and earning even more chart honors in the process, including her 2023 Hot 100 No. 1 'Is It Over Now? (Taylor's Version) [From the Vault].' (Swift revealed on May 30, 2025, that she had regained ownership of her masters from Shamrock Capital.) Of all of Swift's songs, which are her biggest Hot 100 hits? Browse the list below, ranking her top titles from No. 50 to No. 1. Taylor Swift's 50 Biggest Billboard Hot 100 hits ranking is based on weekly performance on the Hot 100 (through Aug. 16, 2025). Songs are ranked based on an inverse point system, with weeks at No. 1 earning the greatest value and weeks at lower spots earning the least. Due to changes in chart methodology over the years, eras are weighted differently to account for chart turnover rates during various periods. 50. 'Fearless' Fearless' title track braved a No. 9 peak. 49. 'Bejeweled' The dazzling Midnights track peaked at No. 6 on the Hot 100. 48. 'Sparks Fly' This Speak Now fan favorite captivated fans like a fireworks display with a No. 17 peak. 47. 'Begin Again' 'Begin Again' began with a spot in the top 10 upon its release, debuting at a peak position of No. 7. 46. 'Picture To Burn'This fiery debut-era hit scorched past the top 40 benchmark with a No. 28 peak in 2008. 45. 'Should've Said No' Swift's uptempo country jam, the final single off her 2006 self-titled debut, peaked at No. 33 on the Hot 100. 44. 'Midnight Rain' The regretful Midnights track peaked at No. 5 on the Hot 100 in November 2022. 43. 'Everything Has Changed' feat. Ed Sheeran The Red duet peaked at No. 32 on the Hot 100 after being released as a single in 2013. 42. 'Tim McGraw'Swift's Hot 100 debut — the country love song that started it all — reached No. 40 on the Hot 100. It also became her first of 36 top 10s to date on Hot Country Songs. 41. 'Eyes Open' The second Hunger Games soundtrack single from Swift, 'Eyes Open' peaked at No. 19 on the Hot 100 following its 2012 release. 40. 'Red' The rockin' promo single from the 2012 album of the same name exploded onto the Hot 100 at No. 6. 39. 'Down Bad' The track from 2024's The Tortured Poets Department debuted at its No. 2 Hot 100 high. 38. 'Ours' Swift's plaintive, banjo-featuring single off Speak Now debuted and peaked at No. 13 on the Hot 100. 37. 'Mean'Swift clapped back at her critics (rumors suggest music industry analyst Bob Lefsetz as the specific target) with 'Mean,' which debuted (and peaked) at No. 11 in 2010. The track won Swift a pair of Grammys at the 2012 ceremony: best country song and best country solo performance. 36. 'Highway Don't Care' Tim McGraw with Taylor Swift Swift revisited her roots and, in the process, teamed with the title subject of her debut hit with this feature on McGraw's 2013 album Two Lanes of Freedom. The collab drove to No. 22 on the Hot 100. 35. 'Fifteen' This confessional 2009 song — which shouts out the singer's original #squad member and best friend Abigail Anderson — evidently resonated with teens everywhere, peaking at No. 23. 34. 'All Too Well (Taylor's Version)' When Swift rerecorded her 2012 LP Red in 2021 as Red (Taylor's Version), she expanded 'All Too Well' to its original 10-minute length. The new version topped the Hot 100 and became the longest song to hit No. 1 on that chart. 33. '22' The Swift/Max Martin collab '22' was the sixth Red single to hit the Hot 100's top 20, peaking at No. 20. 32. '…Ready for It?' The song gave Swift a fab honor: when it debuted at its No. 4 Hot 100 peak in September 2017, it became Swift's 72nd Hot 100 entry … one more than The Beatles' career total. 31. 'Cardigan''Cardigan,' the lead single from Swift's pandemic album Folklore, signaled a return to her singer-songwriter roots as she branched out into the indie and folk music realms. Co-written and produced by The National's Aaron Dessner, 'Cardigan' topped the Hot 100. 30. 'Lover' The title track from Swift's seventh studio album, released in 2019, found strong public reception after a performance on that year's MTV Video Music Awards. As the album impacted the Billboard charts, the resulting activity pushed this composition to No. 10 on the Hot 100. 29. 'White Horse' The Grammy Award-winning track (best country song, best female country vocal performance) galloped to a No. 13 peak on the Hot 100. 28. 'Today Was a Fairytale' This ode to a dream date, fittingly off 2010's Valentine's Day soundtrack, debuted and peaked at No. 2 on the Hot 100. 27. 'Two Is Better Than One' Boys Like Girls feat. Taylor Swift Power-poppers Boys Like Girls brought in Swift for the assist on this 2009 single, which peaked at No. 18 on the Hot 100. 26. 'Willow''Willow,' the lead single from Swift's ninth studio album Evermore, debuted at No. 1 on the Hot 100, continuing in the understated folk singer-songwriter vein of her previous album, Folklore. 25. 'I Can Do It With a Broken Heart' Swift's ode to faking it 'til you make it, a confessional and intimate reflection despite its bouncy beat, peaked at No. 3 on the Hot 100 upon its debut. Promoted as the second proper single from 2024's The Tortured Poets Department, it spent more than six months on the chart. 24. 'Back to December' Rumored to be about Swift's short-lived relationship with Taylor Lautner, the ballad entered and crested at No. 6 on the Hot 100 in 2010. 23. 'Lavender Haze' The loved-up opening Midnights song peaked at No. 2 on the Hot 100. 22. 'Delicate' The fourth Reputation single, a gentle, enveloping midtempo ballad, stood in stark contrast with its three immediate predecessors. The switch-up had welcome results, cruising to No. 12 on the Hot 100 while slowly but steadily rising to top of the Pop Airplay chart. 21. 'Me!' feat. Brendon Urie A 180-degree turn from the dark Reputation, 'Me!' is a bouncy, celebratory track that finds Swift at her most saccharine sweet alongside Panic! at The Disco frontman Brendon Urie. The pair's collab, the lead single from Swift's 2019 album Lover, surged to No. 2 on the Hot 100. 20. 'You Need To Calm Down'As Swift advocated for Democratic political causes in late 2018, the singer infused an overt political tone into her songs for the first time with this 2019 Lover cut. Its lyrics supported LGBTQ causes, feminism and self-empowerment, and secured a No. 2 Hot 100 hit for the singer's resume. The video, with many LGBTQ stars making cameos, also ended a multi-year feud with Katy Perry, as the two reunite and embrace in the clip. 19. 'Is It Over Now? (Taylor's Version) [From the Vault]' 'Is It Over Now? (Taylor's Version) [From the Vault]' from 1989 (Taylor's Version) hit No. 1 on the Hot 100 in November 2023. 18. 'Our Song' Swift's third single, released in 2007, climbed to No. 16 on the Hot 100 and became her first of nine No. 1s to date on Hot Country Songs. 17. 'Fortnight' feat. Post Malone Chart fans surely appreciate that the lead single from 2024's The Tortured Poets Department spent, fittingly per its title, two weeks at No. 1 on the Hot 100. 16. 'Karma' feat. Ice Spice Boosted by a remix and music video featuring Ice Spice, this Midnights single peaked at No. 2 in June 2023. 15. 'Teardrops on My Guitar' Swift's breakout pop crossover single peaked at No. 13 on the Hot 100 in 2008. 14. 'Mine' The lead single off Speak Now — a rollicking country breakup song — made a No. 3 splash on the Hot 100 in 2010. 13. 'Look What You Made Me Do'The lead single from Swift's fifth No. 1 Billboard 200 album, Reputation, likewise became her fifth No. 1 song on the Hot 100, reaching the summit in September 2017. 12. 'Style' Entering the chart after Swift performed the track at the 2014 Victoria's Secret fashion show, the third single from 1989 peaked at No. 6. 11. 'Wildest Dreams'The chemistry of Swift, Max Martin and Shellback remained infallible with 'Wildest Dreams,' which peaked at No. 5 on the Hot 100 in November 2015. 10. 'I Don't Wanna Live Forever (Fifty Shades Darker)' with Zayn Swift released the brooding Zayn duet as her first post-1989 single. The Fifty Shades Darker song rose to No. 2 on the Hot 100 in March 2017. 9. 'Bad Blood' feat. Kendrick Lamar Fueled by a #squad-flaunting video (and a highly anticipated appearance by Kendrick Lamar), Swift's diss track hit No. 1 on the Hot 100 for one week following the clip's debut at the 2015 Billboard Music Awards. 8. 'We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together'Swift's first Hot 100 No. 1, the critically-acclaimed single confirmed Swift's crossover appeal, staying at the top for three weeks following its 2012 release. 7. 'I Knew You Were Trouble.' The irresistible anthem from Red debuted at No. 3 on the Hot 100 in October 2012, eventually peaking at No. 2. 6. 'Love Story'The melodic masterpiece, and fairytale-themed lead single off Fearless, peaked at No. 4 on the Hot 100 in 2009. 5. 'Blank Space' Swift became the first woman to replace herself at No. 1 on the Hot 100, as the second single off 1989 dethroned 'Shake It Off.' 'Blank Space' spent seven weeks on top in 2014-15. 4. 'You Belong With Me' The monster crossover hit dominated airwaves in 2009, peaking at No. 2 on the Hot 100. It also became the first country song to top the all-genre Radio Songs chart (after 'Love Story' had reached No. 2) since its start in 1990. 3. 'Anti-Hero' The lead single off Midnights debuted atop the Hot 100, and remained there for six weeks until Mariah Carey's seasonal classic, 'All I Want for Christmas Is You,' bumped it from the summit on the chart dated Dec. 17, 2022. It later returned to the top and clocked an additional two weeks in the reigning spot. 2. 'Cruel Summer' 'Cruel Summer' got the single treatment four years after its original release on Swift's 2019 album Lover — but that delay didn't stop it from becoming one of the star's biggest songs to date. In October 2023, the song finally topped the Hot 100. 1. 'Shake It Off'Swift's devil-may-care anthem found her unabashedly looking for pop dominance, and she found it: The single debuted at No. 1 on the Hot 100 and posted four weeks at the top. Plus, its nearly six-month stay in the top 10 alone plays a major role in its status as Swift's biggest charting single in a career with a multitude of milestones. Best of Billboard Chart Rewind: In 1989, New Kids on the Block Were 'Hangin' Tough' at No. 1 Four Decades of 'Madonna': A Look Back at the Queen of Pop's Debut Album on the Charts Chart Rewind: In 1990, Madonna Was in 'Vogue' Atop the Hot 100 Solve the daily Crossword
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The Life of a Prolific Pop Star: ‘Showgirl' Will Be Taylor Swift's Ninth Full-Length Album of the 2020s
There are many reasons for Taylor Swift's extraordinary success: talent, resilience, courage and, not least, a work ethic that is second to none. The country-turned-pop superstar is tireless and extraordinary productive. Her just-announced The Life of a Showgirl will be her ninth full-length album of the 2020s. And that doesn't even count live albums. Swift has been a prolific and engaged artist since she released her eponymous debut album in October 2006. Her longest gap between regular studio albums was just over three years – the gap between 1989 (October 2014) and reputation (November 2017). More from Billboard Taylor Swift Announces New Album, 'The Life of a Showgirl' Taylor Swift's 50 Biggest Billboard Hot 100 Hits Taylor Swift Curates Playlist for New Album 'The Life of a Showgirl' But she has picked up the pace in the 2020s. As this decade began, Swift had achieved six No. 1 albums on the Billboard 200 and had become the first woman to win the Grammy for album of the year twice as a lead artist. One might reasonably think that an artist who had achieved that much success and validation would let up on the pace a bit, perhaps even take a well-earned breather. Instead, Swift has redoubled her efforts. Two factors played a role in this explosion of activity. COVID-19, which was officially declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization in March 2020, led Swift to record two albums in quick succession, Folklore and its 'sister record,' Evermore. They were released less than five months apart in 2020. And Swift's desire to reclaim control of her artistic legacy led her to re-record four of her early albums. Those re-recordings didn't slow the pace of new studio albums. Swift somehow found the time and energy to toggle back and forth between new albums and re-recordings of old ones. In addition to these nine new and re-recorded albums, Swift has also released two live albums in the 2020s – Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions and Lover (Live from Paris). (Technically, there was a third: Live From Clear Channel Stripped 2008 was released in April 2020 without Swift's approval. Swift bluntly denounced the release on her social media accounts, calling it 'shameless greed in the time of coronavirus' and asked fans not to buy or stream the album. They complied: The album flopped.) Just about any talent scout will say that talent is not enough to achieve and sustain success in the music business. A strong will to succeed, and a willingness to do whatever that takes, are just as important. You can call it a 'work ethic.' Swift has it in spades. Best of Billboard Chart Rewind: In 1989, New Kids on the Block Were 'Hangin' Tough' at No. 1 Janet Jackson's Biggest Billboard Hot 100 Hits H.E.R. & Chris Brown 'Come Through' to No. 1 on Adult R&B Airplay Chart Solve the daily Crossword
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Everything We Know About Taylor Swift's ‘The Life of a Showgirl' (So Far)
Taylor Swift didn't rest for long after wrapping her global Eras Tour. After just eight months of downtime, the pop superstar all but broke the internet by revealing at 12:12 a.m. ET Tuesday (Aug. 12) that she'd be embarking on a brand new era with the release of an album titled The Life of a Showgirl, which will mark the 12th studio LP in her discography. More from Billboard Twenty One Pilots Hosting 'Breach' Album Listening Parties at Record Stores Across the U.S. and Globe Zoë Kravitz and Mom Lisa Bonet 'Destroyed' Taylor Swift's Bathroom Looking For Pet Snake During L.A. Wildfires: 'I Was Panicking' Cindy Lee Announces North American Tour Dates What was almost as eye-popping as the announcement itself was the way she shared the news. In lieu of her more recent method of unveiling new albums during award-show acceptance speeches — like she did for 2022's Midnights at the VMAs and 2024's The Tortured Poets Department at the Grammys — Swift instead chose a much more casual route of spreading the word this time. Joining boyfriend Travis Kelce on his New Heights podcast, the 14-time Grammy winner simply revealed the project's existence and title in a clip posted to the show's social media accounts, just one day before the full episode's release. 'So, I wanted to show you something,' she said in the video, pulling a blurred-out vinyl from a 'T.S.' brief case as the Kansas City Chiefs tight end beamed beside her. 'This is my brand new album, The Life of a Showgirl.' Fans are now clamoring for all the information they can get on the LP, which will mark Swift's first full-length since 17-week Billboard 200 chart-topper Tortured Poets. But while only time will tell how the famously cryptic, Easter-egg-dropping musician will continue sharing new details about Life of a Showgirl, Billboard is keeping track of all of them as they come. See everything there is to know — so far — about Swift's 12th studio album below. The Title The title of The Life of a Showgirl was the first detail Swift revealed about the project, doing so in the New Heights clip, which was posted after a timer on her website ticked down to 12:12 a.m. ET on Aug. 12. But fans are already starting to come up with theories about what inspired the theatrical name, with some people pointing out that scenes from Gold Diggers of 1933 — a 92-year-old film about showgirls — just so happen to match the aesthetic of her Eras Tour performance of 'The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived.' Swifties have also picked up on the fact that the musician likely wrote most or all of The Life of a Showgirl while putting on her own traveling show for two years straight on the Eras trek. 'Okay wait I'm already obsessed with this album concept,' one fan wrote on X. 'The Life of a Showgirl potentially being about Taylor's life during the eras tour, the highest of highs and the lowest of lows, the physical and mental toll, the glitz and the glam, the celebrations, the constant travel, the longing and long distance… I am OBSESSED.' The Color Scheme For months, Swifties speculated that her incorporation of more and more orange outfits in the final stages of the Eras Tour meant that the star's next album would have an orange theme — something that proved to be true when Swift finally announced The Life of a Showgirl, changing her website to have a sparkly clementine wallpaper, and updating her profile pictures on social media to show a similarly hued lock. Taylor Nation had also shared 12 images of Swift wearing orange on stage hours before the album was announced. A second crucial color of the new era, however, appears to be mint green — and fans think they might have already figured out what it represents. 'The colour scheme is copper oxidizing because a showgirl is on a pedestal for the world and over time, in the public eye they lose their shine…,' one person wrote on X, using the Statue of Liberty's fade from bronze to green over time as an example. Max Martin Appears to Be Involved After working almost exclusively with Jack Antonoff and Aaron Dessner for about eight years, Swift appears to have reunited with producer Max Martin for The Life of a Showgirl. At least, that's what fans have gathered from the mysterious Spotify playlist Swift personally curated for the new era — titled 'And baby, that's show business for you' — that includes only songs she made with the elusive Swedish pop pioneer. The premise of Martin's involvement is definitely exciting, as he helped Swift craft some of her biggest hits to date. Their previous collaborations include 'We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together,' 'Blank Space' and 'Shake It Off,' each of which spent multiple weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. Best of Billboard Chart Rewind: In 1989, New Kids on the Block Were 'Hangin' Tough' at No. 1 Janet Jackson's Biggest Billboard Hot 100 Hits H.E.R. & Chris Brown 'Come Through' to No. 1 on Adult R&B Airplay Chart Solve the daily Crossword
