Octavio Jones/TAS23/GI for TAS rights management
Something unexpected in the crowd caught Taylor Swift’s attention during her performance of “Marjorie” Friday night (May 5) in Nashville.
Dozens of printed photos of Swift’s grandmother Marjorie, who inspired the personal Evermore song, were held up by fans near the main stage for Swift to see. The thoughtful tribute to Swift’s grandmother left her emotional 70,000 spectators at the first of three shows at the city’s Nissan Stadium this weekend.
Upon seeing Marjorie’s portrait being shown on the Eras Tour, Swift stood with her mouth wide open and remained composed enough to continue singing, “If I didn’t know better, I’d believe you were still there.” Then she smiled and put her hand on her heart as the song ended.
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The huge audience also lit up the stadium, from floor seats to nosebleeds, with their phone lights during Swift’s performance of “Marjorie,” as they had done at their Atlanta stop the weekend before.
“What do you want to do with me?” she asked the crowd as she sat down at the piano in Nashville. “Oh my god, that was so nice.”
“So that song, Marjorie, that was a song I wrote about my mother’s mother, my grandmother,” she said, leaking the backstory to anyone in attendance who might not know. “She was also a singer. And she died when I was 13.”
“All I know is my mom is crying right now and has been for the last solid five and a half minutes and I love you guys so much. That was so meaningful and so special,” Swift said.
The project was spearheaded by a fan who gave out hundreds of Marjorie printables to Swifties in her department during the concert. She documented her experiences on TikTok.
“I couldn’t be prouder of making this crazy idea a reality. Hauling 300 copies through a packed stadium wasn’t ideal, but I would do it “a million times” for her!” TikTok user Jessica Morris (@auntie_hero) wrote about “Project Marjorie” after Friday night’s concert.
The Nashville concert on May 5th was special for other reasons as well. It was here that Swift finally announced the release date of Speak Now (Taylor’s Version), and she debuted the Red Vault track “Nothing New” live with Phoebe Bridgers. Fans also noticed that The 1975’s Matty Healy was at Nissan Stadium watching the show.
Check out Swift’s reaction to the Marjorie moment on the TikTok account of the fan behind the idea and in another fan clip below.