Did Taylor Swift make surprise appearance with Tim McGraw at CMA Fest?

The country rumor mill was in full overdrive that Taylor Swift might make a surprise appearance during Tim McGraw’s set.

Reporters were asking about the possibility backstage in the artist interview room. Publicists asked about it in the industry suite above the stadium. Swiftie influencers speculated about it online.

Why?

She released a country song, “I Knew It, I Knew You” at midnight June 5, during the first night of CMA Fest. The harmonica-and-piano heavy tune broke streaming records for Pixar and Disney’s film “Toy Story 5.” And Saturday’s headliner was Tim McGraw, the country star she wrote about 20 years ago to launch her career, now worth north of two billion dollars.

Swift hasn’t performed at CMA Fest in 13 years. It’s also the final year at the open-roofed Nissan Stadium before the four-day event moves next door to a new venue.

So was the Eras Tour singer-songwriter the special guest of the night?

No, she was not.

When you think Tim McGraw

Swift’s history with CMA Fest stretches back nearly two decades.

During her country music years, she appeared on the festival’s main LP Field stage — now Nissan Stadium — five times: June 10, 2007; June 5, 2008; June 14, 2009; June 12, 2011; and June 6, 2013. Those performances mirrored her rise from a teenage newcomer singing “Tim McGraw” and “Picture to Burn” to one of country music’s biggest stars. Along the way, she delivered the first live performance of “Love Story” during CMA Fest in 2008 and later shared the stage with Tim McGraw and Keith Urban during a 2013 performance of “Highway Don’t Care.”

There is a famous story among Swiftie lore of the singer spending 13 hours meeting fans during a marathon autograph session in 2010.

Her 2013 appearance ultimately became her final main-stage CMA Fest performance before she fully pivoted into pop with 2014’s “1989.”

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This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Did Taylor Swift make surprise appearance with Tim McGraw at CMA Fest?