State Champ Radio 
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Taylor Swift has been collaborating with musicians for almost her entire career — but her lyrical references to musicians date back even further.
“Bubbly” singer Colbie Caillat was the first artist Swift tapped for a feature, joining her on “Breathe” from her second studio album, Fearless, in 2008. Since then, artists across genres, including Ed Sheeran, The Chicks, Kendrick Lamar, Lana Del Rey, Bon Iver and Sabrina Carpenter, have joined the pop superstar for a verse or two.
On the other hand, Swift’s first mention of a musician was on her debut single, “Tim McGraw,” which became her first Billboard Hot 100 hit when it debuted on the chart dated Sept. 23, 2006. “When you think Tim McGraw/ I hope you think my favorite song” was the lyric that took the country world by storm, introducing a then-17-year-old Swift to the music scene in Nashville. Swift was massive fan of McGraw at the time, and his music captured the high school relationship she wrote about in her freshman math class.
“Tim McGraw” was just the beginning. Swift has since name-dropped a number of famous faces in lyrics across her 12. “Dear John” probably includes her most infamous namedrop (albeit, never confirmed to be about John Mayer, but widely speculated). “Style” includes her most popular name drop (“You’ve got that James Dean, daydream look in your eye”). And The Tortured Poets Department album probably contains the most name drops across a handful of different songs.
Below, however, Billboard revisits only Swift’s musician name drops — whether direct or indirect — in chronological order. Check them out:
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Tim McGraw
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}Song: “Tim McGraw”
Album: Taylor Swift (2006)
Lyrics: “When you think Tim McGraw/ I hope you think my favorite song” and “When you think Tim McGraw/ I hope you think of me”
Swift’s history with name-dropping starts at the very beginning of her career with her 2006 debut single and first-ever Billboard chart entry. Not only is the song titled after the country legend who served as one of Swift’s idols growing up, she repeats his name throughout the chorus.
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James Taylor
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}Song: “Begin Again”
Album: Red (2012)
Lyric: “You said you never met one girl who had/ As many James Taylor records as you/ But I do”
On her fourth album’s closing track, Swift shares she’s ready to start anew following heartbreak. Throughout the song, she reflects on different memories of a past romance — and listening to singer-songwriter James Taylor was one of them.
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[Richard] Burton & [Elizabeth] Taylor
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}Song: “…Ready For It?”
Album: reputation (2017)
Lyric: “And he can be my jailer, Burton to this Taylor/ Every love I’ve known in comparison is a failure”
Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor infamously married and divorced twice, and on verse two of her reputation opener, she uses the failed relationship to highlight the media attention surrounding her love life. Her lover (at the time) knew the risks of dating Taylor Swift, but he loved her anyway — and she was convinced the relationship would be forever.
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Drake
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}Song: “I Forgot That You Existed”
Album: Lover (2019)
Lyric: “And I couldn’t get away from ya/ In my feelings more than Drake, so yeah”
On the first track of her first self-owned album, Swift shares plainly that she’s moving on. In her self reflection, she realizes she has spent way too much time thinking about her past lover, but she also doesn’t resent him for living in her mind rent-free: “It isn’t love, it isn’t hate, it’s just indifference.”
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[Bruce] Springsteen
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}Song: “London Boy”
Album: Lover (2019)
Lyric: “And you know I love Springsteen, faded blue jeans, Tennessee whiskey”
She’s an all-American girl, and he’s a British lad. Swift dives deep into U.K. culture in her bouncy Lover track, but not before she name checks the Jersey native alongside some of the most American things about her.
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Este [Haim]
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}Song: “no body, no crime” (feat. HAIM)
Album: evermore (2020)
Lyrics: “Este’s a friend of mine”, “Este’s been losing sleep”, “Este wasn’t there”, “Sleeps in Este’s bed and everything”, “Good thing Este’s sister’s gonna swear she was with me”
Taylor Swift writing about murder was not in our 2020 bingo card. On this evermore track, Swift tells a fictional story centered around a character with the same name as the featured band’s bassist and the narrator’s revenge plot to kill the man who allegedly killed her friend.
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Janet [Jackson]
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}Song: “Snow on the Beach” (feat. Lana Del Rey)
Album: Midnights (2023)
Lyric: “But your eyes are flying saucers from another planet/ Now I’m all for you like Janet”
Janet is such a common name that this subtle lyric in the somber Midnights track could almost be up for interpretation. But the words right before the namedrop confirm it is indeed a Miss Jackson reference: “All For You” is the title of her second-longest charting Billboard Hot 100 No. 1.
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Charlie Puth
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}Song: “The Tortured Poets Department”
Album: The Tortured Poets Department (2024)
Lyric: “You smoked and ate seven bars of chocolate/ We declared Charlie Puth should be a bigger artist”
Although Charlie Puth is just one of several names mentioned in Swift’s 2024 album’s title track, his was the one that stood out most. The seemingly random namedrop of the current pop singer-songwriter initially felt out of place for a project with so many Victorian-era references. It does beg the question: Is Charlie Puth really underrated?
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Patti Smith
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}Song: “The Tortured Poets Department”
Album: The Tortured Poets Department (2024)
Lyric: “You’re not Dylan Thomas, I’m not Patti Smith/ This ain’t the Chelsea Hotel, we’rе modern idiots”
The title track of Swift’s eleventh studio album follows a developing relationship between two creatives, who are extremely self-aware of how pretentious they are. They know they aren’t renowned writers — like Welsh poet Dylan Thomas and singer-songwriter Patti Smith — by any means, but that doesn’t stop them from playing in to the “tortured poet” role.
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The Blue Nile
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}Song: “Guilty As Sin?”
Album: The Tortured Poets Department (2024)
Lyric: “Drownin’ in the Blue Nile/ He sent me ‘Downtown Lights’/ I hadn’t heard it in a while”
This TTPD track opens with a subtle nod to the 1980s Scottish band to help illustrate Swift’s conflict for having a crush when she knows she shouldn’t. The theme of the group’s 1989 song “The Downtown Lights” goes hand in hand, capturing a similar internal struggle.
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Stevie Nicks
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}Song: “Clara Bow”
Album: The Tortured Poets Department (2024)
Lyric: “You look like Stevie Nicks/ In ’75, the hair and lips/ Crowd goes wild at her fingertips/ Half moonshine, a full eclipse”
Swift’s non-Anthology edition closer of TTPD ends with some self-reflection. The title itself pays homage to a 1920s silent film star, but in mentioning the Fleetwood Mac star, she dives deeper into her love/hate relationship with fame.
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Taylor Swift
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}Song: “Clara Bow”
Album: The Tortured Poets Department (2024)
Lyric: “You look like Taylor Swift/ In this light, we’re lovin’ it/ You’ve got edge, she never did/ The future’s bright, dazzling”
Eighteen years into her career, Swift finally namedropped herself. For the very last lines to the standard version of her eleventh studio album, she passes on the torch — encouraging future pop stars to make their own name for themselves.
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Elizabeth Taylor
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}Song: “Elizabeth Taylor”
Album: The Life of a Showgirl (2025)
Lyric: “I’d cry my eyes violet, Elizabeth Taylor/ Tell me for real, do you think it’s forever?”
The second track to her twelfth album pays tribute to the iconic movie star, who Swift said herself “is one of the most ultimate, quintessential showgirls I could ever imagine.” Although Elizabeth Taylor is primarily an actress, she did have a few roles that required her to sing — most notably, in the 1977 film adaptation of Stephen Sondheim’s A Little Night Music.
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50 Cent
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}Song: “Ruin the Friendship”
Album: The Life of a Showgirl (2025)
Lyric: “And it was not/ An invitation/ But as the 50 Cent song played/ Should’ve kissed you anyway”
Swift is bringing us back to high school with this feel-good Showgirl track. Her mention of 50 Cent helps paint the picture of a former crush who she wishes she took a chance with, even if it meant ruining the friendship. As for Fiddy’s reaction? He was thrilled.
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…And Some Unconfirmed Mentions
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}Sometimes, Swift’s namedrops aren’t as obvious. However, some fans have their theories. Check out the three unconfirmed musician mentions in her catalog below.
John Mayer
- Song: “Dear John”
- Album: Speak Now (2011)
- Lyrics: “Dear John, I see it all now that you’re gone” and “Dear John, I see it all now, it was wrong”
Lucy Dacus
- Song: “The Tortured Poets Department”
- Album: The Tortured Poets Department (2025)
- Lyrics: “Sometimes, I wonder if you’re gonna screw this up with me/ But you told Lucy you’d kill yourself if I ever leave”
Jack Antonoff
- Song: “The Tortured Poets Department”
- Album: The Tortured Poets Department (2025)
- Lyrics: “And I had said that to Jack about you, so I felt seen”
