It’s her birthday and she’ll perform if she wants to!
Taylor Swift is officially 30 years old, and what better way to ring in the start of her new decade than with a legendary performance on one of the biggest stages during the holidays at Jingle Ball in New York City. The singer took the stage at Madison Square Garden to perform a few of her greatest hit songs including “Blank Space,” “ME!,” “Lover” and of course “Welcome to New York” for thousands of adoring fans.
It wouldn’t be a Christmas themed concert unless Taylor sang a little bit of festive music, and luckily, she added a newly minted Christmas song to her repertoire this year. She performed her new song “Christmas Tree Farm” live for the first time.
Clearly Taylor was in her element and enjoyed performing in front of the fans for her birthday celebration. She rocked out while wearing a dazzling sparkly gold dress and matching knee-high boots, with the swag to go with it.
“We are at Madison Square Garden and just being here with you feels really special,” she told the crowd. “Especially playing here for these crowds in New York there’s really nothing like you. So I had a choice. Where would I want to spend my 30th birthday? The answer is you’re looking at it. This is the first show of my 30th year of life.”
See all the photos from Swift’s epic performance and birthday celebration (plus, the celebs who came out to show their support) in our gallery below:
Manny Carabel/Getty Images
Birthday Girl
Elvis Duran surprises the 10-time Grammy winner with a massive cake inspired by her feline friends at iHeartRadio’s Z100 Jingle Ball.
Evan Agostini/Invision/AP/Shutterstock
Shake It Off
Swift performs a medley of her greatest hits to a sell-out crowd at Madison Square Garden.
Evan Agostini/Invision/AP/Shutterstock
In her Element
“We are at Madison Square Garden and just being here with you feels really special,” she shares onstage. “Especially playing here for these crowds in New York there’s really nothing like you. So I had a choice. Where would I want to spend my 30th birthday? The answer is you’re looking at it. This is the first show of my 30th year of life.”
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Fernando Ramales / BACKGRID
Gigi Hadid
After sharing a heartfelt birthday tribute to her longtime bestie, Gigi Hadid steps out to support T. Swift at Jingle Ball.
@TheHapaBlonde / BACKGRID
Martha Hunt
The Victoria’s Secret Angel arrives to cheer on Taylor at Jingle Ball.
So Grateful
Taylor’s sends some love back to her Swifties before hitting the stage.
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Taylor also spent her last day as a 29-year-old being honored at the annual 2019 Billboard Women in Music event. The singer was honored with the first ever Artist of the Decade Award and gave an amazing speech.
“So what does it mean to be the woman of this decade? Well, it means I’ve seen a lot. When this decade began I was 20-years-old. I had put out my self-titled debut album when I was 16—the album that would become my breakthrough album, which was called Fearless,” she shared of the last ten years of her life. “I saw that there was a world of music beyond country music that I was really curious about. I saw pop stations play my songs “Love Story” and “You Belong With Me” for the first time, and I saw that as a female in this industry some people will always have slight reservations about you. Whether you deserve to be there, whether your male producer or co-writer is the reason for your success, or whether it was a savvy record label.”
The singer went on to call out the “toxic male privilege” in the industry and gave a speech that is sure to leave a mark on the music industry for years to come. After her birthday performance at Jingle Ball, it’s clear that this next decade will bring her to even greater heights and hopefully open more doors for women across the industry.
Watch the 2019: What E! Year end-of-year special Tuesday, Dec. 17 at 10 p.m.! E! News returns Monday morning, Jan. 6 at 7 a.m.!
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