Taylor Swift is once again breaking records, bringing podcast listening numbers to new heights.
Swift’s recent — and first — podcast appearance on “New Heights,” hosted by boyfriend Travis Kelce and his brother, Jason Kelce, broke the record for the most concurrent views for a podcast on YouTube, Guinness World Records announced Tuesday.
A total of 1.3 million people simultaneously tuned into the podcast when it aired on YouTube on Aug. 13, the world record counter shared. As of Tuesday, the podcast episode had 20 million views on YouTube.
The over-two-hour podcast fed Swifties with details of Swift and Kelce’s love life and the behind-the-scenes drama of Swift reclaiming her master recordings. Some other topics of discussion included the Eras Tour, Swift’s famous Easter eggs and Jason Kelce’s hatred of cats.
Swift also touched on one of her recent hobbies, baking sourdough, and an on the field moment at the 2024 AFC title game that sent her into a tizzy.
Perhaps most exciting was Swift’s announcement of her twelfth studio album (or TS12) “The Life of a Showgirl,” which drops on Oct. 3.
In the days leading up to the podcast, Swift teased fans with cryptic social media posts that first led to the announcement of her surprise appearance alongside the Kelce brothers, and then to the news that she’d be discussing her newest release.
Swifties had to wait nearly two days to get any other album details and to view the album cover, and to find out that fellow pop-princess Sabrina Carpenter would join Swift on the concluding track.
“This album was about what was going on behind the scenes in my inner life during [the Eras] tour, which was so super and electric and vibrant,” Swift said on the podcast. “I’m so proud of it, and it just comes from, like, the most infectiously joyful, wild, dramatic place I was in in my life. And so, that effervescence has come through on this record, and like, as you said, bangers.”
Since, Swift has announced a number of album “variants,” available for only a limited time and with different covers than the standard version. But she promised that these 12 songs are it — and that there won’t be any surprise songs coming.
