"My little girl can't wait to tell her friends at school": Justin Hawkins responds to viral footage of Taylor Swift singing I Believe In A Thing Called Love at the US Open

Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce at the US Open

(Image credit: Jean Catuffe/GC Images via Getty Images)

Billionaire pop icon Taylor Swift and boyfriend Travis Kelce attended the US Open Tennis Championship at the weekend, and were filmed bellowing along to a recording of The Darkness classic I Believe In A Thing Called Love during a break in play. Not since the heady days of Cliff Richard entertaining a sodden Centre Court at Wimbledon in 1996 have the worlds of music and tennis collided so publicly.

Footage of the historic moment, in which the publicity-shy star and her Kansas City Chiefs tight end partner appear to be having the time of their lives, swiftly went viral, and Darkness frontman Justin Hawkins has responded.

"I woke up this morning," Hawkins reported on TikTok, "and everyone's forwarded me some footage of I Believe in a Thing Called Love being played at the U.S. Open and Taylor Swift and her partner Travis dancing along to it and really enjoying the music.

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"It was a really heartwarming moment for me and my little girl can't wait to tell her friends at school. So thanks Taylor. Thanks Travis. Thanks everybody who enjoys tennis. That's a really lovely start to the day. Nice one, guys."

Hawkins prefaced his reaction by revealing that he'd been on the receiving end of a hand-written letter from Swift herself at a show in Zurich, Switzerland, earlier this year, after being housed in the VIP alongside comedian Chris Rock and tennis star Roger Federer.

"To make matters even more spectacular, Taylor Swift actually sent me a lovely letter which was waiting for me in the VIP section talking about how much she loved the song I Believe in a Thing Called Love," says Hawkins. "I was just dad of the year, maybe dad of the century cause all of that was a big surprise."

Swift's letter read, "What a thrill to have you at the show! 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 hope you and your family have fun at the show. Thanks so much for coming! Love, Taylor."

In June 2020, I Believe In A Thing Called Love was voted the Greatest Song Of The Century (So Far) by readers of Classic Rock magazine.

Online Editor at Louder/Classic Rock magazine since 2014. 39 years in music industry, online for 26. Also bylines for: Metal Hammer, Prog Magazine, The Word Magazine, The Guardian, The New Statesman, Saga, Music365. Former Head of Music at Xfm Radio, A&R at Fiction Records, early blogger, ex-roadie, published author. Once appeared in a Cure video dressed as a cowboy, and thinks any situation can be improved by the introduction of cats. Favourite Serbian trumpeter: Dejan Petrović.