She’s back and better than ever! Taylor Swift officially returned to the country music stage and performed her song “Betty” — from recently released album Folklore — at the 2020 Academy of Country Music Awards (ACMs) on Wednesday, September 16.
The songstress, 30, sported khaki pants and a sparkly purple top on the Grand Ole Opry stage while singing the track accompanied by just her guitar. Taylor even did her own hair and makeup for the event, according to People.
Her most recent performance was the first time the “Lover” singer appeared at a country music awards show in seven years. Her last ACM Awards appearance was alongside Tim McGraw and Keith Urban in 2013.
She surprised fans on Sunday, September 13, with an epic Instagram Stories announcement about the “Betty” performance.
“Bout to show up at your party @acmawards,” Taylor wrote, using lyrics from the track.
When chatting with Country Radio on August 5, the “Lover” songstress opened up about the meaning behind “Betty.”
“I’ve always loved that in music you can kind of slip into different identities, and you can sing from other people’s perspectives. So that’s what I did on this one,” she explained. “Everyone makes mistakes, everybody really messes up sometimes. This is a song that I wrote from the perspective of a 17-year-old boy.”
Throughout the track, three names — James, Inez and Betty — are referenced in the lyrics. As for where the names came from, Taylor also revealed on Country Radio that she “named all the characters in this story after my friends’ kids.”
Some fans noted that she’s likely referring to Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively‘s children. The couple has three daughters, one named James, one named Inez and one whose name has yet to be announced publicly — who fans now guess is Betty
Swifties are also convinced that “Betty” is one of the songs in Taylor’s “Teenage Love Triangle.” During a YouTube Live to celebrate the Folklore‘s release on July 24, Taylor dished about three songs on the album that were written from different points of view, but never confirmed which tracks they are.
“There’s a collection of three songs I refer to as The Teenage Love Triangle,” she said at the time. “These three songs explore a love triangle from all three people’s perspectives at different times in their lives.”
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