Taylor Swift made global headlines on Tuesday night (Sept. 10) with her official endorsement of Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris, announcing her support of the current vice president with a social media blast following Harris’ debate with former president Donald Trump. The impact of the biggest figure in contemporary pop culture’s co-sign will likely be major — but Harris isn’t the only person benefiting from the Taylor Swift Bump this week.
On Sunday (Sept. 8), Swift attended the U.S. Open men’s tennis finals in Queens, New York (featuring another Taylor in American finalist Taylor Fritz), along with celebrity beau Travis Kelce. There, the pair were spotted singing (and even air-guitaring) along to a ’00s classic — “I Believe in a Thing Called Love,” signature hit for ’00s U.K. retro-rockers The Darkness — with Swift of course dramatically pantomiming the lyrics as well.
Unsurprisingly, the power couple’s rock-out moment had an immediate impact on consumption of the 2003 smash. U.S. on-demand audio streams of “Thing Called Love” rose to 105,000 for the Monday (Sept. 9) following the Open, a 80% hike from the 58,000 streams the song had notched the previous Monday, according to Luminate.
It’s not the first time that Swift has lent her considerable support to the karaoke perennial. In 2016, she lip synced along to “Thing Called Love” for an Apple ad — about which Darkness frontman Justin Hawkins told Billboard, “I didn’t think we could get any sexier, but somehow Taylor raised the bar!”
The fandom between the artists is apparently mutual, as Hawkins shared this week that he had attended Swift’s Eras Tour stop in Zurich with his family earlier this year, and was left a handwritten note from Swift in the VIP tent when he arrived. “What a thrill to have you at the show!” the note to Hawkins read. “I’m a massive fan of yours, and think ‘I Believe In a Thing Called Love’ is one of the greatest songs of all time.”
“I Believe in a Thing Called Love” was a No. 2 hit on the UK Official Charts, and reached No. 9 on the Billboard Alternative Airplay listing. Last year, Billboard‘s staff named the rock anthem the 31st best song of 2003.
