Taylor Swift has revisited one of the most recognisable symbols of her record-breaking Eras Tour during a special appearance at the Grammy Museum’s Icon Sessions.
The 14-time Grammy winner, 36, returned to the flower-adorned piano that became a fan favourite during the tour’s surprise-song segment.
Swift also took part in a conversation with Recording Academy Chief Executive Officer Harvey Mason Jr. at the event, presented by the Recording Academy’s Songwriters & Composers Wing.
During the appearance, Swift performed a medley beginning with “I Knew It, I Knew You,” a song recently recorded for the Toy Story 5 soundtrack.
READ ALSO: Madonna Tops 2026 MTV VMAs Nominations
The song flowed into her folklore hit “August,” before transitioning into the extended 10-minute version of “All Too Well,” which originally appeared on her 2012 album Red.
The mashup marked Swift’s first public performance following her July 1 wedding to Travis Kelce and brought together songs representing different periods of her artistic and personal life.
The lyrics she selected created a new conclusion to both “All Too Well” and “August,” ending on a more hopeful note that appeared to reference her newlywed life.
“Remember when I pulled up and said, ‘Get in the car,’ then canceled my plans just in case you’d call. Back when I was living for the hope of it all,” Swift sang from “August,” before transitioning into the Toy Story 5 track.
Asked by Mason about writing from a third-person perspective or from the viewpoint of a character, as she did on folklore, Swift said the album helped prepare her for writing *“I Knew It, I Knew You.”
“Oh, it was extremely different for me. Sort of a like a pressure release valve. It was an escape into my imagination. It was all of a sudden I was walking on a cliffside and looking at the ocean instead of just being at home,” Swift said.
“And it was a lot of things all at once. But with folklore I was oftentimes creating the character and creating different characters who were interacting with each other and that was really fun. I just got to write in character for Toy Story 5 which was such a blast,” she added.
Swift said Jesse, a character from the Toy Story films, was someone she had loved for *“years and years and years.”
She also reflected on “All Too Well,” which was not released as a single during the original Red album cycle but remained a song she was particularly proud of.
Swift said fans’ continued connection with the song years after its release encouraged her to record and release the 10-minute version.
“It’s always been sort of like powered by fans caring about this song. And so, you know, all the iterations of it really speak to the fact that, you know, when they love something that passionately, I’m going to listen to that,” she said.
For the performance, Swift wore a chiffon sage-green dress with crimson-red floral detailing and styled her hair in an updo reminiscent of the artwork for her 2020 album folklore.
She completed the look with her signature red lipstick, appearing to reference several of the distinct eras that have defined her career.
Billboard
