Taylor Swift Sings Solo Acoustic ‘Betty’ on ACM Awards (Watch)
Taylor Swift made her first performing appearance on a country awards show since 2013 with an appearance on Wednesday night’s Academy of Country Music Awards, singing “Betty,” a song from her recent “Folklore” album.
Swift posted a video of her performance shortly after the show had its tape-delayed airing on the west coast. Watch, below:
The performance had Swift returning to her roots by performing alone on a stool with an acoustic guitar, accompanied only by a harmonica player.
Swift sang from the stage of the Grand Ole Opry House in Nashville, though that was evident only at the very beginning and end of her performance, as she did without the elaborate lighted backdrops and auditorium LED lights of the other performers at that location, with a single striking spot behind her. (Like a majority of the performances on the audience-free show, it appeared to have been recorded in advance, to the likely chagrin of Swifties gathered outside the Opry House.)
“Betty” is the one song on “Folklore” that harks back in style to early Swift country hits like “Love Story,” complete with a teen romance, now painted as a nostalgic multi-character narrative instead of first-person experience.
Swift was the last woman to win the ACMs’ entertainer of the year crown, picking up the top prize in 2011 and 2012. Wednesday night, Carrie Underwood broke that drought, ending up in a tie with Thomas Rhett for entertainer of the year, winning it herself for the first time since her two-year run with it preceding Swift in 2009-2010.
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