Taylor Swift’s Longtime Bass Player Writes Emotional Note About Grueling Eras Tour: ‘I’ve Emerged Changed’

Taylor Swift’s longtime bass player is reflecting on “the ride of a lifetime” as he says goodbye to the Eras Tour.

Amos Heller, who has played with Swift for more than 15 years, shared to Instagram a lengthy ode to his time on the road with the pop superstar, which ended in Vancouver on Sunday, Dec. 8 after five continents, dozens of cities and 149 shows.

Heller, 47, offered rare insight into what life was like behind the scenes of the highest-grossing concert tour of all time in his message. He also shared a number of photos of him playing onstage, including one of Swift, 34, leaning back on his shoulder during the Fearless section of the show.

“It’s done. No more early lobby calls. No more airports. No more lugging a suitcase and Mono bag up an escalator, through a line, out of baggage claim. No more warming up, no more cooling down,” he wrote. “No more looking at my watch 20 times to make sure I don’t miss a call. No more saying goodbye to my family, no more ‘How many sleeps now?’ No more jet lag. It’s done.”

Amos Heller (center) with Taylor Swift (R) onstage in London on Aug. 15, 2024. Gareth Cattermole/TAS24/Getty

The bassist continued by shouting out specific memories from various cities, including visiting bass shops in Australia, getting tattoos in Ireland and visiting a watch factory in Switzerland.

“No more slipping into new languages, cultures, cuisines, accented pleasantries,” he wrote. “No more snow in Tokyo, watch factories in Switzerland, museums in Sweden, bass shops in Australia, steaks in Rio, tattoos in Ireland, runs in Germany, flowers in Amsterdam.”

He wrote that walking into the “ringing stadium” each night made him feel “like a gladiator,” and that he enjoyed “screaming lyrics with a perfect stranger who’s now your best friend.”

“This is the best I can do now. It’s a completed work. We watched it go from What If to How Will It Be to Here We Are to Almost Done to Done,” he wrote. “The record books are closed with fresh ink on a lot of pages. I’ve emerged changed. As a player, performer, person, partner. Backstage after the final curtain I let myself sink to my knees for a bit, before laying on the floor gently reminiscing with [dancer Tori Evans]. Spent. We lived a lifetime. If you think it felt like graduation, it did.”

Taylor Swift at the opening night of the Eras Tour in March 2023. John Shearer/Getty

Heller wrote that he feels “so much love and gratitude” to be a part of the Swiftie community, and shared a special message for the star of the show herself.

“You command so much respect and admiration from everyone who’s fortunate enough to add their effort to yours,” he wrote to Swift. “Your blend of focus, heart, stamina and joy calls forth the best of everyone around you. Thank you for trusting me with my part of your vision. It was the ride of a lifetime. I love you.”

He concluded his message with the words “Long live,” a nod to Swift’s fan-favorite song of the same name, which is featured on her 2010 album Speak Now.

Among the many commenters on Heller’s post was Kam Saunders, an Eras Tour dancer whose brother Khalen famously played on the Kansas City Chiefs with Swift’s boyfriend Travis Kelce.

“You absolute GEM of a human! I will miss you making that guitar sing as I exit from YNTCD!” Saunders wrote. “I had the time of my life with you on this! Your humor. Your cleverness. Your kindness to my mom!!!! Thank you for ALL of it.”

Taylor Swift performing in Madrid in May 2024. Xavi Torrent/TAS24/Getty Images for TAS Rights Management 

PEOPLE exclusively reported that Swift gave out $197 million in bonuses to everyone working on her tour during her nearly two years on the road, including truck drivers, caterers, instrument techs, merch team, lighting, sound, production staff and assistants, carpenters, dancers, band, security, choreographers, pyrotechnics, riggers, hair, make-up, wardrobe, physical therapists and video team.

The Eras Tour sold more than $2 billion in tickets, which according to The New York Times is “double the gross ticket sales of any other concert tour in history.” The tour also inspired Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour Book, which sold a reported 814,000 copies in its first two days, making it the most successful publishing launch of the year.