Taylor Swift gave an extremely emotional performance at her latest concert in Rio de Janeiro following the death of three Swifties this week.
Ana Clara Benevides Machado, 23, fainted and later died in hospital, Gabriel Mongenot Santana Milhomem Santos, 25, was tragically stabbed on a beach in Rio and Ally Garner Anderson, 16 lost her battle to cancer.
With tears in her eyes, Taylor took the stage to surprise the stadium with a heartfelt performance of ‘Bigger Than the Whole Sky.’
In a TikTok clip capturing the moment, you can hear Taylor pouring her heart out: "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."
Even though Taylor didn't directly talk about the deaths during the concert, her performance of ‘Bigger Than The Whole Sky,’ a song that seems to speak about a significant loss, felt like a touching tribute.
Gabriel Mongenot Santana Milhomem Santos died in the early hours of Sunday morning after being stabbed on a beach while in Brazil for Taylor Swift's 'Eras Tour'. It's reported he was still wearing his Taylor Swift friendship bracelet at the time of his sudden death.
Ally, who had been living with Stage 4 alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma cancer since 2018, lost her battle on Friday just months after her beautiful interaction with Taylor during her 'Eras tour' in Ohio. Back in July, Taylor danced her way down the stage and handed Ally the famous fedora from her '22' costume.
“Ana, Ally and Gabriel, you will always be bigger than the whole sky…🥺🤍,” one fan wrote in the comments.
Another promised: “You will always be remembered 🫶”
“Omg, she looks like she’s in so much pain…this was beautiful,” wrote a third.
Later in the show, Taylor received an overwhelming response from the crowd that left her in tears.
“Wow,” the singer repeated as the crowd cheered: “Taylor ti amo”.
Taylor had to postpone her Saturday night concert from her Brazillian leg of ‘Eras Tour’ due to the heat wave that had fans and Taylor herself struggling amid the extreme temperatures.
Despite Taylor's best efforts to look after the crowd during the sweltering heat, it was too late for Ana Clara Benevides Machado. It’s reported that Swiftie fainted at the stadium before being taken to hospital and later died due to cardiorespiratory arrest.
Shortly after the tragedy, Taylor addressed Ana's loss on her Instagram Story.
“I can’t believe I’m writing these words but it is with a shattered heart that I say we lost a fan earlier tonight before my show,” Taylor wrote in the handwritten letter.
“I can’t even tell you how devastated I am by this. There’s very little information I have other than the fact that she was so incredibly beautiful and far too young,” she continued.
“I WANT TO SAY NOW I FEEL THIS LOSS DEEPLY AND MY BROKEN HEART GOES OUT TO HER FAMILY AND FRIENDS. THIS IS THE LAST THING I EVER THOUGHT WOULD HAPPEN...”
Many of the fans who attended the heart-shattering show over the weekend complained about being “banned” from bringing water into the venue and later launched an online petition calling for a “Benevides Law” in honour of Ana to “make water in events mandatory”.
At the time of writing, the petition has received over 324,000 signatures.
The event organisers have now announced that free water will be available at all future concerts.
