Taylor Swift explains why she announced new album at Grammys: 'I'm just going to do it'

TOKYO — Taylor Swift pulled back the curtain on her thinking behind her announcement of new album "The Tortured Poets Department" and what her back-up plan would have been if she didn't win her 13th Grammy.

"I had this plan in my head and I told my friends, I told Jack, but I hadn’t really told many other people," she said during the "Evermore" set of her Tokyo concert on Wednesday. "I thought, 'OK, so if I’m lucky enough to win one thing tonight, I’m just going to do it. I’m just going to announce my new album.'"

Swift dropped the news and made history moments later when she became the only artist to win album of the year four times.

"My backup plan is I was going to do it tonight in Tokyo," Swift revealed. "(People say) 'Why do you make so many albums?' I'm like, 'Man, because I love it. I love it so much.' I'm having fun, leave me alone."

On Monday, the singer released the tracklist on social media and divulged collaborations with Post Malone and Florence and The Machine.

"I've been working on 'Tortured Poets' since right after I turned in 'Midnights,'" she said. "So you turn in an album months in advance so you can make vinyls."

She polished it from 2021 to 2023, even between U.S. stops of the Eras Tour.

"When it was perfect, in my opinion," she said, "when it was good enough for you, I finished it."

Some Easter eggs are coming into focus. The Japanese subtitles she recently added to the "Look What You Made Me Do" music video and the black fingernail on the "Karma (Remix)" video both point to a project announcement. Many fans had speculated it would be the rerelease of her sixth album, "Reputation (Taylor's Version)."

Swift will play at the Tokyo Dome for four nights. Her next stop is Melbourne, Australia.

Follow Bryan West, the USA TODAY Network's Taylor Swift reporter, on Instagram, TikTok and X as @BryanWestTV.