The Darkness frontman Justin Hawkins has thanked Taylor Swift and her boyfriend Travis Kelce after they were spotted singing along enthusiastically to their signature hit, “I Believe in a Thing Called Love”.
The pop star, 34, attended the US Open women’s final in New York on Sunday (8 September), with Kansas City Chiefs tight end Kelce, 34, during which they were filmed dancing and singing to the British band’s 2003 single.
After Swift’s evident enjoyment of the song, her fans have been tuning into the British rock band as well.
Posting from his TikTok account, Hawkins shared a heartfelt thank you to Swift and Kelce. He explained that he and his daughter had attended one of her stadium shows in Zurich, stating: “The hospitality they showed us was extraordinary.”
“They put us in a lovely VIP area, I had Chris Rock on one side, Roger Federer on the other side, I was dad of the year,” he said. “And to make matters even more spectacular, Taylor Swift sent me a lovely letter which was waiting for me in the VIP section, talking about how much she loves the song ‘I Believe in a Thing Called Love’.
“I was dad of the year, maybe dad of the century,” he joked. “Because all of that was a big surprise.”
Hawkins said he came in for yet another surprise when he saw the footage of Swift and Kelce singing along to “I Believe in a Thing Called Love” at the US Open.
“It was a really heartwarming moment for me, and my little girl can’t wait to tell her friends at school,” he said. “So thanks Taylor, thanks Travis, thanks everybody who enjoys tennis, that’s a really lovely start to the day. Nice one guys.”
“I Believe in a Thing Called Love” was released as the third single from The Darkness’s debut album, Permission to Land. It peaked at No 2 on the UK Singles Chart and also proved popular in the US.
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Swift’s love of the song goes back to at least 2016, when she was filmed rocking out to the track in an advertisement for Apple. The ad concluded with the tag: “Dance like no one’s watching.”
In an interview with The Guardian last year about the making of the song, Hawkins’ brother and the band’s guitarist Dan Hawkins recalled: “I can’t remember who said it but we were having a conversation along the lines of, ‘Why don’t we just write the stupidest song ever?’”
“I was almost on a pathological quest to put ‘love’ in every single song,” Justin said. “Bands were afraid to actually talk about love. But the huge songs, the ones that really get you in the heart, they’re actually talking about it and they’re using the word ‘love’. I’m always in love, that’s the reality. It’s one of the first and most abiding addictions of my life.”
He added: “My goal has always been to get every pair of hands in the air. And often that was the case. We’ve seen a lot of hands in a lot of different airspace. Every time we play it, the place kicks off and I feel relief because I can play it on autopilot. Even now, people sing it at me in the street. I’ll never have anything but abiding affection for that song.”