The Paris Olympics are officially underway, and Lady Gaga lit the event’s musical torch with a rousing performance on the River Seine at the opening ceremony Friday.
Gaga brought high-level camp to the River Seine, kicking off her appearance with a performance of the French song “Mon Truc En Plume” by Zizi Jeanmaire. The singer emerged from a cluster of pink feathers, dancing on a gold staircase in a chic black ensemble. Her performance channeled Jeanmaire’s appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show in January 1965. Gaga was backed by a full band — including an enthusiastic horn section — plus a full crew of dancers.
And in true Gaga fashion — literally — she used a minor costume change to note a change in the set. As she moved to sit at the piano, the band paused for a moment while she played. When her dancers came back over, their pink feather shields covered her for a moment before she re-emerged, wearing a back piece covered in a poof of white feathers.
Gaga shared her gratitude for performing at the Olympics on an X post on Friday, saying the moment with the Jeanmarie track was full-circle since Jeanmarie starred in Cole Porter’s “Anything Goes,” Gaga’s first jazz release.
“Although I am not a French artist, I have always felt a very special connection with French people and singing French music—I wanted nothing more than to create a performance that would warm the heart of France, celebrate French art and music, and on such a momentous occasion remind everyone of one of the most magical cities on earth—Paris,” Gaga wrote.
Gaga also shared that they rented pom poms from the cabaret theater Le Lido, collaborated with Dior for custom costumes, and used naturally molted feathers for her looks. “I studied French choreography that put a modern twist on a French classic,” she wrote. “I rehearsed tirelessly to study a joyful French dance, brushing up on some old skills—I bet you didn’t know I used to dance at a 60’s French party on the lower east side when I was first starting out!”
“I hope you love this performance as much as I do. And to everyone in France, thank you so much for welcoming me to your country to sing in honor of you—it’s a gift I’ll never forget!” Gaga wrote. “Congratulations to all the athletes who are competing in this year’s Olympic Games! It is my supreme honor to sing for you and cheer you on!! Watching the Olympic Games always makes me cry! Your talent is unimaginable. Let the games begin!”
Gaga’s appearance comes after the singer began teasing her upcoming musical era. “Just me in the studio—happy as ever making music,” she wrote on Instagram earlier this month. “Feel so grateful, heart is peaceful. It’s like meditation. I can’t wait for you to hear what I’m working on.” At the premiere of her concert film Gaga Chromatica Ball, she described the music as being “nothing like anything that I’ve ever made before.” Her most recent album, Chromatica, arrived in 2020.
The musician recently wrapped a brief run of shows at Dolby Live at Park MGM in Las Vegas. The performances were part of a revival of Gaga’s Jazz and Piano show celebrating jazz standards and tracks from the Great American songbook.
The 2024 Summer Olympics will run from July 26 through Aug. 11. Events including gymnastics, soccer, tennis, basketball, breaking, kayak cross, surfing, skateboarding, and more will air live on NBC and are available to stream on Peacock.
This story was updated at 3:50 p.m. ET to include Gaga’s post about the performance.
Taylor Swift at the Curb Event Center at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee.
Here’s to 20 Years of ‘Taylor Swift’
It’s strange to think the songs we used to sing from one of the most famous self-titled debut album’s turn 20 years old today. You know the ones I’m talking about. The song in the car, my favorite song, the whispered songs, “Mary’s Song,” “Our Song.” Twenty years ago, Taylor Swift invited the world into the one she built with these melodies.
Taylor Swift wasn’t just the singer-songwriter’s first album that turned her into a rising Nashville star. It was also the first chapter that sealed Swift’s future success as a superstar musician. Within a year of its release on Oct. 24, 2006, the LP debuted at Number 19 on the Billboard Hot 100, earned platinum status, and made hits out of singles “Tim McGraw” and “Our Song.” It’s the reason we’re here today, reflecting on two decades into a career so massive, even the curly-haired mess of a dreamer couldn’t fathom it at 15 years old. That teenager grew into a pop goliath, but it’s easier to fathom when you remember that it’s always been about the songs.
With Taylor Swift, a precocious teen met listeners in their own teenage heartache, their deep-seeded loneliness, and that overarching, painful desire to fit in with a collection of country-pop gems. Who hadn’t cried over an unrequited love the way Swift did on “Teardrops on My Guitar” or felt the chilling rejection apparent on “Cold As You,” or the thrill of finding a best friend who lets you show your true colors like on “I’m Only Me When I’m With You” or even known a friend who suffered from eating disorders as discussed on “Tied Together With a Smile”? Here was a voice singing these stories she’d written, each sigh and imperfect note, making the keen observation of the worlds that much more sincere. That’s what connected with audiences and began the success story that we know so well today.
Throughout her self-titled debut, Swift tapped into the country music songwriting tradition of reminding listeners she’s the one with the pen. On the banjo-driven jaunt, “Our Song,” she laments the fact that there is no song to sum up her rosy romance — until she “grabs a pen and an old napkin” and cements the slamming screen doors and surreptitious late-night calls into her own song. With the help of producer Nathan Chapman and co-writer Liz Rose, Swift learned to master this trick.
Her debut single, “Tim McGraw” is the real shining example of this. On its face, the track chronicles a fleeting summer romance, but the wistful tune turns into a knockout that cemented Swift into country music history when she offers a prescient promise, “I hope you think of me.” With that simple line, the musician showed the transportative power of music.
Taylor Swift is also the first time we heard of the tropes that still run through the singer-songwriter’s catalog. The little black dress in “Tim McGraw,” the front seat in “Our Song,” the rain scattered across multiple songs, the photographs in “Picture to Burn,” the numbers 89 and 87 on “Mary’s Song (Oh My, My My).” With every nano-specific detail, Swift built out her own cinematic universe.
You can hear Swift map out the world-building that would turn into her next 12 albums on the self-titled centerpiece, “A Place in this World.” Over an acoustic guitar, she quips, “I don’t know what I want, so don’t ask me” before declaring, “I’m just a girl, trying to find a place in this world.” That’s the kind of sassy, yet uncertain attitude she brought to her very first album. But really, she always knew what she was doing in some capacity, especially if the hidden or “A Place in This World” is any indication. The uppercase letters in a lyric booklet of lowercase ones spell out: “I Found it.”
In a fitting twist of fate, 2026 not only marks a major anniversary for Swift’s self-titled debut album, it’s also the first year she’s eligible to be recognized in two very prestigious institutions: the Songwriters Hall of Fame and the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame. By Monday, the girl who cried all those tears on her guitar will be both the youngest woman to be inducted into the Songwriters Hall, and youngest-member of the Nashville edition.
During her Songwriters Hall of Fame acceptance speech, Swift reflected on the power of her craft. “As writers, we can only hope to meet people where they are in their lives,” she said. Since 2006, when she was just a high school freshman with a habit of writing songs on her bedroom floor or in math class, she has done exactly that.