Taylor Swift returned to the stage in Brazil on November 19 for the first time since 23-year-old Ana Clara Benevides Machado passed away ahead of the Friday night Eras Tour concert. It is believed the young Swiftie suffered a cardiac arrest caused by the intense heat wave in Rio de Janeiro. After postponing the Saturday show — the second weather-related delay of the international leg of her tour — Swift appeared to pay homage to Ana Clara during her acoustic set Sunday.
In a handwritten statement released by Taylor Swift after Ana Clara Benevides Machado’s death, the singer told fans she was too “overwhelmed by grief” to talk about the young woman on stage, but as the artist so often does, Swift allowed the music to relay her message. When she got to the surprise songs portion of her set, she opened with “Dancing with Our Hands Tied” before sitting down at the piano for an emotional rendition of “Bigger Than the Whole Sky,” which you can see below:
@tswift_22 ♬ Bigger Than The Whole Sky - Taylor Swift
Many fans speculated that “Dancing with Our Hands Tied” was Ana Clara Benevides Machado’s favorite song, and the lyrics of “Bigger Than the Whole Sky” seemed especially poignant given the recent tragedy. Taylor Swift sang: “Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye / You were bigger than the whole sky / You were more than just a short time / And I've got a lot to pine about / I've got a lot to live without / I'm never gonna meet / What could've been, would've been / What should've been you.”
Swifties said they were left in tears by the emotional performance, and many thought Taylor Swift even got choked up as she sang the heartbreaking lyrics. Comments on the post included:
- That was totally for Ana. – second_star_2_the_right
- She did this for a reason. I’m cryingggg 😭😭😭😭 – dancegirl2023
- When she sings, “Did some force take you because I didn’t pray?” and you can hear her fight back tears, my heart broke. – alettertomycat
- I’m sobbing. We love you Ana. 🕊️ – madisondye8
The tributes continued on another TikTok post of the performance, and one fan Karina Pratiwi wrote that her thoughts were with the late 23-year-old’s family, particularly her father. The Swiftie commented:
I got teared up thinking of Ana’s father. How he will never be able to meet what could’ve been should’ve been her as she is gone too soon.
Ana’s father, 53-year-old Weiny Machado, talked to the media following his daughter’s passing, saying there were no words to express the pain of losing his only daughter. After claims from concertgoers that they weren’t allowed to bring in water, and that water was not readily available inside the venue, Machado called for those responsible for any negligence to be held accountable in order to keep other families from experiencing tragedy similar to his.
The Eras Tour has one more concert in Rio — November 20 is the makeup date from Saturday’s postponement — before heading to São Paulo, and Rio de Janeiro’s mayor, Eduardo Paes, has called for increased safety measures in hopes of avoiding further tragedy. We’ll have to see if Taylor Swift continues to pay respect to her lost fan’s memory as the tour continues.
