With a reboot of Ryan Murphy's musical drama-comedy series officially in development, could Taylor Swift finally get her own "Glee" tribute episode?
Swifties may be surprised to learn that during the show's original six-season run, only two Swift songs made the cut from her third era "Speak Now." That's 0.25% of the roughly 800 song entries covered by the show.
Puck (Mark Salling) and Coach Beiste (Dot-Marie Jones) performed "Mean" in the Season 3 episode "Props." During Season 4, Santana Lopez (Naya Rivera) sang "Mine" to Brittany Pierce (Heather Morris) in "The Break-Up."
"Glee" became a cultural phenomenon, turning high school show choir performances into Billboard hits and introducing a new generation to classic songs.
From 2009 to 2015, the
fictional McKinley High School glee club tackled everything from Broadway classics to chart-topping pop hits, with plenty of slushies to the face. Several music superstars even received entire episodes dedicated to their catalogs, including the five most-covered artists on the show.
The Beatles and Madonna topped the list with 19 songs each, followed by Britney Spears with 12 and Billy Joel and Michael Jackson with 11 each. Madonna's music took over McKinley High in the Season 1 episode "The Power of Madonna." Spears received two tribute episodes and made a cameo appearance. The Beatles kicked off Season 5 with a two-part tribute, while Joel's "Movin' Out" and Jackson's "Michael" celebrated their respective catalogs.
'You belong with Glee'
Swift's catalog has grown considerably since the show ended.
Since the series finale, the singer-songwriter has released "Reputation," "Lover," "Folklore," "Evermore," "Midnights," "The Tortured Poets Department" and "The Life of a Showgirl." She's also released four rerecorded albums and completed her record-breaking Eras Tour, which spanned 149 shows across five continents.
Swift also has a connection to the Ryan Murphy universe through her husband, Travis Kelce. The Kansas City Chiefs tight end made his scripted drama debut in Murphy's 2024 FX series "Grotesquerie," playing Ed Laclan, a charming hospital orderly nicknamed "Fast Eddie" with a past as a stripper.
There's another connection through Disney. The upcoming "Glee" reboot is being developed for Disney+ and Hulu, while Disney+ already houses Swift's six-part Eras Tour docuseries, "The End of an Era," and the concert film "The Final Show." Swift also contributed the original song "I Knew It, I Knew You" to Disney and Pixar's "Toy Story 5."
Disney+ and Hulu confirmed the reboot's development Oct. 21. Murphy said he completed a script with original writers Brad Falchuk and Ian Brennan and contacted about 10 former cast members.
No cast, premiere date or musical tribute plans have been announced, but a Swift tribute would follow the original series' tradition of dedicating episodes to major recording artists.
And that's what you may have missed on "Glee."
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This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Could 'Glee' reboot include a Taylor Swift tribute episode?
