Taylor Swift reunites with 10-year-old fan during Massachusetts concert
Taylor Swift: The singer reconnected with a fan and his mother during a concert in Foxborough, Massachusetts, earlier this month. ( Kevin Mazur/TAS23/Getty Images for TAS Rights Management)
By Bob D'Angelo, Cox Media Group National Content Desk
A 10-year-old Connecticut boy got the thrill of a lifetime when singer Taylor Swift called him to the stage during a concert in Massachusetts earlier this month. As it turns out, it was not their first encounter.
Leyton Barnett, 10, of West Haven, attended Swift’s concert at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough with his mother on May 20, the New Haven Register reported. During her Eras Tour, Swift has given one fan a signed hat while singing her song, “22,” and she handed one to Barnett, according to WTNH-TV.
Barnett gave her a friendship bracelet and a hug, and the singer mouthed her thanks, according to the Register.
The boy’s connection to the singer comes through his mother, Stephanie Barnett, WVIT-TV reported. Stephanie Barnett caught Swift’s attention on social media a decade ago when she wrote that her music helped her cope while she was having trouble getting pregnant, according to the television station.
In 2014, Stephanie Barnett shared her fertility journey on Instagram and Tumblr, adding that Swift’s 2008 song “Change,” inspired her to keep going, according to the Register.
Swift saw the comment and reached out to Stephanie Barnett, WTNH reported.,
“It was amazing that she cared at all,” she told WVIT.
Swift included the Barnetts in “Swiftmas,” a Christmas celebration where the singer would send fans hand-picked personalized gifts in the mail. But in Barnett’s case, it was in person.
Leyton was a toddler in 2014 when Swift showed up unannounced at their home with presents for the child, the television station reported.
“I open the door and she’s like, ‘Hey, Steph!’ and it’s just her right there, and I lost it,” Barnett told WVIT in 2014. “I lost it for a while.”
Swift brought Leyton a Power Wheels electric toy vehicle, a rotor control car, a piano inspired by the movie “Big” and a helmet, the Register reported. She also gave Stephanie Barnett a necklace.
So when Swift’s team learned via social media that the Barnetts were going to attend this year’s concert in Foxborough, they put a plan in place to give Leyton a memory he would cherish, the Register reported.
“Right as the song started, her management team came up to the end of the aisle and waved us on, brought us to the end of the stage and he got the hat,” Stephanie Barnett told WTNH.
“I was really excited and happy,” Leyton told WVIT. “Also, since there was 70,000 people there, I was a little bit nervous.”
It did not matter that it rained at Gillette Stadium the night the Barnetts saw Swift in concert. Leyton’s smile was as bright as sunshine.
“It was good, it was great, it was amazing,” he told the Register. “Going to the concert in the rain was even more fun and the best day of my life.”
Photos: Taylor Swift through the years Here are some memorable photos of Taylor Swift through the years. (Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images for MTV)
Photos: Taylor Swift through the years 2006: Country singer Taylor Swift arrives at the 41st annual Academy of Country Music Awards held at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on May 23, 2006, in Las Vegas. (Michael Buckner/Getty Images)
Photos: Taylor Swift through the years 2007: Music artist Taylor Swift performs during the Academy of Country Music New Artists' Party for a Cause show at the MGM Grand Conference Center on May 14, 2007, in Las Vegas. (Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
Photos: Taylor Swift through the years 2008: Singer Taylor Swift arrives at the 50th annual Grammy Awards held at the Staples Center on February 10, 2008, in Los Angeles. (Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)
Photos: Taylor Swift through the years 2009: Kanye West (left) jumps onstage after Taylor Swift (center) won the "Best Female Video" award during the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards at Radio City Music Hall on September 13, 2009, in New York City. (Christopher Polk/Getty Images)
Photos: Taylor Swift through the years 2010: Musicians Kary Perry and Taylor Swift during the 52nd annual Grammy Awards Salute to Icons Honoring Doug Morris held at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 30, 2010, in Beverly Hills, California. (Larry Busacca/Getty Images for NARAS)
Photos: Taylor Swift through the years 2011: Taylor Swift and Selena Gomez perform onstage during the "Speak Now World Tour" at Madison Square Garden on November 22, 2011, in New York City. (Larry Busacca/Getty Images)
Photos: Taylor Swift through the years 2012: Taylor Swift performs onstage during the MTV EMA's 2012 at Festhalle Frankfurt on November 11, 2012, in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. (Andreas Rentz/Getty Images for MTV)
Photos: Taylor Swift through the years 2013: Taylor Swift arrives at the 55th annual Grammy Awards on February 10, 2013, in Los Angeles. (Christopher Polk/Getty Images for NARAS)
Photos: Taylor Swift through the years 2014: Musician Taylor Swift attends the "Charles James: Beyond Fashion" Costume Institute Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 5, 2014, in New York City. (Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images)
Photos: Taylor Swift through the years 2015: Taylor Swift, Jay-Z, Kanye West and Kim Kardashian attend the 57th annual Grammy Awards at the Staples Center on February 8, 2015, in Los Angeles. (Larry Busacca/Getty Images for NARAS)
Photos: Taylor Swift through the years 2016: Recording artist Taylor Swift attends the 2016 Vanity Fair Oscar Party Hosted By Graydon Carter at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts on February 28, 2016, in Beverly Hills, California. (Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images)
Photos: Taylor Swift through the years 2017: Musician Taylor Swift performs onstage during the Super Saturday Night Concert at Club Nomadic on February 4, 2017, in Houston. (Larry Busacca/Getty Images for DIRECTV)
Photos: Taylor Swift through the years 2018: Taylor Swift attends the 2018 American Music Awards at Microsoft Theater on October 9, 2018, in Los Angeles. (Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)
Photos: Taylor Swift through the years 2019: Taylor Swift performs during the TIME 100 Gala 2019 Dinner at Jazz at Lincoln Center on April 23, 2019, in New York City. (Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for TIME)
Photos: Taylor Swift through the years 2020: Taylor Swift attends the 2020 Sundance Film Festival "Miss Americana" Premiere at Eccles Center Theatre on January 23, 2020, in Park City, Utah. (Neilson Barnard/Getty Images)
Photos: Taylor Swift through the years 2021: Taylor Swift, Jack Antonoff, and Aaron Dessner accept the Album of the Year award for "Folklore" onstage during the 63rd annual Grammy Awards at the Los Angeles Convention Center on March 14, 2021, in Los Angeles. (Kevin Winter/Getty Images for The Recording Academy)
Photos: Taylor Swift through the years 2021: Taylor Swift attends the "All Too Well" New York Premiere on November 12, 2021 in New York City. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images) (DIMITRIOS.KAMBOURIS@GETTYIMAGES.COM/Getty Images)
Photos: Taylor Swift through the years 2021: Writer-director Taylor Swift attends a premiere for the short film "All Too Well" at AMC Lincoln Square 13 on Friday, Nov. 12, 2021, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP) (Evan Agostini/Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)
Photos: Taylor Swift through the years 2022: Taylor Swift speaks during a graduation ceremony for New York University at Yankee Stadium in New York, Wednesday, May 18, 2022. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig) (Seth Wenig/AP)
Photos: Taylor Swift through the years 2022: Taylor Swift waves to graduates as she participates in a graduation ceremony for New York University at Yankee Stadium in New York, Wednesday, May 18, 2022. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig) (Seth Wenig/AP)
Photos: Taylor Swift through the years Taylor Swift performs onstage during the Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour at Lumen Field on July 22, 2023 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Mat Hayward/TAS23/Getty Images for TAS Rights Management) (Mat Hayward/TAS23/Getty Images for TAS Rights Mana)
Photos: Taylor Swift through the years Taylor Swift performs onstage during "Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour" at Lucas Oil Stadium on November 01, 2024 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Kevin Mazur/TAS24/Getty Images for TAS Rights Management) (Kevin Mazur/TAS24/Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for TAS)