Taylor Swift staged an emotional tribute to deceased fan Ana Clara Benevides during her concert in Rio de Janeiro on Sunday night.
Benevides, 23, passed away after suffering cardiac arrest while attending Swift’s first show in Rio de Janeiro on Friday.
Returning to the stage for the first time since Benevides’ death, Swift honored the fan with a performance of “Bigger Than the Whole Sky.” Swift was noticeably emotional during the performance as she fought through tears and nearly choked up while singing the lyric, “Did some force take you because I didn’t pray?”
Benevides had reportedly been at Nilton Santos Olympic Stadium for more than eight hours when she began to feel unwell. Temperatures in Rio de Janerio on Friday were in the high 90s, and water bottles were not allowed inside of the venue.
In a statement addressing Benevides’ passing posted to social media, Swift wrote: 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.”
“I can’t even tell you how devastated I am by this,” she continued. “There’s very little information I have other than the fact she was so incredibly beautiful and far too young.”
Swift added that she would not speak about Benevides’ death during her performances because “I feel 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. This is the last thing I ever thought would happen when we decided to bring this tour to Brazil.”
Due to extreme temperatures in Rio de Janeiro, Swift subsequently moved a concert originally scheduled for Saturday to Monday.
🎥| @TaylorSwift13 performing “Bigger Than The Whole Sky”#RioTSTheErasTourpic.twitter.com/Fd4R7HywXh
— The Swift Society (@TheSwiftSociety) November 20, 2023
this angle of bigger than the whole sky tonight wow pic.twitter.com/Q51Kr63yTb
— #1 karma clown ✨ (@tsisitovernow) November 20, 2023