Taylor Swift reacts to 'unreal' Billboard Music Awards wins

Taylor Swift reacts to 10-prize haul at Billboard Music Awards: ‘Unreal’

Taylor Swift in a sparkly pink blazer and matching boots sitting on a desk with one of her legs up

Nov. 20, 2023 9:33 AM PT

Taylor Swift had a gold rush of her own Sunday at the Billboard Music Awards, where she continued her reign as its most-awarded female musician.

The “Anti-Hero” singer-songwriter won 10 prizes at the annual awards show, including the headlining top artist prize. As part of the show’s first digital-only iteration, artists and honorees performed and accepted their awards remotely from venues across the globe. Swift celebrated her wins in a video recorded in Brazil.

“This is unreal,” she said as she held her newest Billboard prize. “The fact that you guys have given me 10 Billboard Awards, I’m talking to the fans specifically, none of this happens without you.”

The 33-year-old thanked her Swifties for their continued support of her lucrative and “magical” Eras tour and her re-recordings. Over the course of her Eras tour, Swift dropped re-releases for “Speak Now” and “1989” and became a box-office queen for its accompanying concert film.

She continued: “I feel like the luckiest person in the world to have you in my corner and caring about the music I make. So thank you....10 million times for this.”

After her impressive haul on Sunday, Swift racked up a total of 39 Billboard Music Awards, tying with Drake. The “For All the Dogs” rapper took home five prizes, including top rap artist. Country star Morgan Wallen was the night’s biggest winner, earning 11 prizes.

Swift accepted her Billboard prizes just a day after postponing her Saturday show in Brazil amid a record-breaking heat wave in Rio de Janeiro. The singer announced the postponement after fan Ana Clara Benevides, a 23-year-old psychology student, fainted in the front row of her Friday concert at the Nilton Santos Olympic Stadium.

Benevides was given 40 minutes of CPR on site before being taken to a hospital, where she died, her friend Thiago Fernandes told the Brazilian newspaper Folha de S. Paulo. The concert’s organizer, Time For Fun, corroborated Fernandes’ account in an Instagram post and added that Benevides died after receiving emergency medical attention for an hour. No official cause of death has been reported.

“I can’t even tell you how devastated I am by this,” Swift shared Friday in a handwritten note. “There’s very little information I have other than the fact that she was so incredibly beautiful and far too young.”

Benevides’ father Weiny Machado expressed his grief to Folha de S. Paulo. He said that his daughter was set to graduate in April and that she attended the concert to fulfill a dream.

Time For Fun rescheduled Saturday’s show for Monday. On Sunday, Swift returned to the stadium stage where she performed “Bigger Than the Whole Sky” in honor of Benevides, according to TMZ.

In a video circulating on social media Monday, Benevides’ mother Adriana Benevides thanked Swift fans and their families who contributed to a fundraiser in her daughter’s honor. Adriana said she learned how much fellow fans loved her daughter.

After the Rio shows, Swift will take her Eras tour to the Allianz Parque in São Paulo from Friday through Sunday.

Times staff writer Carlos De Loera contributed to this report.