Taylor Swift Says Las Vegas Shooting Made Her ‘Completely Terrified’ to Tour
The shooting at the 2017 Route 91 Harvest Festival in Las Vegas, Nev., directly affected the country music community, but it also had effects on the wider music community, too. In a new story for Elle magazine, Taylor Swift admits that the tragedy made her "completely terrified" to tour.
Swift's piece for Elle finds her dispensing 30 pieces of wisdom she's learned before turning 30 (she'll hit that milestone on Dec. 13). She writes that both the Las Vegas shooting and the May 2017 bombing at an Ariana Grande concert at the Manchester Arena in England had her worried about "how we were going to keep 3 million fans safe over seven months."
"There was a tremendous amount of planning, expense, and effort put into keeping my fans safe," Swift explains, adding, "My fear of violence has continued into my personal life. I carry QuikClot army grade bandage dressing, which is for gunshot or stab wounds."
As one of the world's most famous entertainers, Swift is used to being hounded by paparazzi and covered extensively in the media. Those experiences, too, have led her to be extra vigilant.
"Websites and tabloids have taken it upon themselves to post every home address I’ve ever had online," she notes. "You get enough stalkers trying to break into your house and you kind of start prepping for bad things."
Still, Swift says, she tries to keep a positive outlook: "Every day I try to remind myself of the good in the world, the love I’ve witnessed and the faith I have in humanity," she writes. "We have to live bravely in order to truly feel alive, and that means not being ruled by our greatest fears."
Swift's story for Elle touches on other serious topics — her mother's battle with cancer, for example — as well as more lighthearted nuggets of wisdom.
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