Family of Taylor Swift Fan Who Died at Rio Concert Attends Eras Tour Show and Meets Singer
Nine days after Ana Clara Benevides Machado died before Taylor Swift took to the stage for her Eras tour show in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, her family was invited to watch the concert and meet the “Cardigan” singer.
Taylor, 33, invited the Benevides Machado family, including her father, Weiny Machado, to the final stop during the 2023 leg of the tour in São Paulo, Brazil, on Sunday, November 26, a source told People.
Meanwhile, several of the singer’s fans took to social media to share a photo of Taylor meeting Weiny, 53, and four others before the concert started. The group wore matching T-shirts with Ana’s face printed on it. Later on in the night, the family was captured enjoying the concert from the VIP section at the Allianz Parque arena, according to videos shared on social media.
Ana died at the age of 23 before Taylor’s concert on November 17 at Estadio Nilton Santos began. While feeling unwell at the venue amid extremely warm temperatures, first responders attended to Ana before being transferred to a nearby hospital to receive more medical attention. She died after arriving at the hospital, event organizer Time for Fun announced via Twitter at the time.
The “Cruel Summer” singer took to her Instagram Stories to issue a statement after she learned about Ana’s death. “I can’t believe I’m writing these words, but it’s with a shattered heart that I say we lost a fan earlier tonight before my show,” Taylor wrote. “I can’t even tell you how devastated I am by this. There’s very little information I have other than the fact she was so incredibly beautiful and far too young.”
She then stated that she would not be able to talk about Ana during her upcoming concerts. “I’m not going to be able to speak about this from the stage because I feel overwhelmed by grief when I even try to talk about it,” Taylor added. “I want to say now I feel this loss deeply and my heart goes out to her family and friends.”
“This is the last thing I ever thought would happen when we decided to bring this tour to Brazil,” she concluded.
Weiny spoke to Brazilian newspaper Folha de S.Paulo just one day after Ana’s passing. “I lost my only daughter, a happy and intelligent girl,” he said. “She was about to graduate in psychology next April, saving money. I have no words to express my pain. She left home to fulfill a dream and came back dead.”
