Wembley Stadium have given Taylor Swift a custom guitar to mark her record breaking run of gigs at the iconic North London venue.
It’s a beautiful Gibson acoustic in pastel blue and black with the words ‘So long Taylor, it’s been a Wembley love story’ emblazoned on the body. They shared the news on social media last week, rounding off the post by writing ‘So long Taylor, it was enchanting’. Sweet.
In recognition of becoming the first solo artist to play Wembley Stadium eight times on a single tour, we gifted Taylor Swift her own personalised Wembley Guitar. So long, Taylor. It was enchanting 💖#LondonTSTheErasTour pic.twitter.com/FJv3Pfr3syAugust 23, 2024
The gift is in honour of Swift becoming the first solo artist to play Wembley eight times during one tour, breaking a record set by Michael Jackson four decades ago.
A Wembley spokesperson said: "We were absolutely delighted to host eight of Taylor Swift's The Eras Tour shows at Wembley Stadium. Her fans brought a wave of colour and generosity never quite seen before. The entire Wembley team from security through to hospitality enjoyed looking after them.”
“We couldn't let Taylor leave London without saying a massive thank you to her, and marking what is an incredible achievement for a solo artist.”
The UK leg of the star’s Eras Tour was record-breaking in many ways. She played to nearly 1.2 million people during and generated an estimated (and much needed) £1 billion to the UK economy. During the Edinburgh date geophysicists even recorded seismic activity - fans dancing had shifted the ground by some 23.4 nanometres.
The economic impact was not insignificant. On average each of those 1.2 million ticket holders were spending £848 on tickets, travel, accommodation, food and outfits, which works out at more than 12 times the cost of an average night out. Many hotels, pubs and restaurants in cities that hosted the Eras tour will be hoping she doesn’t leave it long until she returns.
It was even suggested by members of the Liberal Democrats that Swift should be given the Freedom of the City Of London, both for the contribution to the local economy – some £300 million in the UK capital - and her philanthropic work of donating to food banks in every British city she played.
In an interview with Metro, the Lib Dem’s Treasury spokesperson, Sarah Olney, described Swift as showcasing “endless philanthropy and using her platform to bring reforms to the music industry...Taylor Swift is now on track to achieve her most impressive feat yet: patching part of the blank space the Conservative government left in the British economy after years of neglect.”
The idea is not such an outlandish one. Ed Sheeran has been awarded the honour, as well as footballers Harry Kane and Ian Wright.
