Taylor Swift is sharing how she brought sunshine into being. Since the release of the "Opalite" music video on February 6th, the Life of a Showgirl artist has continuously peeled back the curtain on the epic collaboration, which featured stars like Domhnall Gleeson, Greta Lee, Graham Norton, Jodie Turner Smith, Cillian Murphy, and Lewis Capaldi.
In her latest update shared on Instagram, a bare-faced Taylor brought fans into the studio where she and producer Shellback (real name Karl Johan Schuster) added flourishes and sound effects to the original track—the magic that the Opalite product brings to its consumers in the video. In subsequent videos from the studio, Shellback clapped out a desired rhythm for the song (while an adorable pup looked on), Taylor recorded a line for the song's chorus, and the pair toasted a job well done. One behind-the-scenes moment also showed Taylor's reaction to her '80s-inspired costume for the video—which featured mom jeans, a denim vest, and striped top—the 36-year-old telling the camera, "Never in my life have I felt so myself. This is who I was actually meant to be."
The newest series of videos comes as Taylor celebrates "Opalite" rising to the number one spot on the Billboard Hot 100 list, where her other Life of a Showgirl track "Fate of Ophelia" currently sits at number eight. "I can't even sum up my excitement," Taylor captioned her February 23rd Instagram post. "I'm so blown away by the love you've shown this song and video. To put this into perspective… This is actually the first time I've had two Hot 100 #1s off of one album since my album 1989 came out in 2014, nearly twelve years ago!"
She continued, "I know that's a lot of numbers but it all adds up to me being so thankful to the fans who helped make this happen by welcoming this song into your lives with open arms. Seriously bouncing off the walls about this!! Just wanted to say THANK YOU, might go buy a giant pretzel at the mall to celebrate, iykyk." And for those who don't know, she and Domhnall celebrate their newfound love with mall pretzels in the "Opalite" video.
While the Grammy winner previously explained how she was inspired to include her fellow Graham Norton Show guests in the music video for "Opalite" in a life-changing moment of epiphany, it did take her some time before then to come up with the video's concept. After all, the stakes were high: the song is her fiancé Travis Kelce's favorite off the album.
"For like a year, I was like, 'What would I do for the 'Opalite' video?'" Taylor explained in a February 13th video. "'Opalite' actually sounds a little bit like a commercial or something," she recalled, noting that there is also a second product featured. "So I was like, 'What if it actually was, in the music video, this magical product?'" Meanwhile, the anti-product "Nope-Alite is for people who want to choose to be unhealed," she added. "Opalite is for people who want to choose a path that serves them."
