Taylor Swift delighted her fans on Tuesday by unveiling the music video for her track “Elizabeth Taylor.”
In a unique twist, the 36-year-old singer does not feature prominently in the video. Instead, Swift appears in a newsreel-style montage that blends public images of herself with iconic visuals of the legendary actress, Elizabeth Taylor.
The video showcases a collection of photos from Taylor’s illustrious career in Hollywood’s Golden Age.
Viewers are treated to scenes from some of the actress’s most memorable films, including “Cleopatra,” “Father of the Bride,” “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,” “A Place in the Sun,” “Giant,” “Suddenly, Last Summer,” and “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” among others.
Elizabeth Taylor, an Oscar-winning actress, passed away in 2011 at the age of 79.
The song’s lyrics pay homage to the screen legend, referencing Taylor’s famous violet eyes, her penchant for diamonds—highlighted by her signature fragrance, White Diamonds—and her favorite luxurious retreats, including Portofino, Italy, and the Plaza Athénée hotel in Paris.
For now, the music video is only available on Apple Music and the premium Spotify level.
Taylor Swift surprised her fans by releasing the music video for her song Elizabeth Taylor on Tuesday. Seen on March 26 in Hollywood
Most of the photos are of the Golden Age Hollywood actress Taylor. She is seen from some of her biggest films such as Cleopatra, Father of the Bride, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, among others. Seen in the 1950s
In October, Swift revealed that she had asked permission from the estate of Taylor to put the song out.
The music video’s end-title scroll includes a thank you to House of Taylor & the Elizabeth Taylor Trust, the Todd family and the Wilding family.
Last year the artist talked about the tune.
‘In this record, there’s a song called Elizabeth Taylor, which is sort of my emotions and my issues with fame through the lens of cosplaying the life of Elizabeth Taylor, so you kind of meld the two experiences together,’ said Swift on The Elvis Duran Show.
‘She is always someone that I’ve looked up to as being this very glamorous, very beloved, but for some reason a polarizing figure, which I found myself in that place, too.’
In a TikTok video, Swift talked about what inspired her to look at Taylor.
‘My parents sent me this clip of Elizabeth Taylor’s son saying something very flattering, that if there were one person he might compare to his mother in the modern day, in terms of persona and…the chaos around us, he said it would be me,’ said the singer.
Here is some of the art work for the song that can be seen on Swift’s website
She used stock photos of Taylor to promote the new music video
Oscar-winner Taylor died in 2011 at age 79
‘I was so flattered by that. I just immediately started talking to Travis [Kelce] about it. I was going on and on about Elizabeth Taylor, talking about all the things about her that I loved… how she kept challenging herself late into her life,’ she added.
‘I had to get out of the car. I was like, “One sec, I have to get out of the car for a second,” and I just sang this melody into my phone, got back in the car and… that’s what it’s like when it happens.’
The song Elizabeth Taylor is the second time Swift has referred to the actress in a tune.
In the 2017 song …Ready for It? from the album Reputation, she sang, ‘And he can be my jailer, Burton to this Taylor / Every love I’ve known in comparison is a failure.’
Swift’s frenemy Kim Kardashian is also a big fan of the movie icon and even produced a docu-series about her called Elizabeth Taylor: Rebel Superstar.
