Published by Cel Manero from Global One Media, Inc.
Before the Eras Tour performance on Friday, a 23-year-old named Ana Clara Benevides Machado passed away due to health complications at the venue, exacerbated by the intense heat.
On Sunday night’s stop of the Eras Tour in Brazil, Taylor Swift showcased her talent by performing “Bigger Than the Whole Sky.” The 33-year-old pop sensation returned to the stage at Estádio Nilton Santos in Rio de Janeiro, resuming her tour after postponing Saturday’s show due to “extreme heat” following the unfortunate passing of 23-year-old fan Ana Clara Benevides Machado. Machado had left Friday’s concert feeling unwell.
During the Sunday performance, Swift chose the emotional track “Midnights (3am Edition)” as one of her surprise songs for the night. Fans speculated that she might have selected this ballad as a tribute to Machado. Although Swift didn’t mention Machado’s name during the performance, the lyrics of the song, revolving around loss, include the lines: “Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye / You were bigger than the whole sky / You were more than just a short time.”
Swift presented the live debut of the song with a piano version, prompting fans to take to social media afterward, pondering the potential connection between the performance and the recent loss of Ana Clara Benevides Machado.
One fan expressed on X (formerly Twitter), “Recognizing Taylor’s professionalism, the strength it must have required to sing ‘Bigger Than The Whole Sky’ without completely breaking down is beyond comprehension. It feels like she knew she had to do it for Ana, the Brazilian Swifties, and herself.”
Another Swiftie shared on the platform, “Witnessing Taylor’s performance of ‘Bigger Than the Whole Sky’ last night was a profoundly touching and beautiful tribute to the Swifties we’ve sadly lost too soon recently. It must have been an incredibly challenging moment for her, and I’m immensely proud of her. Sending everyone so much love right now.”
Swift decided to postpone Saturday’s show in response to unusually “extreme heat” in the city. On Friday, temperatures exceeded 102°F, coupled with humidity surpassing 70%, creating conditions that felt like 138°F, as reported by PBS.org. The rescheduled performance is now set for Monday.
This decision followed the confirmation of Machado’s passing before Friday’s concert. Event organizer Time for Fun conveyed in a post on X that the young adult passed away after feeling unwell at the venue. According to the post, shared in Portuguese, first responders attended to Benevides Machado, and she succumbed to her condition after being transferred to the local Salgado Filho Hospital.
“I can’t believe I’m writing these words, but it’s with a shattered heart that I say we lost a fan earlier tonight before my show,” Swift expressed on her Instagram on Friday.
“I can’t even tell you how devastated I am by this,” she added. “There’s very little information I have other than the fact she was so incredibly beautiful and far too young.”
Swift, conveying the depth of her grief, shared that she was “overwhelmed by grief when I even try to talk about it.”
“I want to say now I feel this loss deeply, and my heart goes out to her family and friends,” she wrote. “This is the last thing I ever thought would happen when we decided to bring this tour to Brazil.”
Throughout the night, Swift was captured on camera multiple times, urging stadium staff to supply fans with water. There was a moment during her performance of “All Too Well” when she noticed members of the audience struggling with the heat. In response, she halted the song and threw bottles of water to those in need.
The extreme temperatures, exceeding 100 degrees for several days, coupled with dangerously high humidity levels, finally abated on Sunday. This marked a record for mid-November in Rio.
