Paul Kelly, Sarah McLeod, The Screaming Jets & More Aussie Rockers Cover Taylor Swift

6 February 2024 | 11:18 am | Mary Varvaris

"We are pumped to present these never-before-heard covers and join the celebrations of the Australian leg of Taylor Swift’s iconic tour."

Paul Kelly, Sarah McLeod, The Screaming Jets

Paul Kelly, Sarah McLeod, The Screaming Jets (Credit: Michael Hili, Supplied, Kane Hibberd)

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Even Triple M – the home of rock music on Australian radio – isn’t immune to Taylor fever.

In the week leading up to Taylor Swift’s momentous return to Australia on her Eras tour, rockers you hear on Triple M will put their own spin (“Triple M Version”) on Taylor Swift classics.

The series began yesterday, with Paul Kelly kickstarting the excitement with a cover of Swift’s Anti-Hero. Today, The Screaming Jets – yep, the band we know and love behind Better – will be on the radio with a rendition of We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together.

The rest of the roster keeps up the surprises. Sarah McLeod (of The Superjesus and solo fame), Ian Moss, Diesel, Birds Of Tokyo, British India and Joe Camilleri with the Melbourne Ska Orchestra are set to perform Swift hits. You can find the song list and timetable below.

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A new cover drops each weekday until Wednesday, 14 February. Two days later, Swift begins her highly anticipated Eras Australian tour.

In a statement (via Radio Today), The Screaming Jets vocalist Dave Gleeson said about paying tribute to Taylor Swift, “Taking on the challenge of covering Taylor Swift’s banger We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together and fusing it with the sound of The Screaming Jets was a blast. Reimagining this song for Triple M was an unexpected start to 2024, but the outcome is something that our Triple M listeners can 100% get on board with.”

Triple M’s Head of Metro Content, Matthew O’Reilly, added, “The Triple M Versions are an outstanding collaboration of some of Australia’s best rock artists with some of the world’s most popular songs, resulting in something completely unique to Triple M and Australia. We are pumped to present these never-before-heard covers and join the celebrations of the Australian leg of Taylor Swift’s iconic tour.”

Yesterday, Taylor Swift won two new Grammy Awards, racking her tally up to 14 after winning the Best Pop Vocal Album and Album of the Year awards.

While accepting the former award, Swift announced her new album, The Tortured Poets Department, which will be released on Friday, 19 April. You can pre-order/pre-save the album here.

In other Taylor Swift-related news, a Brisbane school shuffled its exam dates around to account for Swifties travelling interstate for the tour, while thousands have signed a petition to have G Flip open the shows. Yesterday, tour promoters Frontier Touring revealed that pop-up merch stores would precede the tour.

Taylor Swift – Triple M Versions

Paul Kelly – Anti-Hero – Monday 5 February

The Screaming Jets – We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together – Tuesday 6 February

Sarah McLeod – Wildest Dreams – Wednesday 7 February

Diesel – This Is Me Trying – Thursday 8 February

Ian Moss – Style – Friday 9 February

Birds Of Tokyo – Blank Space – Monday 12 February

British India – You’re On Your Own, Kid – Tuesday 13 February

Joe Camilleri with the Melbourne Ska Orchestra – I Knew You Were Trouble – Wednesday 14 February