‘Shattered’: Front row fan dies at Taylor Swift concert

Taylor Swift just cancelled her latest massive stadium show from her dressing room, a day after a mid-concert tragedy unfolded.

A fan has died at Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour concert in Brazil.

The US pop star, 33, announced a young female died before her show in Rio de Janeiro on Friday night, local time, at Estadio Nilton Santos Stadium.

Swift released an emotional tribute to the woman on her Instagram account hours after finishing the concert, and later posted another update announcing that the concert planned for the following night would be postponed.

“I can’t believe I’m writing these words, but it is 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,” Swift wrote.

“There’s very little information I have other than the fact that she was so incredibly beautiful and far too young.

“I’m not going to be able to speak about this from the stage 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 broken 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.”

Swift posted about her devastation at the events on social media.

Swift performed the first of three shows in Rio on Friday. Picture: Marcelo Endelli/TAS23/Getty Images for TAS Rights Management

In a new post to Instagram shared just hours before she was due to take the stage for her second Rio de Janeiro show today, Swift announced the show would be “postponed” to a later date.

“I’m writing this from my dressing room in the stadium. The decision has been made to postpone tonight’s show due to the exreme temperatures in Rio. The safety and well-being of my fans, fellow eprformers and crew has to and will always come first,” she wrote in a statement posted at around 6pm, local time. The previous night’s show had started at 7:30pm.

International media reports the woman who died was Ana Clara Benevides, 23, who fainted in the front row, which was performed in excessive heat.

She reportedly died after suffering a cardiac arrest.

Ana Clara Benevides, 23, died after suffereing a cadiac arrest at a Taylor Swift concert in Brazil.

Footage from the concert shows fans begging for water.

Reports said the woman was resuscitated at the stadium for about 40 minutes, but she suffered a second cardiac arrest on the way to hospital.

Friends said Ms Benevides arrived at the stadium at around 11am (local time) according to reports, before Swift came on stage at approximately 8pm on a day when the temperatures hit around 40 degrees Celsius.

Unofficially, firefighters reportedly counted a thousand faintings during the event.

Fans in attendance complained Swift seemed to be the only person trying to deliver water to the crowd.

Fans complained on social media about not being allowed to bring water bottles into the stadium, and Swift stopped the show in order for water to be distributed among the crowd.

Swift is quoted as saying, “There’s people that need water right here, maybe 30, 35, 40 feet back.”

🎥| @TaylorSwift13 throwing water to a fan#RioTSTheErasTourpic.twitter.com/iKxATiDPHH

— The Swift Society (@TheSwiftSociety) November 18, 2023

Swift was reportedly talking to her team off stage as the crowd chanted “water, water, water”.

Swift stopped the concert to try to get water distributed to the crowd.

Videos posted to X from the opening night of the tour show Swift in the middle of her set demanding staff fetch water bottles for dehydrated fans.

In one clip, the singer can be seen pausing playing the guitar before throwing a water bottle into the crowd.

Swift is set to perform two more shows in Rio on Saturday and Sunday, with Saturday’s show set to begin soon.

An estimated 120,000 fans are set to attend across both nights.