Taylor Swift Shares Album Reveal 'Backup Plan,' Responds to Critics Asking Why So Many Albums

Things couldn't have worked out better for Swift during Sunday's Grammy Awards. She picked up two more Grammys during the broadcast, including setting a record with her fourth Album of the Year win for Midnights.

She also took advantage of her first win of the night being her 13th overall Grammy trophy. After all, 13 has long been Swift's favorite and lucky number, and fans know she never misses an opportunity to tease, hint and play games with them.

In fact, when she showed up in black lace on the red carpet, fans started feeling sure she was going to announce (Taylor's Version) of her 2017 album Reputation. The news they got instead created even more fervor and excitement.

But what if she hadn't won any Grammys on Sunday night? As it turns out, Swift was prepared for that possibility, sharing her "backup plan" with the fans of her Eras Tour as it picked back up in Tokyo on Wednesday.

"Going to the Grammys, going in, I had this plan. I had told my friends, I told Jack [Antonoff], but I hadn't really told very many other people," Swift told the crowd, per Us Weekly. "I thought, 'Okay, if I'm lucky enough to win one thing tonight, I'm just gonna do it. I'm just gonna announce my album.' And luckily enough, that ended up happening."

But if it hadn't worked out that way? "My backup plan was I was gonna do it tonight in Tokyo," she explained. "But thanks to you and your support, I was lucky enough to win a Grammy and tell you about it on stage at the Grammys."

In that announcement, she said she was going to go backstage right then and release the album cover to her Instagram, which she promptly did. She followed that up in the following days by releasing the full track list of the album, which includes 16 new songs (17 if you buy a physical copy).

Somehow, that led to her facing yet another way for haters to criticize her. This time, it was about her releasing too much music, too many albums recently. She released Lover in 2019, then a one-two punch of Folklore and Evermore in 2020, followed by Midnights in 2022 (not to mention re-records of four albums with "From the Vault" bonus tracks from 2021-now -- with more on the way).

At the time, she had explained that with little else to do during the Covid pandemic that started in 2020, she'd focused on creating music, and the re-records are her way of regaining control over her masters. Live on stage in Tokyo, she shared an even simpler reason for her prolific output.

"I love doing this," she said.

Pushing back against those being critical of this latest announcement, Swift offered an explanation. "I've been working on Tortured Poets since right after I turned in Midnights; You turn in an album months in advance," she said. "So I started working on it immediately after that and I've been working on it for about two years."

That work continued even as she toured the United States until Swift decided "it was perfect, in my opinion," adding, "When it was good enough for you, I finished it."

"I'm over the moon about the fact that you guys care about my music, it still blows my mind," Swift continued. "Everyone's like, 'Why do you make so many albums?' And I'm like, 'Man, because I love it! I love it so much! I'm having fun, leave me alone.'"

Of course, the haters don't seem to be in any hurry to leave her alone. When they're not complaining about her prolific output or her critical, commercial, and awards show successes, they're complaining about her support of boyfriend Travis Kelce.

As noted by TMZ, Swift's final show in Tokyo wraps Saturday, so she's expected to immediately jump in her plane and make her way to Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas to support Kelse and his Kansas City Chiefs as they take on the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl LVIII.

Don't worry, there will be plenty of grousing for every second of game time she appears on the screen, and should the Chiefs pull out a win, you better believe conspiracy theorists will be saying it was all scripted and planned to give Swift even more face time.

While NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has said that Swift is a "positive" for the sport -- which is enjoying a boost in ratings and merchandise sales -- there's definitely no script. During his Super Bowl press conference on Monday, he called it "nonsense," per USA Today, and added while laughing, "I don't think I'm that good of a scripter -- or anybody on our staff."

"Listen, both Travis and Taylor are wonderful young people," Goodell said. "They seem very happy."