Taylor Swift has become the youngest woman ever inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
The female record was previously held by Carole Bayer Sager, who was 43 when she joined in 1987. Stevie Wonder remains the youngest person ever admitted, at age 32 in 1983.
Artists become eligible for the Hall of Fame 20 years after the release of their first commercial track. For 36-year-old Swift, that was Tim McGraw, released in June 2006.
Her success since is undeniable: The American artist has recorded 12 albums spanning country, pop and folk, earning her 14 Grammy Awards in the United States.
Taylor Swift attends the Songwriters Hall of Fame 55th Annual Induction and Awards Gala at Marriott Marquis Hotel
“Swift’s ability to shapeshift as a songwriter, to inhabit different sonic landscapes and write as credibly in the world of one genre as she does another is part of her superpower as a songwriter,” reads her bio on the Hall of Fame website.
“It also represents the boldness and bravery of her artistry: o expTlore new frontiers when the most practical next step would be to keep mining the material that has gotten you the success in the first place.”
Swift appeared on the red carpet in New York on Thursday wearing a strapless black dress with floral motifs ahead of the naming ceremony.
Watch: Taylor Swift attends the Songwriters Hall of Fame 55th Annual Induction and Awards Gala
‘Great honour’
Also inducted on Thursday were Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley of KISS, the band behind hits such as Rock and Roll All Nite and Detroit Rock City.
“It doesn’t suck,” Stanley told AFP when asked how it felt to join the prestigious songwriting ranks.
“It’s really hard to digest the idea. I certainly don’t consider myself in that rarified air of some of the writers, but if you wanna be in that club, I’m there.”
Paul Stanley speaks onstage during the 2026 Songwriters Hall Of Fame induction ceremony
Kenny Loggins, the hitmaker behind movie soundtrack classics like Footloose and Danger Zone from Top Gun, was also inducted into the Hall of Fame.
“It’s a great honour and I appreciate it,” Loggins told AFP. “It’s the culmination of a lifetime writing, and that’s exciting for me.”
Canadian singer Alanis Morissette and American record producer Walter Afanasieff were also among the total of nine songwriters joining the Hall of Fame this year.
Alanis Morissette also joined this year’s Hall of Fame class
Estimates put Taylor Swift’s worldwide sales at over 250 million album-equivalents. Her most recent tour in 2023 and 2024, titled The Eras Tour, brought in a record sum of around $2 billion.
She is also the female artist with the most songs ever to reach the top 10 list compiled by Billboard, the leading US music magazine.
Swift recently released a country track for the soundtrack of the film Toy Story 5.
Source: AFP