Taylor Swift Reportedly Turned Down the Super Bowl Halftime Show to Focus on Re-Recording Her Old Albums
Taylor Swift is a pop star with cross-generational appeal and enough hits to play a show lasting several hours. It’s no surprise, then, that Swift was reportedly approached to play the Super Bowl halftime show in 2023. But even though fans around the world would love to see her perform, she turned it down to focus on her own music career.
Taylor Swift was reportedly asked to perform at the 2023 Super Bowl
According to TMZ, the NFL asked Taylor Swift earlier in 2022 if she would be interested in performing at the Super Bowl halftime show. Swift reportedly declined the offer to focus on re-recording her first six studio albums — a journey she embarked on back in 2021 — but would be open to the opportunity after she’s done with re-recording all of them.
Swift first released Fearless (Taylor’s Version), a re-recording of her 2008 breakout album, in April 2021. In November 2021, she released 2012’s Red (Taylor’s Version) as the next album to gain new life. Swift has yet to release re-recorded versions of her 2006 self-titled debut album Taylor Swift, 2010’s Speak Now, 2014’s 1989, and 2017’s Reputation.
Why Taylor Swift is re-recording her old albums
Music manager and executive Scooter Braun bought Taylor Swift’s masters to her first six albums back in 2019 in a deal reportedly worth upwards of $300 million. It’s not uncommon for artists to not own their masters, but Swift had wanted to buy them back so she could own them herself. When that didn’t happen, she took matters into her own hands.
“I’ve always wanted to own my own music since I started making my music,” she said in a 2021 interview on Late Night with Seth Meyers, pointing out that most major artists don’t own their music. “There was something that happened years ago where I made it very clear that I wanted to be able to buy my music. That opportunity was not given to me, and it was sold to somebody else. So I just figured, ‘I was the one who made this music first. I can just make it again.’ So that’s what we’re doing.”
Rihanna was tapped for the Super Bowl halftime show
Swift ultimately didn’t close the door to the Super Bowl when she turned it down for 2023. Rihanna is expected to put on a great show, and one that will be highly anticipated by fans everywhere.
But just a few years ago, Rihanna (like others including Cardi B) was adamantly opposed to performing at the larger-than-life event given the NFL’s treatment of quarterback Colin Kaepernick.
“I couldn’t dare do that. For what?” Rihanna told Vogue in 2019 of her position. “Who gains from that? Not my people. I just couldn’t be a sellout. I couldn’t be an enabler. There’s things within that organization that I do not agree with at all, and I was not about to go and be of service to them in any way.”
