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In most cases, Taylor Swift leaves a little bit of suspense in the air as to whether she’ll attend one of the many awards shows where she is nominated. Not this time. Within hours of the announcement that she had been
nominated for a CMA Award for single of the year for “I Knew It, I Knew You,” Swift went on social media to declare that she would be there this November, with bells on. Or spurs, perhaps.
“LOOKS LIKE I HAVEN’T YEE’D MY LAST HAW,” she wrote in all-caps in a message posted to her Instagram Stories. “THANK YOU CMA!!!! See you there Nov. 18.” The message was followed by an emoticon of a smiling face wearing a cowboy hat, in keeping with the Jessie-the-cowgirl theme of the hit song that closes the “Toy Story 5” movie.
It will mark the first time Swift has attended the CMA Awards in 10 years; it was in 2016 when she last made an appearance, showing up as a surprise presenter to hand Garth Brooks his entertainer of the year award.
Is it possible Swift might go the extra mile and perform on the telecast? That’s one thing she probably will leave fans in suspense about. The last time she performed on the CMAs show was in 2013, right in the midst of her crossover from country to pop, when she sang an acoustic version of “Red” backed by Vince Gill. (Swift is pictured above holding the trophies she picked up in 2013.)
(The last time she performed on any country awards show at all was in 2020, when she went on the ACM Awards telecast to sing “Betty,” a country-flavored song from “Folklore,” during the pandemic.)
Whatever form her participation ultimately takes — as mere attendee, performer, or something in-between — Swift’s appearance at the CMAs will come amid what looks to be a possibly robust awards season for the superstar. “I Knew It, I Knew You” is expected to also be in contention for the Oscars and the Grammys in the weeks and months following the Country Music Association’s big annual blowout.
(Variety took a look earlier this week at which of her three No. 1 hits from the past year the singer might submit in which Grammy categories, ultimately concluding that she is most likely to submit “I Knew It, I Knew you” for song of the year while going instead with “The Fate of Ophelia” as her best bet for record of the year. Read that assessment here.)
The other big lingering question heading toward the CMAs: Is it possible she’ll be putting out another country release between now and Nov. 18, and thus have even more to celebrate at the awards shows? Even in the absence of very many clues, Swifties have remained convinced that she is going to issue a “Taylor’s Version” edition of her debut album this fall, in honor of the 20th anniversary of the original version. Swift did say, when she announced that she had purchased her master recordings, that she had completed a re-recording of the debut, and would put it out someday. But if there is indeed a plan to have that come out in time to mark the anniversary, that remains a closely held secret.
The single of the year nomination for the CMAs puts a cap — for now — on Swift’s rapprochement with country music as a genre. It was just three days ago that Billboard and Luminate announced that “I Knew It, I Knew You” had finally risen to No. 1 on the country airplay chart.
This is not quite a case of the prodigal daughter returning home, though it may come close to feeling that way, since Swift has always maintained an enduring affection for country, and left a lot of good will behind her in the country industry, even after she announced she was officially picking pop as her lane when the “1989” album came out in 2015. Swift had been the kind of artist who remembered the names of DJs and programmers over the years, and those country stalwarts typically spoke of her with praise well after she stopped issuing singles to their format.
“I Knew It, I Knew You” is not the first country-flavored number Swift has released since making her transition from country to pop official 11 years ago (a transition that was really well in evidence going further back at least to the “Speak Now” album). As mentioned earlier, “Betty” marked a sort of genre return, as heard on the ACMs in 2020, followed by “No Body, No Crime” on the “Evermore” album. And she has consistently revisited her country core in the “vault” tracks that were freshly recorded for her “Taylor’s Version” series of albums.
Her only previous CMAs nomination this decade was for the “vault” track “I Bet You Think About Me,” which she recorded as a duet with country star Chris Stapleton for the “Taylor’s Version” re-do of “Red.”. It was nominated for video of the year in 2022, but she did not attend or win that year.
