Taylor Swift joined Travis Kelce for the kick-off of Tight End University in Nashville earlier this week and took the opportunity to perform her song “Shake It Off.” During the opening night’s afterparty at Nashville’s Brooklyn Bowl, singer delivered a surprise acoustic performance of the 2014 track for NFL players and guests.
Kelce co-founded the annual three-day training summit, held at Vanderbilt University, with George Kittle and Greg Olsen in 2021. It was started as an opportunity for tight ends across the league to train, network, and share techniques. The first evening party featured sets from Jordan Davis, Chase Rice, Ernest, Sophia Scott, Niko Moon, and Tucker Beathard before concluding with Kane Brown. Brown yielded his final song to Swift, who borrowed Rice’s guitar.
Swift revealed the performance wasn’t at all planned, telling the audience, “We just figured out that we are gonna play that three minutes ago.” She also asked the crowd, “How loud could the singing be in here?” as she encouraged them to join her on vocals. She dedicated the song to her “favorite players.”
Ahead of her performance of “Shake It Off,” Swift joined Kelce as he arrived to the event, marking the couple’s first red carpet appearance (although there was no actual carpet). The couple walked into the venue hand in hand and smiled for the cameras, as seen on Tight End University’s Instagram page.
Swift’s performance marked her first time back on the stage since she regained control of her recorded music catalog six years after her old label, Big Machine Label Group, sold it to Scooter Braun’s Ithaca Holdings. The singer announced the purchase in a lengthy letter in late May, writing, “All of the music I’ve ever made now belongs to me.”
In her letter, Swift said that calling regaining control over her catalog her “greatest dream come true” was “actually being pretty reserved about it.” She thanked her fans for all their support, suggesting that the massive success of the Eras Tour and efforts to rerecord her old albums made it possible for her to buy back her music.
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Kelce celebrated the victory on an episode of his New Heights podcast by jamming out to the original recording of “I Knew You Were Trouble.” “Just bought all her music back,” Kelce said. “It’s finally hers.”
