After much ado, Taylor Swift performed a medley of her hits at the 2019 American Music Awards on Sunday, November 24. The streamlined performance included shortened versions of her songs “The Man,” “Love Story,” “I Knew You Were Trouble,” “Blank Space,” “Shake It Off,” and “Lover.” Swift brought out Halsey and Camila Cabello for “Shake It Off” and performed the more-acoustic “Lover” seated at the piano, joined by a pair of ballet dancers.
Last week, Swift posted an impassioned message to Tumblr claiming that Scooter Braun and Scott Borchetta—who now own most of Swift’s back catalog—were disallowing her from performing her old songs at the American Music Awards. Braun and Borchetta denied it, and a beef was reignited after what seemed like a détente; find a more complete explainer here.
Swift stayed surprisingly quiet about the recent controversy surrounding her performance rights, instead choosing to thank her new label and fans for helping her reach such phenomenal heights in her career. “All that matters to me is the memories that I’ve had with you guys the fans over the years,” she said. “We’ve had fun, incredible, exhilarating, extraordinary times together.”
Swift’s most recent album was Lover, which included the terrible singles “ME!” and “You Need to Calm Down,” as well as the much better “Miss Americana & The Heartbreak Prince.” Back in April, she was named to TIME‘s list of the 100 most influential people in the world.
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Revisit our essay “Taylor Swift Won’t Let Go of Pop’s Big Machine,” and find a clip from Swift’s American Music Awards performance below.
The American Music Awards are produced by Dick Clark Productions, which is owned by Valence Media. Valence Media also owns SPIN.
https://twitter.com/MikeAdamOnAir/status/1198798758718427136?s=20
?? @taylorswift13 DID THAT. “I'm so sick of them coming at me again / 'Cause if I was a man, then I'd be the man / They'd say I hustled, put in the work / They wouldn’t shake their heads and question how much of this I deserve.” #TaylorOnAMAs #AMAspic.twitter.com/CR431dPzLT
— Brian A. Hernandez (@BAHjournalist) November 25, 2019
https://twitter.com/SambitviIIa/status/1198802267249397761?s=20
Ok this was ICONIC. @taylorswift13 + @Camila_Cabello + @halsey ✨? #TaylorOnAMAs #AMAs pic.twitter.com/0TNxAL4ifN
— Tiffany Taylor (@_tiffanytaylor) November 25, 2019
I can’t believe I got to witness THIS. @taylorswift13 performing her greatest hits and receiving Artist of the Decade! What a performance… what a moment!! ❤️ #AMAs pic.twitter.com/7HNw0mGk6o
— Tiffany Taylor (@_tiffanytaylor) November 25, 2019
