Taylor Swift channeled Kevin Costner’s Yellowstone character, John Dutton, to offer some words of wisdom.
“‘It’s the one constant in life, son: you build something worth having, somebody’s gonna try to take it,’” Swift, 36, said putting on a southern accent to deliver the Yellowstone quote during her Songwriters Hall of Fame induction speech on Thursday, June 11.”
Her message was for up-and-coming songwriters who might find themselves in her shoes one day.
“I’m using this quote to refer to self-worth, peace of mind and singular vision as a creator,” Swift explained. “Positive feedback and people loving what you wrote feels incredible … but you need to be ready to receive negative feedback.”
She continued, “If you make anything awesome, someone out there is bound to say horrible things about it. Or twist what you meant into something completely unrecognizable to you.”
Swift told the younger generation that they “can be sensitive but also durable” during their respective careers.
“Take what’s useful and constructive and leave out what’s damaging to your creativity,” she added.
Swift got emotional during her 21-minute-long speech at Thursday’s event, which took place at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York City. She thanked her parents, Scott and Andrea Swift, along with her brother, Austin Swift, for their part in championing her music career.
“It was easy to choose songwriting over everything else in my life,” she said. “But it couldn’t have been easy for my parents and my brother to just pick up and move our entire family from Pennsylvania to relocate to Nashville so that I could hone my craft in the songwriting capital of the world.”
Before making history at the 2026 Songwriters Hall of Fame induction ceremony as the youngest-ever female honoree, Taylor Swift delivered another must-see fashion moment. Swift, 36, attended the ceremony at New York’s Marriott Marquis Hotel on Thursday, June 11, wearing a strapless black floral Givenchy dress. She completed her look with Mindi Mond earrings and […]
Swift continued, “But after making obvious that this was not even remotely a temporary phase their teen daughter was going through, they uprooted their entire lives to move me to Music City. And even though words are supposed to kind of be my thing, I will never be able to express my gratitude to you guys for doing that for me. You’re the reason I’m here tonight.”
Swift attended the event on Thursday alongside fiancé Travis Kelce. While Swift walked the red carpet solo, posing for photos alongside Sombr, her family (and future) family were also in attendance. Andrea, 68, and Scott, 74, were seated with Travis, 36, and his mom, Donna Kelce.
“Nothing makes me happier than when someone tells me that they used to listen to my music with their parent, and now decades later, they listen to it with their own child,” Swift said as her speech continued. “I’m humbled by the ways that fans have immortalized my songs in their own individual ways, allowing them to be the underscore of some of their real-life expeditions on this earth, the magnificent moments as important to me as the seemingly mundane.”
