Taylor Swift Announces <i>Speak Now (Taylor's Version)</i> Release Date on Same Night Matty Healy Attends Show
The Sun sparked rumors that Taylor Swift would be hard-launching her alleged new romance with Matty Healy on stage in Nashville this weekend during her Eras tour concert in the city. And during her first performance last night, Swift did make a big announcement with Healy at the show…but it had nothing to do with the newly-single star’s relationship status with him. He was not on stage with her either, just in the crowd.
Swift simply dropped the release date for her highly-anticipated re-recorded album Speak Now (Taylor’s Version). It will be out on July 7. She teased ahead of the announcement that “we have some cool stuff that’s gonna happen tonight,” and “I may not be wearing sleeves but I have some tricks up them,” putting fans on high alert.
After she broke the news on stage, Swift shared more information on her Instagram alongside cover art for the album:
It fills me with such pride and joy to announce that my version of Speak Now will be out July 7 (just in time for July 9th, iykyk 😆) I first made Speak Now, completely self-written, between the ages of 18 and 20. The songs that came from this time in my life were marked by their brutal honesty, unfiltered diaristic confessions and wild wistfulness. I love this album because it tells a tale of growing up, flailing, flying and crashing … and living to speak about it. With six extra songs I’ve sprung loose from the vault, I absolutely cannot wait to celebrate Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) with you on July 7th. Pre-order now at TaylorSwift.com 💜💜💜
Healy’s appearance at Swift’s show did get fan attention though, and there remains a chance Healy and Swift could perform together during one of her two other nights performing in Nashville. What is less clear is whether the two friends will be making any kind of announcement beyond that.
The 1975 singer did fly to Nashville from the Philippines, where the band played for two nights, May 3 and 4, in Manila. That is an over 17-hour flight, a mark of dedication. But fans noted that Healy is a close friend to both Swift and Phoebe Bridgers, who opened for Swift’s Nashville show and did a duet on stage with her in one of Swift’s first concert surprises.
Healy and Bridgers were also photographed in the audience together. Some fans theorized he was there to support Bridgers for her stadium debut:
Neither Swift, Healy, nor their reps responded to The Sun‘s dating report about them to any outlet.
Swift and her most recent ex-boyfriend Joe Alwyn’s breakup after six years of dating was first reported on April 8; they were said by sources to have quietly split in March.
A source told Us Weekly on April 20 that Swift wasn’t even thinking about dating. “Taylor is handling the breakup really well and she’s feeling very optimistic about her future,” the source said. “She truly believes whatever is meant to be, will be, and knows everything happens for a reason.”
“[She is still] adjusting to the single life,” the source added. “She isn’t dating anybody and isn’t even thinking about getting into another relationship anytime soon.”
This isn’t the first time Swift has been romantically linked to Healy. The pair was rumored in December 2014 to have had a brief romance before Swift went on to date Calvin Harris.
Healy later denied that he and Swift were ever involved. He had gotten heat for speaking in a March 2016 interview with Q magazine about how dating Swift would be an “emasculating thing.”
He told the magazine: “So the one time I did have a flirtation with a girl, it ends up going everywhere…I mean, I got on E! News and people were like, ‘Who’s Matt Healy?’ so that was cool. But I didn’t make a big deal out of it myself. It’s not really anything to talk about, because if she wasn’t Taylor Swift we wouldn’t be talking about her. She wasn’t a big impact on my life. It’s just interesting to me how interested the world is about Taylor Swift. The reason I mention that is because if I had [properly] gone out with Taylor Swift, I would’ve been, ‘F***ing hell, I am not being Taylor Swift’s boyfriend. You know, “F**k. That.’ That’s also a man thing, a de-masculinating, emasculating thing.”
He later clarified the remark and apologized in a statement posted to his Twitter on March 18, 2016. The tweet has since been taken down. He said then:
I was for a very short time immersed in a celebrity world that I found confusing and scary. At that time, I had fears of being ‘somebody’s boyfriend’ (remember this is all speculation as we never dated!) before even being recognized for my music or presence as a person in my own right.
Now I don’t pride myself on being more intelligent, or worldly, or wise, or progressive, or even regressive than the next man but I DO pride self on being honest. I was being HONEST about all the thoughts, feelings, and situations that come along when people ASSUME you are dating the most famous woman on the planet. I am telling you from experience it’s an all-consuming whirlwind and something that for me elicited a lot of self-exploration.
Now if you want to talk about Taylor Swift, that is easy…. Since she came to my show in December of 2014, I would say that 90 perfect of journalists that have interviewed me have asked about either her as a person or what our ‘interaction’ was like. I have said on countless occasions that I found her to be one of the most gracious, hard working, creatively gifted, and beautiful women that I have had the pleasure to meet. I personally have a lot of respect and admiration for her. Why would I not?
I didn’t even date Taylor, but the media’s incessant and brutal obsession with her has meant that even a guy who DIDN’T DATE HER has been so battered by their never-ending questions that he’s inevitably said something that can be lifted and molded into something that resembles ‘shade’. It’s really sad.
Senior News and Strategy Editor
Alyssa Bailey is the senior news and strategy editor at ELLE.com, where she oversees coverage of celebrities and royals (particularly Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton). She previously held positions at InStyle and Cosmopolitan. When she’s not working, she loves running around Central Park, making people take #ootd pics of her, and exploring New York City.
