Taylor Swift, just hours after Travis Kelce confirmed he will return to the Kansas City Chiefs for a 14th NFL season, celebrated a series of major career achievements.
The global pop superstar’s landmark day arrived hot on the heels of Kelce’s news that he will extend his NFL career, giving him a tie for the fifth-longest career by any NFL player in the highly physical tight end position.
Swift’s list of Tuesday triumphs is topped by a Forbes Magazine listing of her net worth at $2 billion for the first time. Also today, “The Fate of Ophelia” climbed to No. 1 on the Worldwide iTunes chart while her new single “Elizabeth Taylor” officially began its U.S. radio rollout.
Swift’s new net worth evaluation coupled with her sudden impact on the charts and U.S. radio risked stealing the spotlight from Kelce, the Chiefs’ legendary tight end who dominated a busy NFL free agent news cycle Monday with reports that his lengthy retirement decision process was over. Not only would he return for a 14th and likely final season in the NFL, but he would play that season with the Chiefs — on a one-year, $12 million contract.
But the future Hall of Famer Kelce’s comeback announcement quickly faded with the news that the pop superstar’s “Elizabeth Taylor” single had begun to impact U.S. radio, with a rise up the charts soon to follow. On its first day of official release as the third Taylor Swift single off her latest album, The Life of a Showgirl, “Elizabeth Taylor” became the most-added song on Hot Adult Contemporary radio stations in the United States.
The single was immediately added to playlists on 81 HAC stations on March 10, according to the chart analysis firm U.S. Radio Updater, far outpacing the second-most added song, “Risk It All” by Bruno Mars, with 30 stations.
What Was Taylor Swift’s Other Milestone Today?
According to Forbes, Swift’s song catalog alone reached a valuation of $900 million, giving her the third-most valuable catalog of all time, behind only Queen at $1.27 billion, and Michael Jackson at $1.2 billion.
Why? The performance of her songs on the charts, highlighted by her chart performance today. Swift’s new single has already made an impressive appearance on the charts. In the streaming era, individual songs can ride up the Top 100 based on streaming and download sales, long before they are released as official singles, accompanied by full-scale promotional campaigns and radio playlist additions.
Her song “Elizabeth Taylor” debuted on the prestigious Billboard Hot 100 on Oct. 18, about two weeks after the The Life of a Showgirl album was released. The song spent 18 weeks on the charts and reached the No. 3 position, all without a promotional campaign designed to support the song specifically.
Now that the “Elizabeth Taylor” single received its official release today, it is expected to make another run up the charts, potentially reaching the No. 1 spot on the Hot 100, according to an analysis by the financial magazine Forbes.
Swift’s singles regularly enjoy long runs on the charts. On Tuesday, the latest iTunes Worldwide chart was released, showing that the first single off Life of a Showgirl, “The Fate of Ophelia,” had returned to the No. 1 spot. The iTunes chart measures digital download sales, as opposed to streaming plays, globally from Apple’s iTunes online store.
The song has now spent 46 days in the global iTunes No. 1 spot, and 155 days on the chart.
What’s Next For Kelce?
According to multiple media reports, Swift and Kelce have set their wedding date for June 13. Though the couple have not publicly confirmed the date, if the reports are accurate, Kelce may be forced to miss early training camp sessions with the Chiefs.
Last year, the Chiefs scheduled optional training to overlap with June 13, with mandatory minicamp following just four days later.
Kelce’s return announcement may be seen as confirming an early June wedding date. Not only does minicamp usually arrive in late June, but official NFL training camps tend to open in late July and continue into the preseason, until the regular season opens. With Kelce turning 37 years old in October, and facing the numerous distractions that will come with his wedding to Swift, missing significant portions of training camp would not be an ideal scenario for the Chiefs’ great.
Just After Travis Kelce Comeback News, Taylor Swift Celebrates Huge Career Day