Taylor Swift teared up as she paid tribute to her late grandmother as she kicked off her Eras tour with back-to-back
shows on Friday and Saturday in Glendale, Arizona.
Performing at the State Farm Stadium, where the Super Bowl was held last month,
the 33-year-old pop artist paid tribute to grandmother Marjorie Finlay.
During her performance of the 2020 song, which was named after her maternal grandparent, Taylor got emotional.
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Footage was captured and posted on social media by fans in the audience during the opening shows.
TikTok user mlpowers007 shared an outtake to her personal account and wrote, ‘Such a beautiful tribute to Marjorie.’
Fans were first introduced to the heartfelt tune in December 2020 when Taylor unexpectedly dropped her album Evermore.
It came just five months after the release of her critically-acclaimed album Folklore.
When the Pennsylvania-born songwriter put the new music out, she explained that Marjorie was written with her grandmother in mind, nothing that she ‘still visits me sometimes…if only in my dreams.’
The sentimental lyrics recount timeless advice passed on by Finlay, who passed away in 2003, as she included the line: ‘Never be so kind you forget to be clever and never be so clever you forget to be kind.’
Swift also detailed Marjorie’s career as an opera singer with the Puerto Rico Symphony Orchestra.
Perhaps the most touching element of the recording is the sound of Finlay’s vocals supporting Taylor in the background.
Swift commented at the time of the music’s release: ‘My mom found a bunch of her old records of her singing opera, and I sent them to Aaron Dessner and he added them to the song.’
‘It says, “If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were singing to me now,” and then you hear her, you hear Marjorie actually sing,’ Taylor emphasized.
The song Marjorie is just one of the 44 songs included in the musician’s three-hour-long setlist.
The late singer never got to see her granddaughter follow in her musical footsteps as she became a global phenomenon.
Finlay passed away when Swift was 13-years-old, one year before she signed her first record deal.
Elsewhere in the dedication, Taylor reflects on her grandmother’s aspirations as she sings, ‘All your closets of backlogged dreams / And how you left them all to me.’
The video outtakes from the performances feature a tearful Taylor overcome with feeling as Marjorie’s voice echoes through the stadium.
One fan commented on one of the posts and said, ‘She took Marjorie’s backlogged dreams out of the closet and into the big stage for the whole world to hear.’
Someone else added, ‘She took Marjorie’s backlogged dreams out of the closet and into the big stage for the whole world to hear.’
During the high-profile performances Swift stunned on stage in Glendale, which was nicknamed ‘Swift City’ for the weekend.
She flaunted her statuesque figure as she gave a powerhouse performance that did not disappoint.
And her outfits were just as remarkable as her music and flawless vocals, with the pop star making multiple changes.
The 12-time Grammy winner conquered the stage in shimmering knee-high boots as part of one of her ensembles.
At another point she slipped into a bedazzled silver blazer before donning a fringed champagne minidress and later a sultry one-legged black bodysuit adorned with ruby red snakes.
The U.S. leg of Taylor’s sixth headlining tour will be taking the country by storm for the next five months, concluding with a slate of Los Angeles concerts in August.
After Sunday’s performance Taylor appeared on Instagram to share a snapshot from the show and write: ‘WELL. Last night was a rush. Thank you to everyone in that glorious Glendale night 2 crowd for giving us all you had and more. Counting down the hours til we get to play again. See you in Vegas.’
