Taylor Swift performing The Folklore Set during The Eras Tour.

Hannah Walton-Hughes

Taylor Swift was forced to postpone her second concert in Rio de Janeiro last weekend after a young fan died amidst the heatwave.

As temperatures reached 39.1 degrees celsius, more than 60,000 people packed the Estádio Olímpico Nilton Santos in Rio for Swift’s Friday night concert on the record-breaking Eras Tour.

Ana Clara Benevides Machado, 23, collapsed during the concert and died in hospital hours later, forcing Swift to cancel Saturday’s following show.

Announcing the postponement on her Instagram story, the singer wrote, “I’m writing this from my dressing room in the stadium. The decision has been made to postpone tonight’s show due to the extreme temperatures in Rio.

“The safety and wellbeing of my fans, fellow performers and crew always has to come first.”

Swift described herself as “overwhelmed by grief” at the death of Benevides Machado. She said that her heart went out to the family and friends of the deceased, and that she was “so incredibly beautiful and far too young.”

The singer-songwriter stated that it was “the last thing I thought would happen when we decided to bring this tour to Brazil.”

Details of a preliminary autopsy indicate Benevides Machado suffered minor lung haemorrhages, but Brazilian authorities have said it is too early to determine whether heat and dehydration were the cause of death.

Brazilian daily newspaper Folha de S Paula reported that Benevides Machado suffered a cardiac arrest after collapsing before the show in Rio.

Record Breaking Temperatures in Brazil

The death of the young fan comes as Brazil records its hottest ever temperature of 44.8 degrees celsius.

According to the Guardian, Swift had briefly paused the show so water could be distributed amongst the crowd, while fans could be heard chanting: “Water, water, water, water.”

Ahead of the Saturday gig, temperatures rose to 42.5 degrees celsius, prompting the concert’s promoters, Time For Fun, to postpone the second show.

The Mayor of Rio, Eduardo Paes, wrote on Twitter/X: “The loss of a young woman’s life yesterday at the show in Engenhão is unacceptable.”

Flávio Dino, Brazil’s justice minister, also confirmed via Twitter/X that emergency measures, including the allowance of personal water bottles and the provision of free drinking water at concerts, will be put in place immediately.

Brazilian authorities and Taylor Swift fans have called for production companies to allow concertgoers to enter venues earlier, as well as to increase the provision of emergency services.

Swift performed the postponed concert on Monday, before heading to São Paulo for her three show stint.

She will begin the UK leg of the two-year ‘Eras Tour’ in June 2024.

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Featured image courtesy of Paolo V via Flickr. No changes were made to this image. Image license found here.

I am an aspiring political journalist, and am passionate about writing and reporting on local, national, and international news. Currently, I am a second year Undergraduate student studying English with Creative Writing at the University of Nottingham. I am a regular contributor to the News, Features, Reviews and Entertainment sections of the University's magazine, Impact, where I also hold the position of Head of the Reviews section. I am a member of the News team at University Radio Nottingham, where I am a panelist on the weekly News and Political shows, as well as partaking in reporting. Previous work experience includes a week's placement at Your LocalLink Magazine in York, in addition to shadowing MP Jason McCartney in Parliament. See my LinkedIn page for more. Over lockdown, I appeared on BBC Radio York during York, discussing my Creative Writing.

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