Taylor Swift Reveals New Album, 'Red,' Drops New Single, 'We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together': ABC Exclusive
Taylor Swift has written the next chapter of her "Love Story," and she means business.
The six-time Grammy winner debuted the name and cover of her brand-new album, "Red," which will be out on Oct. 22, and premiered the album's first single, "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together," during a live Webcast today in Nashville, taking fan questions in real time afterwards. Aug. 13 was an apt choice for the announcement date because 13 is the Swift's lucky number and over 72,500 viewers tuned in.
Swift said she decided to use the title "Red" because "it was really simple" and epitomized the different emotions she experienced in the crazy, "semi-toxic" relationships she's had in the past two years, and "there's nothing beige about that." The singer also revealed that she wrote "30 to 35? songs for the album and but whiddled it down to 16 tracks, which includes a duet with recording artist Ed Sheeran.
"I am so excited for you to hear the new direction of things," Swift said, adding that "really disfunctional" and "not good" relationships can provide "a lot of inspiration."
Her new song, "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together," which is about ending a bad relationship, is out today on iTunes and GooglePlay. While at a shoot for Glamour magazine, the 22-year-old singer told "Nightline" anchor Cynthia McFadden exclusively that the song was about something that actually happened to her.
Tune into "Good Morning America" October 22nd and 23rd to watch Taylor Swift's first live concert of her brand-new album, "Red."
"Writing 'We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together' was one of the most hilarious experiences I have ever had in the studio because it just happened so naturally," Swift told McFadden.
Swift said the song was born while she was in the studio with songwriters Max Martin and Johan Shellback and a friend of her ex's - she declined to name names - walked in.
"He starts talking about how he's heard we were getting back together and that was not the case," Swift said. "When he leaves, Max and Johan are like, 'so what's the story behind that?' And so I start telling them the story of break up, get back together, break up, get back together, just, ugh, the worst."
"Max says, 'this is what we're writing. We're writing this song,' and I picked up the guitar and just started singing, 'we are never-'" she continued. "It just happened so fast. It was so much fun."
Swift, who is one of the most successful country-pop crossover artists ever and has over 17 million Twitter followers, has made a career out of turning feelings of heartache and longing into smash hit singles, including "Love Story," "Sparks Fly" and "You Belong With Me."
Red will be the singer's fourth studio album. Swift's previous 2010 album, "Speak Now," won her two Grammys and sold over one million copies in its first week.
The rest of McFadden's interview with Taylor Swift will come later this fall in a Glamour profile as well as on "Good Morning America" and "Nightline."