Nelly and Ashanti pulled up to Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s star-studded wedding in NYC over the summer, but many might not know that the St. Louis native and T-Swift’s friendship goes back over 15 years.
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During a joint appearance on The Breakfast Club earlier this week, Nelly recalled Swift flying him out to Houston to perform at one of her Houston shows.
According to IBT, the concert was in November 2011, which would have been at Minute Maid Park on the pop star’s Speak Now World Tour.
However, in the interview, Nelly said Swift had him come out to perform his 2002 Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 smash “Hot in Herre,” but footage that would align with the timing and venue shows the duo performing his 2010 “Just a Dream” anthem.
“I’m a Swiftie, hell yeah,” Nelly said. “I’ve been knowing her for a long time… She’s popped out at my shows, she’s done ‘Dilemma,’” he said. “This woman called me one night out the blue, ‘Me and my friends made a routine to ‘Hot in Herre’ last night. I want to ask you a really big favor.’”
Swift offered to fly Nelly from St. Louis to Houston along with his family for him to pop out as a special guest at the show. She said her team would have him on her private jet, a presidential suite at the Four Seasons, along with $50,000.
“We only have like $50,000. I said, ‘Can you put that in a McDonald’s bag?’ I would’ve did it for free. So I’m like, ‘Yeah, we’re good.’ Sent the G5, not four,” he quipped.
After the three-minute performance, Nelly was tossed a McDonald’s bag with $50,000 in it. He hung out to watch the rest of Swift’s show with his kids, but didn’t even see the hotel room, as the jet was waiting to take him and the family right back to Houston.
Nelly and Swift have remained in contact over the years. The 51-year-old and Ashanti were among the approximately 1,000 special guests at the pop supernova and Travis Kelce’s extravagant wedding at Madison Square Garden in July.
Nelly’s “Just a Dream” arrived in August 2010 and landed on his 5.0 album later that year. The Jim Jonsin and Rico Love-produced hit reached a peak of No. 3 on the Hot 100 — his highest since 2005’s “Grillz” — and won top streaming song at the 2011 Billboard Music Awards.
The “Dilemma” artist and Swift reunited in 2013 for a performance of “Hey Porsche” during the St. Louis stop of the Red Tour in 2013. Then again in 2015, Nelly made a guest appearance on The 1989 World Tour in St. Louis for “The Fix.”
Billboard has reached out to Swift’s rep for comment. Watch the clip of Nelly telling the entire story about performing with Taylor Swift below.
