Billy Joel compares Taylor Swift’s fame to Beatlemania

The news around Taylor Swift in recent times involve impressive feats in the world of music. They are incredible marks not only for the current artistic context, but for history.

Demand for tickets to his ongoing tour, The Eras, is so overwhelming that it’s changing realities wherever he goes. Examples range from earthquakesThe changes in law against money changers in Braziland abroad, passing through recognition of the Federal Reserve System (FED, US central bank)of how the tour has helped the American economy.

An American newspaper report The New York Timespoints out that “the center of a currently fragmented world of music can only be Taylor Swift”. And it gets to the point where even past stars recognize that the blonde is making history.

In a brief statement to the aforementioned newspaper, Billy Joel resorted to Beatles, cited forever as the greatest band of all time, to make an allusion to Taylor.

“The only thing I can compare it to is the phenomenon of Beatlemania.”

It’s not just word of mouth. Joelrecord sales record with 160 million copies in the United States alone, was in the audience of one of the three concerts made by Swift in Tampa, Florida. The performances were held on April 13, 14 and 15 of this year, at Raymond James Stadium. He made a point of witnessing the artist’s firepower with his wife, Alexis Roderick, and daughters.

“Repeated” comparison

It is also not the first time that Billy Joel makes this comparison. The singer and pianist stated in 2021:

“Taylor Swift is productive and keeps coming up with great concepts and songs. She is huge, deserves the highest marks. She knows music and knows how to compose. she is like the Beatles of that generation.”

At the time, the singer herself became aware of the comment – and made a point of revealing her reaction.

“It honestly broke my brain because it doesn’t feel like a real thing that would happen in life. It could have been my hallucination. Maybe we had the same hallucination. Because I really don’t know how to process words like that from someone like him, I’m a huge fan of him. It’s an icon that’s saying it. I don’t know if that actually happened, I need to see a video or something to prove it because wow.”

The Taylor Swift Moment

Although ticket sales figures are not being released, it is estimated that the The Eras Tour in Taylor Swift manage to sell approximately $14 million worth of tickets every night. The number was calculated by the specialized company pollstar, which advances: until the conclusion of the schedule, scheduled for 2024 after 146 shows, this is expected to be the highest grossing tour in the history of music, surpassing the US$ 939 million of the farewell tour of Elton John.

A “taylormania” doesn’t just happen at shows: the albums are selling like crazy again, as the tour seeks to celebrate their entire back catalogue. In 2023 alone, she placed 10 albums on the Billboard charts in the United States. As noted by The New York Times, she is the first living artist since trumpeter and bandleader Herb Alpert (in 1966) to place four records in the American top 10 simultaneously.

Himself Alpert joined to Billy Joel to recognize the impact of Swift. To the newspaper, he said:

“It is an incredible feat. The way radio is these days, and the way music is distributed, with streaming, I didn’t think anyone in this era could do that.”

Another music giant talking about taylor to the publication was Shania Twain. The country artist watched the young woman during a recent show in Las Vegas and praised the “beautiful balance” between highly technological performances and intimate moments.

“I have to applaud her. As a performer, I know the work that goes into doing this.”

Brazilian fans will be able to witness all this up close, with performances by Swift in Rio de Janeiro (November 17th, 18th and 19th) and São Paulo (November 24th, 25th and 26th).