Taylor Swift is a superstar on another level. She shattered the all-time first-week sales record with last year’s The Life of a Showgirl and redefined what it means to be a touring juggernaut with her Eras Tour. She has 14 Billboard Hot 100 No. 1s, and 14 Grammy Awards. But the ascension of our biggest pop star didn’t start with the sales, and it didn’t start with the stage: it started with her songs. And on Thursday (June 11) night, Swift was celebrated for her first and foremost talent, songwriting, with a wildly deserved induction into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
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Despite being one of the most famous people on the planet, Swift attended the induction ceremony as anyone else might. She hobnobbed before the dinner started, and when the ceremony got underway, she sang and danced at her table during the various inductee tributes and performances. (She seemed particularly jazzed during John Fogerty’s ferocious set and Alanis Morissette’s haunting performance.) Joining Swift at her table was fiance Travis Kelce, future mother-in-law Donna Kelce, her own mother and father, as well as Steven Spielberg and his wife Kate Capshaw.
When it came time for Swift’s induction (the final one of the Class of 2026) it was a quarter to midnight. Sombr offered a glammed-up rock take on “Cardigan,” her 2020 Hot 100 topper, backed by the SHOF’s versatile house band. “It’s an honor to be here, thank you Taylor for trusting me,” he said. “This next song Taylor wrote when she was 19 years old and it really inspired me…I’m so nervous,” he stopped, laughing after fumbling a few words. “She’s looking at me right now and I’m talking about her music. I’ve never done anything like this.” (Swift, supportive as ever, applauded encouragingly.) Sombr then sang a, well, somber version of “Dear John,” a song hailing from Speak Now, an LP Swift wrote entirely on her own. Swift and her parents sang along, softly.
