Ryan Adams is promising to turn Taylor Swift's '1989' into a Smiths album

Ryan Adams, seen last year at the Wiltern, said Wednesday on Twitter that he's covering all of Taylor Swift's album "1989."

By Mikael WoodPop Music Critic

Aug. 6, 2015 10:07 AM PT

Will Ryan Adams be one of Taylor Swift's unannounced guests this month at Staples Center?

Given the acts she's been bringing onstage lately — Jason Derulo, Lorde, the Weeknd — I hadn't thought to include the grizzled alt-country veteran among those in the running for a surprise appearance when Swift brings her world tour to Los Angeles for five nights beginning Aug. 21.

But hold up: In a tweet late Wednesday, Adams suggested he's covering the entirety of Swift's album "1989" in the style of the Smiths, an idea the superstar responded to on Twitter by saying she might "pass out" if it materializes. That's when Adams told her that it was really happening and that he'd just finished recording her song "Style."

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He praised Taylor's tunes, saying, "We're sandblasting them, and they're holding steady." Then, on Instagram, he posted a snippet of what he said was his take on "Welcome to New York," laid down with "the gang down at PaxAm," Adams' studio off Sunset Boulevard.

"Guaranteed saddest version" of the song ever, he promised, "or your tears back."