The Met Gala brought out some of the biggest and brightest stars on Monday night, but there was one celebrity visibly missing from the crowd: Taylor Swift [1]. While the singer has certainly shied away from making public appearances this past year, there's a simple reason she skipped out on the NYC event. While notable members of her "squad" flooded the red carpet, Taylor was most likely prepping for her Reputation stadium tour [2], which kicks off in Glendale, AZ [3], on Tuesday.

The singer has certainly had some iconic moments at the star-studded gala [4] over the years. Not only is it where her whirlwind relationship with Tom Hiddleston [5] kicked off, but it's also reportedly where she met her current boyfriend [6], Joe Alwyn. In her song "Dress," which is rumored to be about the British actor [7], she sings "Flashback when you met me / Your buzzcut and my hair bleached," alluding to her 2016 Met Gala appearance [8] when she had bleach-blond locks. While we certainly missed seeing her at the gala this year, we can't wait to see her return to the stage this Summer.