Swift ‘shakes off’ drama at concert

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Springsteen reveals ‘Western Stars’

NEW YORK, July 11, (Agencies): In her first public appearance since discovering her masters were in the hands of someone she’s not a fan of, Taylor Swift didn’t directly address the issue, but she did play music from that rich catalog, including songs from her groundbreaking sophomore album to her first full-blown pop project to her latest title.

There was one moment, though, where Swift may have called out Scooter Braun and Scott Borchetta on Wednesday night when she headlined Amazon Music’s Prime Day Concert in New York City. When singing her final song, the upbeat hit “Shake It Off”, she was extra loud as she uttered the words: “Liars and the dirty, dirty cheats of the world.”

Some viewers on social media felt like Swift was throwing shade, but the pop star seemed to shake off the drama with a fun, entertaining performance that came two weeks after she wrote that she was sad and grossed out that her music catalog now belongs to Braun, who she accuses of subjecting her to years of incessant and manipulative bullying.

Swift’s die-hard fans were as loud as ever Wednesday, erupting before she hit the stage at the Hammerstein Ballroom, chanting her name minutes before opened her set with a colorful performance of the song “ME!”

She sang tunes from all of her albums except her 2006 self-titled debut. She strummed her guitar while she sang “Delicate” from “reputation” and “Welcome to New York” from “1989”, which won the Grammy for album of the year. She reminded the audience she was a former country singer before performing “Love Story” from “Fearless”, which also won the top Grammy prize. And she whipped her head back and forth as she belted “I Knew You Were Trouble” from her “Red” album.

Performances

Swift sang her “You Need to Calm Down” live for the first time at the event, which also featured performances by singers SZA, Dua Lipa and Becky G. On the song Swift addresses her own haters but also calls out those who attack the LGBTQ community. It will appear on her new album, “Lover”, to be released Aug 23.

“It’s really, sort of, a love letter to love itself. And I think that love is such an inspiring thing to write about,” she said of the upcoming album. “Love is complexity. Love is struggle. Love is pain. Love is joy. Love is hope. Love is equality.”

Emmy-winning actress Jane Lynch hosted the event, which featured clips of Amazon Prime programming between performances, from “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” to “Jack Ryan”.

Whatever bad blood  Swift may have with former associates, her credit is certainly good. Swift tops Forbes’ Celebrity 100, the magazine’s annual list of top-paid entertainers, with estimated 2019 earnings of $185 million. It’s the second time she’s come in at No. 1 – after she previously led the pack for 2016 – making Swift the first music artist to take the Forbes lead twice.

Forbes noted that Swift’s 2018 “reputation” stadium trek was the highest grossing tour in US history at $266.1 million, and also that the artist benefitted from a new deal with Universal’s Republic label and the sharing of proceeds from Universal’s sale of its Spotify stake.

Speaking of sharing, Swift shares the upper ranks of the list with an intermittent nemesis, Kanye West, coming in at No. 3 with $150 million. Landing the spot between these two musicians at No. 2 is Kylie Jenner, who hauled an estimated $170 million; Jenner topped the list last year. At No. 5, the rankings return to Swift allies with Ed Sheeran, her former opening act and duet partner, who earned $110 million.

The Eagles accounted for a third musical chair in the top 10, coming in at No. 8 with an estimated income of $100 million.

Also:

LOS ANGELES: Bruce Springsteen called in to the E Street Radio channel on Sirius XM to chat about his new record, “Western Stars” and share some news about a new film based on the music.

“We made a film of us playing the ‘Western Stars’ album start to finish, plus some other things,” he revealed. “I knew we weren’t going to tour, so I figured this was the best way to do it.

“ is looking good – that will be exciting,” he continued. “It will be out in the calendar year.”

Springsteen confirmed the film was directed by Thom Zimny, who was also behind the camera for “Springsteen on Broadway” and “Bruce Springsteen: Hunter of Invisible Game” (2014), among other films. He picked up a Grammy Award for Best Long Form Music Video for “Wings on Wheels: The Making of Born to Run” (2005). A rep for the singer did not immediately have further information.

He also spoke about the positive reaction the album, which is in an orchestral pop style he had not worked in before, has received.

“We’re excited about the whole reception to the record,” he said. “I thought the record was a little off to the left, didn’t know what response we would get. Seeing how the record was received was very exciting and how we could further that experience for the fans. Fans have come up to me telling me how much they like it.”

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