An emotional Taylor Swift returned to the Rio de Janeiro stage Sunday after being forced to postpone her show due to scorching temperatures and the accidental death of a fan.
Swift, 33, seemingly paid tribute to Ana Clara Benevides by singing “Bigger Than the Whole Sky” off her 2022 album “Midnights” during a torrential downpour at Estádio Nilton Santos in Brazil.
“Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye / You were bigger than the whole sky,” Swift sang while playing the piano.
“I’ve got a lot to live without / I’m never gonna meet / What could’ve been, would’ve been / What should’ve been you.”
Benevides, who had been camped out in the sweltering heat all day, reportedly suffered cardiac arrest minutes before Friday’s show started.
The 23-year-old college student was “resuscitated at the stadium for about 40 minutes” but suffered a second cardiac arrest while en route to the hospital, according to Brazilian newspaper Folha de S.Paulo.
The newspaper also stated that the heat index at the venue “reached 60º C” or 140° F.”
“I can’t believe I’m writing these words but it is with a shattered heart that I say we lost a fan earlier tonight before my show,” Swift wrote on Instagram. “I can’t even tell you how devastated I am by this.”
The singer wrote that she had “very little information” on Benevides “other than the fact that she was so incredibly beautiful and far too young.”
“I’m not going to be able to speak about this from stage because I feel overwhelmed by grief when I even try to talk about it,” the “Bad Blood” singer continued. “I want to say now I feel this loss deeply and my broken heart goes out to her family and friends. This is the last thing I ever thought would happen when we decided to bring this tour to Brazil.”
The “Love Story” singer, who is currently on the international leg of her Eras Tour, canceled her show mere hours later after she deemed it too unsafe to perform.
“I’m writing this from my dressing room in the stadium,” Swift wrote in an Instagram Story. “The decision has been made to postpone tonight’s show due to the extreme temperatures in Rio.”
“The safety and well-being of my fans, fellow performers and crew always has to come first.”
Swift’s decision to cancel her show came one day after the “Anti-Hero” singer was spotted gasping for air during her nearly three-hour show.
At one point, Swift paused the concert to make sure fans — who had begun chanting “water” — stayed hydrated.
“It’s very hot, so if somebody says they need water when it’s this hot they really need it,” Swift can be heard saying in a video posted to X (formerly Twitter).
This was the second time that Swift — who rarely cancels shows — was forced to postpone.
Last week, the singer was forced to cancel one of her Buenos Aires shows after a massive rainstorm flooded the stadium.
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