Taylor Swift‘s Eras concert tour continues to provide seismic entertainment for Swiftie fans across the U.S. While Swift takes center stage every night in front of thousands of screaming fans, an entire community of people ensures the icon has everything to put on the best show possible.
Swift knows it takes a village to make this concert extravaganza happen. That’s why the “Shake It Off” singer recognized her crew’s hard work by offering her team members a total of more than $55 million in bonuses. Team members who received the bonuses include riggers, truck drivers, dancers, sound technicians and more.
MORE: Taylor Swift swallowed a bug during a tour stop in Chicago
TMZ broke the news on Aug. 1, and multiple media outlets confirmed Swift’s generosity and shared details of the heart-warming gesture from Swift.
All 50 truckers transporting Swift’s concert equipment from city to city received a check for $100,000 before her July 29 show in Santa Clara, California. The bonuses were a thank you as the U.S. tour is winding down, and Swift is getting ready to head to Mexico.
Mike Scherkenbach, the CEO of Shomotion, one of the two trucking companies working the Eras Tour, told USA Today the truckers were called into what they thought would be a normal production meeting. Instead, they got the surprise of a lifetime presented by Swift’s father, Scott, who started the meeting by thanking them for their dedication to the tour.
MORE: Taylor Swift gifted $30K to a fan to help pay her college costs
“They’ve been out there nonstop, the men and women that drive for us have been away from their families for 24 weeks,” Scherkenbach told USA Today.
Each driver got a handwritten, personalized letter from Swift thanking them for their hard work, along with the check.
Many truckers didn’t fully grasp the full amount of the gift, at first, according to Scherkenbach.
“The funny part is, they just glanced at the letter quickly and didn’t look at the amount, so one driver read it as $1,000, another driver read it as $10,000. And then another driver said, ‘Oh, this has to be a joke. $100,000?’ which then made the other ones reopen their letters,” he said.
While specific amounts were not released for all of these well-deserved bonuses, a source inside the tour told TMZ that everyone on her team received a “very generous amount.”
This story originally appeared on Simplemost. Check out Simplemost for additional stories.
