Instruments and outfits from the “Fortnight” singer’s career are also on display at the Nashville museum’s Taylor Swift Education Center
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(2999x0:3001x2):format(webp)/taylor-swift-concert-friendship-bracelets-tout-46345ffcb7dc41229ea5eeb2e3c3dff0.jpg)
GETTY IMAGES / PEOPLE / MADISON WOITEN
Where are all the friendship bracelets Taylor Swift has received from fans throughout the Eras Tour?
In conjunction with the release of Swift’s new album, The Tortured Poets Department, on April 19, the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville began displaying a new artwork in its Taylor Swift Education Center featuring many of the bracelets fans have given the pop superstar.
The new artwork commemorates the 2023 leg of Eras Tour shows in North America, featuring unique posters labeled with specific dates and cities as well as what appears to be hundreds of friendship bracelets gifted to Swift, 34, by concertgoers, according to a press release.
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(749x0:751x2):format(webp)/taylor-swift-rollout-12042397-ec7bf394dea245a18e7c398a2a7a5dfd.jpg)
Taylor Swift fan with friendship bracelets.
AMANDA EDWARDS/GETTY
Several other new artifacts have been added to the Taylor Swift Education Center around the release of TTPD, including a custom Taylor PSGA Koa guitar featuring her name engraved into the fingerboard that was played by the “Karma” singer during The Red Tour.
Also on display is the Deering Boston B6 six-string acoustic-electric banjo played by Swift for her performance of “Mean” on the 2012 Grammy Awards — where the song won both best country solo performance and best country song. She even decorated the instrument by hand with “13” on the banjo head as well as lyrics from “Mean” and doodles of clouds and stars.
Swifties will also be able to view the “Fortnight” musician’s outfit from both the 2006 ACM Awards and CMA Music Festival: a sequined BCBG Max Azria silk handkerchief dress adorned and BCBGGirls decoratively-stitched metallic bronze boots.
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(1388x0:1390x2):format(webp)/taylor-swift-speak-now-6-070523-1320774595544845a844bbadc7a21d25.jpg)
JEFF KRAVITZ/FILMMAGIC
The Eras Tour kicked off in March 2023 and marked Swift’s first tour since releasing the albums Lover, Folklore, Evermore and Midnights. Many fans took it upon themselves to create beaded bracelets utilizing phrases or titles from her music, inspired by a lyric from “You’re On Your Own, Kid,” where she sings, “Everything you lose is a step you take / So make the friendship bracelets / Take the moment and taste it / You’ve got no reason to be afraid.”
Friendship bracelets have since become something of a phenomenon at Swift’s concerts. Even celebrities have joined in on the fun, with Lupita Nyong’o, Sarah Paulson, Kumail Nanjiani, Mindy Kaling, Simu Liu, Joe Locke, Selena Gomez, Mariska Hargitay, Savannah Guthrie, Halsey, Lance Bass, Flavor Flav and more sharing photos from the Eras Tour after receiving bracelets.
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(750x182:752x184):format(webp)/taylor-swift-travis-kelce-sydney-0222324-ab5b7473c5b644a288b51e62e672ab4a.jpg)
Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift.
JAMES GOURLEY/SHUTTERSTOCK; DON ARNOLD/TAS24/[SOURCE] FOR TAS RIGHTS MANAGEMENT
Before Swift officially entered a relationship with Travis Kelce, the NFL star was already in the know regarding the friendship bracelet trend — and attempted to use one to make a move on her.
“If you’re up on Taylor Swift concerts, there are friendship bracelets, and I received a bunch of them being there, but I wanted to give Taylor Swift one with my number on it,” said Kelce on a July 2023 episode of his New Heights podcast, noting that he wasn’t ultimately able to meet her and give the gift. (Luckily for him, they connected through other avenues and have remained together since going public in September 2023.)
