Taylor Swift has taken the music industry by storm over the past year with her Era’s Tour as well as her Era’s Tour movie. All of her shows in the United States have been incredibly successful, with an average attendance of 72,425 people per concert. Recently, her tour has finished in the United States and has opened in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Despite it being November, Brazil is currently in its summer and they are going through a record-breaking and dangerous heatwave.
On Friday, November 17, fans crowded into the stadium under the extreme heat, causing many to suffer from heat sickness. Fans were seen being carried out on stretchers to receive medical attention after fainting. It is reported that they were not allowed to take water into Nilton Santos Olympic Stadium despite soaring temperatures.
Though water was available for purchase, it was extremely hard for certain sections to make their way over to the vendors. Taylor herself was even struggling to perform due to the temperature and was pleading throughout the concert for the show’s organizers to give her fans water. Tragically, 23 year old fan, Ana Clara Benevides Machado, suffered from cardiac arrest due to the extreme heat at the concert and later died at a local hospital.
A cause of death has not officially been released, however, her friend who accompanied her to the concert, Daniel Menin, said that after waiting for hours in the blazing sun to get into the stadium, Benevides passed out during “Cruel Summer.”. Following the news about Benevides’ passing, fans took to social media, calling for “Benevides Law” which “made water in events mandatory.” This petition gained more than 150,000 signatures in just a few hours, and federal authorities later announced that free water would be made available at all future concerts.
Swift also took to social media with a handwritten note saying she had a “shattered heart,” and that “there’s very little information I have other than the fact that she was so incredibly beautiful and far too young.” Rio de Janeiro Mayor Eduardo Paes said on X the “loss of a young woman’s life … is unacceptable.”
While authorities are investigating the circumstances of the death, Paes wrote, the municipality will demand Saturday that the show’s production company provide new water distribution points, more brigades and ambulances, and advance entrance to the show by one hour.
On Sunday, Swift performed “Bigger Than the Whole Sky,” as a tearful tribute to Benevides. Swift and fans are heartbroken over this preventable tragedy, and our hearts go out to Benevides’ family and friends.
