By Matija Šerić
On March 17, the prestigious iHeartRadio Music Awards honored The Eras Tour with the award for Tour of the Century. With that, the mastermind, organizer, and performer behind the tour, Taylor Swift, received yet another extraordinary recognition for the most ambitious project of her career.
The iHeartRadio team thoughtfully chose to present the award on the second anniversary of the tour’s kickoff. “This tour was the most challenging thing I’ve ever done in my life… and it really was the most gratifying thing I’ve ever done,” Swift said in a recorded acceptance speech. “It blows my mind, and I’m never gonna stop being grateful for it.“
An Unrepeatable Spectacle
As a thank you for the honor, Swift allowed a special broadcast of her performance of “Mirrorball” from the tour’s very first stop in Glendale, Arizona. It served as a powerful emotional reminder of an unforgettable journey.
And while there are still 75 years left in this century, it’s hard to imagine any artist or band surpassing The Eras Tour — in scale, emotional depth, or cultural and societal impact.
Whether seen through the eyes of devoted Swifties or neutral observers, it’s safe to say: this was the greatest music tour of all time.
The Crown of a Career
Swift and her team made a masterstroke decision back in 2022. Instead of launching a standard Midnights tour focused solely on promoting her latest album (as she had traditionally done after past releases), they chose to do something entirely different: a tour celebrating all of Taylor’s musical eras.
The Eras Tour became a grand tribute to Swift’s 17–18 year career as the world’s biggest pop star of the 21st century — a true crowning achievement.
The Scale of the Tour
Spanning over a year and a half, from March 17, 2023, to December 8, 2024, The Eras Tour circled the globe:
- 5 continents
- 21 countries
- 51 cities
- 149 shows
From Los Angeles and Melbourne to Singapore, London, and Warsaw, each stop triggered an eruption of excitement. Swiftmania swept across the planet.
Concerts sold out stadiums filled with 50,000 to 96,000 people, and Taylor shattered attendance records wherever she went.
Remarkably, this global frenzy came even though Taylor had once feared, as documented in Miss Americana (2020), that her fame would fade as she approached her thirties. Instead, she soared to even greater heights.
A Rich and Varied Experience
Each concert lasted nearly three and a half hours, featuring between 44 and 46 songs across 11 albums — from her 2006 country debut “Taylor Swift” to her latest pop fusion project, “The Tortured Poets Department” (2024).
Across ten acts (eras) and ten costume changes, Taylor performed her biggest hits, from “Miss Americana & the Heartbreak Prince” to “Karma.”
The carefully curated setlist perfectly balanced emotional ballads and upbeat anthems, ensuring that both the shimmering hit “Style” and the heartbreaking indie track “My Tears Ricochet” had their moment. During “22,” one lucky child at each show was handpicked to receive Taylor’s iconic hat — a moment of pure magic for fans.
The Surprise Songs
One of the most beloved parts of each night was the acoustic set, where Taylor played “surprise songs” — acoustic versions and mashups performed on guitar and piano.
Fans anxiously awaited these moments, hoping to hear their personal favorites live.
The three most frequently performed surprise songs were “You’re On Your Own, Kid,” “Maroon,” and “Out Of The Woods.”
Thanks to Swift’s unparalleled songwriting gift, audiences deeply connected to her lyrics, finding reflections of their own lives within her words. Taylor handled nearly all of the performances with her core band, welcoming occasional guest appearances from friends and collaborators like Ed Sheeran, Ice Spice, Sabrina Carpenter, Gracie Abrams, and Florence Welch.
Life Behind the Scenes
To endure such an intense tour, Taylor had to transform her lifestyle.
Starting six months before the first show, she regularly ran or walked on a treadmill while singing the setlist aloud to build endurance. During the tour, she worked out twice a week to maintain her mobility and stamina. Her personal trainer, Kirk Myers, compared her fitness regimen to that of professional athletes — noting that most casual gym-goers wouldn’t have been able to keep up.
Swift also spent three months training with choreographer Mandy Moore to perfect the show’s elaborate dance routines. A few months before opening night, she cut out alcohol entirely.
Throughout the tour’s workweeks, Taylor stuck to a clean diet: yogurt, salads, sandwiches, and magnesium supplements, indulging in fast food or ice cream only when she had a few days off to recover.
After two or three consecutive shows, she would spend her off-day resting in bed to recharge. Reportedly, she even avoided speaking to anyone on concert days to preserve her voice.
And somehow, in between all this, she still found time to write — no surprise that she dropped a new album right in the middle of the tour.
Featured image: Chad Davis via Flickr CC licensed under CC BY 2.0
