Taylor Swift wasn’t always the world’s most famous pop superstar.
“Fourteen years ago, Taylor Swift played my cafeteria at Billboard when she was releasing her first album. I had to go around the office and beg people to come,” Bill Werde, director of the prestigious Bandier Music Program at Syracuse University, exclusively tells Page Six.
Werde, who was editorial director at Billboard at the time, says Swift “played this corny little cafeteria with bad lighting and no acoustics like it was [Madison Square Garden].”
He explains those in attendance were “12 cranky journalists who all wanted to get back to deadline.”
Despite not having become a household name yet, Swift belted out “Picture to Burn” for the small audience.
In true Swift fashion, the singer-songwriter opened with, “Before I play this next song, I want you all to know that I really do try to be a nice person.
“But if you break my heart or hurt my feelings or make me feel really bad or are really mean to me, I’m gonna write a song about you,” she added.
The Grammy Award winner wore her blond hair in long soft curls with a strapless knee-length white dress and tan leather cowboy boots.
Werde tells Page Six, “We were only recording [Swift singing] because our boss at the time insisted that we record any artist that stopped by. This was still the early days of video.”
Now, 14 years later, she just wrapped up her record-breaking Eras Tour days before her 35th birthday.
As we previously reported, the “Cruel Summer” singer is “definitely looking forward to some downtime” and her boyfriend, Travis Kelce, “has encouraged her to do so,” an insider told Page Six at the time.
“Taylor was ready for this tour to wrap because she’s burnt out and is looking forward to some rest and relaxation.”
The global sensation’s Eras Tour kicked off in Glendale, Ariz., in March 2023 and concluded in Vancouver on Dec. 8.
