Taylor Swift remains unbeatable at planning surprises for her fans. The singer joined the cast of Disney and Pixar’s Toy Story 5 at the world premiere of the film, but that was not all. Not only did she walk the red carpet, but she also performed her song, I Knew It, I Knew You, at the premiere. Toy Story 5 releases in English and Hindi in cinemas on 19th June.
Taylor surprises fans
Videos from the premiere soon surfaced on social media, showing the singer joining composer Randy Newman on stage to perform the song, earning a rousing response from the audience. Taylor was seen wearing a gorgeous sunshine-yellow outfit and walked up on stage to perform her new song with Randy, who was at the piano. Besides singing the newly released song, Taylor also sang the franchise’s blockbuster, You’ve Got A Friend In Me, reminding everyone that she is one of the franchise’s biggest fans.
The singer said she has been a longtime fan of the movie franchise. “It means the world to me to be a small part of these films,” she said.
About the song
I Knew It, I Knew You is also Taylor Swift’s first original material since The Life of a Showgirl was released in October. The song is also co-produced by Jack Antonoff, her former, frequent collaborator. She started working with Antonoff on 2014’s 1989 through 2024’s The Tortured Poets Department.
On Monday, Taylor confirmed the song was forthcoming, writing on Instagram, “I’ve always dreamed of getting to write for these characters who I’ve adored since I was a 5-year-old kid watching the first Toy Story movie. I fell instantly in love with Toy Story 5 when I was lucky enough to see it in its early stages, and I wrote this song as soon as I got home from the screening. Sometimes you just know, right?”
She also shared the preorders for three CD single versions of the track were available on her site. They quickly sold out: One features the song as it appears in the film, another is an acoustic version and the last is a piano version.
“It’s incredible just how meaningful it’s been having Taylor write and perform this song. Her connection to Jessie and the immediate way she understood what the character was going through was undeniable,” Toy Story 5 director and writer Andrew Stanton said in a press statement at the time. “The song is so deeply connected to Toy Story.’ So much so that on first listen, it instantly felt like it had always belonged there, like a long-lost family member. It was kismet.”