Taylor Swift Performs Surprise Duet With Randy Newman at Toy Story 5 Premiere
As the years go by, word of this duet will never die.
Taylor Swift attended the Toy Story 5 world premiere—having written the song “I Knew it, I Knew You” for the forthcoming film—on June 9 in Los Angeles where she and composer Randy Newman surprised audience members with a duet of his beloved song, “You’ve Got a Friend in Me.”
The duet, which saw Newman on the keys of a grand piano and Swift singing alongside him, occurred 30 years after Newman, 82, penned the song for the original Toy Story released in 1995.
This time, Newman even added a little flare to his hit song. When Swift sang, “Some other folks might be a little smarter than I am,” he added into the mic, “No one is smarter than you,” earning a laugh from the audience and the Midnights artist herself.
And that wasn’t the only time Swift—who wore a sparkling yellow gown for the occasion, her hair fashioned into a braid à la cowgirl Jessie—sang during the premiere: She also treated attendees to the first live performance of her new track, singing “I Knew It, I Knew You” accompanied by the piano.
But before she performed, the Grammy winner also took a moment to celebrate everyone who worked on Toy Story 5, reserving an extra-special comment for the woman behind Jessie.
“I would like to say that Joan Cusack has done such an extraordinary job as Jessie,” she said into the microphone. “It was an honor to write for her. And I'm very lucky that I got to write for this film, and that's all thanks to Andrew Stanton and Kenna Harris who wrote and directed this film and thought of me and reached out to me and let me get to experience it and be inspired by it.”
But above all, the 36-year-old wanted to thank Newman, who has provided the score for each of the Toy Story films.
“I'm also lucky enough to be here because of someone else who is the architect of the Toy Story musical universe,” Swift continued. “He is the king of making us feel the absolute most and pulling at our heartstrings and making us laugh. He's one of our friends, you know what I mean? I'm talking about Randy Newman.”
And indeed, when Swift—whose appearance at the premiere occurred amid speculation that her nuptials to Travis Kelce could occur any day now—released “I Knew It, I Knew You” on June 5, the Life of a Showgirl artist acknowledged she was following in Newman’s beloved footsteps.
Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for for TAS Rights Management & VALERIE MACON/AFP via Getty Images
“Thank you to the incomparable @randynewmanofficial for the gorgeous sonic tapestry of songs and scores you’ve meticulously woven over the years,” she wrote on Instagram at the time. “You created the Toy Story musical world, and we are lucky to get to live in it.”
The Toy Story 5 premiere saw the film’s original stars such as Joan, Tom Hanks and Tim Allen join forces with the stars who have more recently become part of the franchise, including Greta Lee and Shelby Rabara. For more from the premiere, read on.
Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for for TAS Rights Management
Taylor Swift
Jesse Grant/Getty Images for Disney
Tom Hanks
Amy Sussman/WireImage
Tim Allen
VALERIE MACON / AFP via Getty Images
Joan Cusack
Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for Disney
Greta Lee
Rodin Eckenroth/Getty Images for Disney
Tony Hale
Jesse Grant/Getty Images for Disney
Kristen Schaal
Jesse Grant/Getty Images for Disney
Wallace Shawn
Rodin Eckenroth/Getty Images for Disney
John Ratzenberger
Jesse Grant/Getty Images for Disney
Scarlett Spears
Rodin Eckenroth/Getty Images for Disney
Melissa Villaseñor
Rodin Eckenroth/Getty Images for Disney
Conan O'Brien & Liza Powel O'Brien
Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for Disney
Krys Marshall
Jesse Grant/Getty Images for Disney
Lil Rel Howery
Amy Sussman/WireImage
Jordan Chiles
Jesse Grant/Getty Images for Disney
Craig Robinson
Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for Disney
Matty Matheson
Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for Disney
Jeff Bergman
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