"Oh Mayhem's AOTY is safe" - Fans think Taylor Swift is releasing 'The Life of a Showgirl' in October to make way for Lady Gaga's Grammy

On Tuesday, August 12, Taylor Swift announced her 12th studio album, The Life of a Showgirl, in a teaser clip from her upcoming appearance on Travis and Jason Kelce's New Heights podcast.

Alongside the teaser, Swift's official website also listed vinyls, cassettes, and CDs of the upcoming album as available for pre-sale. Subsequently, fans who placed their orders during the pre-sale were notified that their orders would ship before October 13.

While the notification clarified that October 13 was not the release date of The Life of a Showgirl, and that the date would be announced later, it led to fans speculating that Swift would be releasing her album in October to avoid competing with Lady Gaga's Mayhem for the 2026 Grammy Awards.

For the unversed, for an album to be considered to be in the running for the 2026 GRAMMYS, it needs to be released between August 31, 2024, and August 30, 2025. Gaga's Mayhem was released on March 7, 2025, while the speculated October release date for The Life of a Showgirl would make the latter ineligible for the 2026 GRAMMYS.

A tweet about the speculation posted by X user PopCrave has since attracted the netizens' attention, who shared their views on the same.

Some netizens claimed that the All Too Well singer had blocked many artists at the GRAMMYS with her releases in the past, but was making an exception for Lady Gaga.

Meanwhile, others predicted that Gaga's Mayhem was "locked" for the 2026 GRAMMYS if Swift's The Life of a Showgirl was not going to be in the running.

Lady Gaga has been nominated for the Album of the Year award four times in the past: in 2010 for The Fame, in 2011 for The Fame Monster, in 2012 for Born This Way, and in 2022 for Love for Sale. She has never won the award before.

Meanwhile, Taylor Swift is a four-time winner of the prestigious award: in 2010 for Fearless, in 2016 for 1989, in 2021 for Folklore, and in 2024 for Midnights. She is also the artist who has had the most wins in the category.

Taylor Swift will be dropping the cover art of her new album on Travis Kelce's podcast

Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift at the AFC Championship game in 2024 (Image via Getty)

After the pre-sale for her upcoming album's vinyl, CD, and cassettes went live at 12:12 am on Tuesday, Taylor Swift shared a teaser for her upcoming appearance in Travis and Jason Kelce's New Heights Podcast, releasing on August 13.

In the clip, Taylor Swift was seated alongside Travis Kelce, with Jason Kelce in the lower half of the frame. The singer told them, "So I wanted to show you something." She then picked up a mint green briefcase, with her initials printed over it in orange letters. As the older Kelce brother wondered what it might be, Swift pulled out a vinyl.

"This is my brand new album, The Life of a Showgirl," Swift said, holding up the vinyl.

As Jason Kelce appeared surprised, Travis Kelce exclaimed, "TS 12!!!". The cover art on the vinyl was blurred in the teaser, but is expected to be visible in the podcast episode when it drops.

While it's unclear when Taylor Swift is planning on releasing The Life of a Showgirl, it will be her first LP after The Tortured Poets Department, which dropped in April 2024. It would also be her first release after the singer wrapped up her record-breaking Eras Tour in December last year.

About the author

A reader-turned-writer, Akanksha is an entertainment writer covering UK Trends News for Sportskeeda. She has a post-graduate degree in English Literature and has spent the last four years in the content industry. Beyond entertainment, her areas of interest in writing include about pets, wildlife (especially birds), mental health, faith & spirituality.

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Edited by Ankita Barat