--- title: Taylor Swift Will Open AMAS 2018 With Performance description: Pop princess Taylor Swift will return to the 2018 American Music Awards by being the awards show's opening performer. canonical: https://time.com/5412798/taylor-swift-amas/ author: Cady Lang article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-10-02T16:43:36.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:55:13.679Z og:title: Taylor Swift Will Open the 2018 AMAs With This Song og:description: It's not what you might expect og:url: https://time.com/5412798/taylor-swift-amas/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5b85c88fdc6a7161/69893b9e22fb857451e26cc7/taylor-swift-amas-opening-song.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Taylor Swift reputation Stadium Tour og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Taylor Swift Will Open the 2018 AMAs With This Song twitter:description: It's not what you might expect twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5b85c88fdc6a7161/69893b9e22fb857451e26cc7/taylor-swift-amas-opening-song.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Taylor Swift Will Open the 2018 AMAs and This Is the Song She's Doing  by [Cady Lang](https://time.com/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Oct 2, 2018 4:43 PM UTC  HOUSTON, TX - SEPTEMBER 29: Taylor Swift performs onstage during the reputation Stadium Tour at NRG Stadium on September 29, 2018 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Emma McIntyre/TAS18/Getty Images for TAS) HOUSTON, TX - SEPTEMBER 29: Taylor Swift performs onstage during the reputation Stadium Tour at NRG Stadium on September 29, 2018 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Emma McIntyre/TAS18/Getty Images for TAS)Emma McIntyre—Getty Images for TAS  by [Cady Lang](https://time.com/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Oct 2, 2018 4:43 PM UTC [Taylor Swift](http://time.com/4411055/kanye-west-taylor-swift-kim-kardashian-feud/) is making her return to the [American Music Awards](http://time.com/4411055/kanye-west-taylor-swift-kim-kardashian-feud/) stage as this year’s opening performer. The [“Look What You Made Me Do”](http://time.com/4918411/taylor-swift-look-what-you-made-me-do-music-video-references/) singer took to her Instagram to share the news alongside her beloved cat Meredith. In the caption, Swift told fans that she would be performing her song “I Did Something Bad,” kicking off a night of star-studded performances and a show that will be helmed by Tracee Ellis Ross, who hosted last year’s AMAs to great fanfare. Other singers in the night’s lineup include Ciara, Missy Elliott, and Dua Lipa. Swift, who’s nominated in four categories at the 2018 AMAs — artist of the year; favorite female artist, pop/rock; favorite album, pop/rock; and favorite tour of the year — last performed at the awards show in 2014, singing her hit song, “Blank Space.” The pop princess has taken home 19 awards from the AMAs in the past. See Swift’s Instagram post below. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5412798/taylor-swift-amas/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5412798/taylor-swift-amas/"},"headline":"Taylor Swift Will Open the 2018 AMAs and This Is the Song She's Doing","datePublished":"2018-10-02T16:43:36.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:55:13.679Z","description":"It's not what you might expect","url":"https://time.com/5412798/taylor-swift-amas/","keywords":["Newsfeed","celebrities"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5b85c88fdc6a7161/69893b9e22fb857451e26cc7/taylor-swift-amas-opening-song.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Cady Lang","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/cady-lang/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5b85c88fdc6a7161/69893b9e22fb857451e26cc7/taylor-swift-amas-opening-song.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Taylor Swift reputation Stadium Tour","caption":"Taylor Swift reputation Stadium Tour","creditText":"Emma McIntyre—Getty Images for TAS","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5412798/taylor-swift-amas/","name":"Taylor Swift Will Open the 2018 AMAs and This Is the Song She's Doing"}}]}] ```