Taylor Swift joined Bon Iver for a surprise performance of their duet “Exile” on Oct. 26 at the OVO Arena Wembley in London, just a few days after the release of her new album, “Midnights.”
The pair were joined by The National’s Aaron Dessner, who also produced the song with Swift, as well as the album from which “Exile” is taken, “Folklore,” which will be released in 2020, and its sister album “Evermore,” which will be released later that year.
Swift’s eighth studio album, “Folklore,” contains the song “Exile,” which features Bon Iver. Justin Vernon, the band’s frontman, performed alongside Swift.
According to reports, this is not the first time the two have performed the song. They previously performed it for the Disney+ documentary concert film “Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions,” though it was done virtually.
Fans were taken aback by their first live performance of the song. Emily Zemler, a writer, filmed and posted a video of a portion of the performance on Twitter.
She wrote in the caption:
“Taylor Swift just came out with Bon Iver in London and it was honestly epic.”
Swift’s devoted fans, known as Swifties, were ecstatic as the multi-award-winning singer-songwriter performed for the first time in a long time.
A concert-goer tweeted:
“When the song started, me and my friend were like ‘I know this song, is it a cover?’ ..’No, no, it’s a movie soundtrack’… ‘nah man, I think it’s a pop cover. Like a Taylor Swift tune or something’… and then Taylor Swift came on stage, a concert-goer wrote about the night.”
Another wrote:
“Fatal levels of jealousy. Thanks for the clip.”
A fan commented on the performance:
“Oh this sounds amazing live. I need it to be in the tour setlist.”
According to reports, Bon Iver has been on tour in the United Kingdom and Ireland for the past few days. The previous concert is the second night of a two-night stand at Wembley Arena. The band’s tour will continue to the rest of Europe the following week.
The surprise performance, on the other hand, comes shortly after the release of her tenth studio album.
Fans were also pleased to see Dessner onstage with the pair, as he is a frequent collaborator of the 32-year-old singer. He reportedly co-produced and co-wrote “The Great War,” “High Infidelity,” “Would’ve, Could’ve, Should’ve,” and the bonus track “Hits Different” for “Midnights.”