Taylor Swift turns 35: her ex-boyfriends inspired these songs

What began in 2006 with the release of Taylor Swift’s (35) first single resulted in 14 number one albums, 14 Grammys and over 200 million records sold. A cult has long since formed around the singer: with Swiftie bracelets and outfits inspired by her “Eras” in their luggage, fans sometimes wait in front of arenas for days to be able to experience their idol from the front row. The hype was sealed by streaming, tour and award records in recent years. On her 35th birthday today, Swift can look back on a successful and relatively scandal-free career.

Her name seemed to dictate her career path: her parents named Swift after one of her favorite musicians, the singer-songwriter James Taylor (76). Unlike another family member, mother Andrea and father Scott Swift do not have a musical background. The pop star grew up on a Christmas tree farm in Pennsylvania, the daughter of a marketing manager and a stockbroker. Nevertheless, Swift had music in her blood: her grandmother Marjorie Finlay (1928-2003) earned her living as an opera singer.

Swift began taking singing lessons at the age of nine and performed the national anthem at a Philadelphia 76ers baseball game in 2002. She is said to have become a songwriter at the age of twelve with “Lucky You”, which she never officially released. Her career finally took off when she signed a contract with Sony/ATV at the age of 14. Swift became the youngest musician ever signed to the label. With her first, self-titled album, she reached number one on the US country charts in 2006. Their albums “Fearless” (2008), “Speak Now” (2010) and “Red” (2012) would make it into a series in the following years.

She entered the pop landscape completely with “1989” (2014). By this point, she had already won half of her current Emmys as well as two MTV VMAs. For Swift, her transition from country to pop was already announced with her hit single “I Know You Were Trouble.” “That was just the path I had been following for years,” she explained about the new direction. She expected negative reactions to the song about her ex-boyfriend Harry Styles (30). However, when it “ended up being No. 1 on the pop charts for seven weeks, I felt like I had tried something new that was a really good fit,” she explained.

After achieving further success in the pop scene with “Reputation” (2017) and “Lover” (2019), she dedicated herself to gentle indie and folk sounds on “Folklore” (2020) and “Evermore” (2020). Both long players were created during the pandemic, but this was not planned. Films inspired her to write. After she released “Folklore” in July 2020, she and Aaron Dessner (48) continued to write songs. “Evermore” emerged from these. Instead of sharing personal experiences, she told stories of fictional characters for the first time on the LPs. “My world has opened up creatively,” she said, emphasizing that it feels “really good for my life.”

Previously, her ex-relationships were usually the focus of the lyrics, which the singer sometimes revealed more and sometimes less. While she mentioned John Mayer (47) by name in the title of “Dear John”, she hired a lookalike of Jake Gyllenhaal (43) for the music video for “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together”. After “I Know You Were Trouble,” Harry Styles was said to be the inspiration for a majority of the songs from “1989,” including “Style” and “Out of the Woods.” Swift had other relationships with stars such as Joe Jonas (35), Taylor Lautner (32), Calvin Harris (40) and Matty Healy (35). She is said to have sung about the “The 1975” frontman on several tracks from “The Tortured Poets Department” (2024). With this album and “Midnights” (2022), Swift returned to pop.

Today Swift is happy with football star Travis Kelce (35). She attended one of his games for the first time in September 2023, but they had been dating since the summer. “I think some people think they saw our first date at that game,” she noted, adding that they would “never be that psychotic” to put themselves in that kind of publicity on their first meeting.

Taylor Swift has many celebrity friends. However, she does not have a harmonious relationship with Kanye West (47). The rapper sparked a fight between them in 2009 by running onto the stage at the MTV Video Music Awards. Swift was giving her acceptance speech for winning the award for Best Music Video by an Artist as West announced that Beyoncé, 43, deserved the award. At the same event in 2015, he reportedly asked her to present him with the Video Vanguard Award. However, during the speech, the rapper noted that the organizers had chosen Swift for better ratings.

The feud reached its climax with a phone call. In this, West asked the singer in 2016 for approval of the line “I feel like Taylor Swift owes me sex” from his song “Famous.” In contrast, he did not clarify the lyrics “I made this bitch famous” with her, as Swift’s press secretary later said. Kim Kardashian (44) added fuel to the fire when she stood behind her then-husband and accused Swift of dishonesty. She also published a recording of the phone call, which, however, did not document the dispute. Swift reported in 2023 that she had “fallen really, really low” mentally afterwards. She continued: “I didn’t leave my apartment building for a year. I was afraid to make a phone call.”

One of her favorite celebrity friends, however, is Ed Sheeran (33). The musician drew attention to the “Shape of You” interpreter at a show in 2012 by writing lyrics to his song “Lego House” on her arm. That same year she released their collaborative song “Everything Has Changed” as part of her LP “Red”. On the album tour, Sheeran supported them as the opening act in North America.

Swift’s music catalog also connects her with actress Blake Lively (37). The “Gossip Girl” actress directed Swift’s music video for “I Bet You Think About Me” in 2021. Swift was happy in advance on Instagram: “I was finally able to work with the brilliant, courageous and incredibly funny Blake Lively on her directorial debut.” Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds (48) children also play a role in Swift’s songs. While daughter James (9) can be heard at the beginning of the “Reputation” track “Gorgeous”, the singer revealed the name of the couple’s third child with “Betty”.

She just congratulated US star Selena Gomez (32) and music producer Benny Blanco (36) on their engagement. Under Gomez’s post on her official Instagram account, the pop star wrote, “Yes, I will be the flower girl.”