As one of the most influential people in the world today, Taylor Swift rightly attracts friends and fans, even amongst celebrities who inhabit upper echelons of society. And while it makes sense that Swift has surrounded herself with like-minded artists and performers, some of her other friendships are a little less straightforward. This much is true: Beneath the glitz and glamour of celebrity, Swift is like us all in that she seeks genuine connection and companionship. In celebration of that, we look at the unlikeliest friendships that Taylor Swift has maintained over the years.

Having spent much of her almost two-decade-long career in the spotlight, Taylor Swift has garnered much public attention for her many celebrity friendships. Given the tenuous nature of humanity, some of these have fizzled out; however, others, such as her longtime friendships with Selena Gomez and Abigail Anderson have stood the test of time.

Taylor Swift’s longest friendships

Given her celebrity star power and well-earned status as a pop culture icon, it’s unsurprising that Taylor Swift’s circle is composed of many popular names. Over the years, Swift has garnered a reputation for being incredibly generous and kind, from bringing cookies to interviews and opening her homes up to those in need.

Among Swift’s longest-lasting friendships, her relationship with Abigail Anderson has truly stayed the course. The two first met in freshman year of high school when they found themselves seated together in English class and remain friends to this day. Anderson famously inspired one of Swift’s earliest tracks, Fifteen, and has appeared in numerous cameo roles in her music videos. Over the years, Anderson has also attended the Grammy awards with her friend and has been seen cheering Swift on from the stands of the record-breaking Eras tour concerts.

Beyond the friendship goals of her once-in-a-lifetime relationship with Anderson, Swift has also garnered love and support from many of Hollywood’s biggest stars. Famously, Swift has been close friends with Selena Gomez since they first met in 2008, introduced by their then-boyfriends, Joe and Nick Jonas. While the duo’s romantic relationships with the Jonas brothers have since fizzled out, they have remained friends, and continue to support one another to this day.

Swift is also known to be on very good terms with Blake Lively (and by extension Ryan Reynolds); the friends first met in 2015 at a L’Oréal campaign and have since struck up a close friendship that has truly stood the test of time.

Other famous names who have made Swift’s list of friends include the HAIM sisters, Lana Del Rey, and Ed Sheeran, which whom she often collaborates. She is also longtime friends with actress Emma Stone, who inspired her Eras tour dance workout routine, and has remained close with Gigi Hadid and Beyoncé, showing the world how powerful women support one another. Additionally, she is frequently seen with Jack Antonoff and Aaron Dessner, both of whom have contributed significantly to her musical endeavours as producers and collaborators. Among her current group of friends are Sabrina Carpenter, Gracie Abrams, and Ice Spice, all of whom have joined her onstage for the Eras tour.

While these connections are inherently expected of Taylor Swift and others in her league, the It’s Nice To Have A Friend singer has also struck up some of the unlikeliest friendships. With some unexpected appearances at Eras tour concerts across London and Europe, we look at some of the most unlikely friendships of Taylor Swift, how they came to be

Paul McCartney

Swift has long idolised Sir. Paul McCartney, once Beatle, top artist, and Britain’s very first billionaire musician. The duo first encountered one another backstage in 2010 at McCartney’s Nashville concert, in an occasion Swift remembers as being imperative to her formative years as a musician. “Seeing him sing Blackbird live will always be a moment I won’t forget,” She shared, adding that she had been touched by how kind he had been.

The duo later reconnected during the pandemic in 2020 for Rolling Stone’s Musicians on Musicians edition, giving fans a rare peek into their lives as songwriters and performers. The intimate conversation highlighted the artists’ personal inspirations and motivations, putting their mutual respect at the forefront of the conversation, evident in the way they spoke to, and of one another. McCartney also revealed that he had planned on asking Swift to perform with him at the Glastonbury Festival; however, the festival was cancelled in light of the pandemic, and their on-stage collaboration was never brought to fruition.

The British singer later shared that his Egypt Station track Who Cares was inspired by Swift’s relationship with her fans. Speaking to BBC, McCartney said, “I was actually thinking about Taylor Swift and her relationship to her young fans and how it’s sort of a sisterly thing. And I was imagining talking to one of these young fans and saying, ‘Have you ever been bullied? Do you get bullied?’”

The respect clearly goes both ways; in the same interview, McCartney also revealed that Swift had shared news about Evermore with him, effectively inducting him into the select group of people in the know about Folklore’s then-super-secret sister album.

Evermore had initially been slated for release on December 10, 2020; however, after McCartney shared that he had also planned on releasing his own album, McCartney III on the same date, Swift made the decision to move Evermore’s release to December 18. The sparkling show of solidarity continued as the duo went back and forth between December 10 and 18, with Swift eventually settling on the 11th for Evermore and McCartney releasing his album on the 18th. “So, you know, people do keep out of each other’s way. It’s a nice thing to do,” McCartney shared.

Interestingly, Swift is also friends with McCartney’s daughter, fashion designer Stella McCartney, with whom she has collaborated on a fashion collection. Designed to mark the release of Lover, the collection featured pieces covered in fluffy clouds, tie-dye print, rainbows, and stylish script, all evocative of the cheerfully colourful album.

Most recently, McCartney was seen dancing along to But Daddy I Love Him with fans at the Eras tour. Accompanied by Peter Gabriel of Genesis fame, McCartney attended the Eras tour on the third consecutive London date (June 23 2024), where he was also photographed wearing friendship bracelets, soaking in the full Swiftie experience.

Prince Wiliam

When footage emerged last month showing monarch-in-waiting Prince William ‘shaking it off’ at the Eras tour in London, the internet went wild. Despite the rather unexpected twist that brought together American and British royalty, this is not the first time that Swift and William have met.

The duo first met back in 2013 at The Winter Whites Gala, an event dedicated to raising funds for homeless charity Centrepoint. The event, which was held in Kensington Palace, featured a speech by Swift and a performance by the legendary Jon Bon Jovi. Speaking on the event during an Apple Fitness+ audio series Time to Walk, the future monarch revealed intimate details of the evening, which started with him sitting next to Swift at dinner and ended with them both on stage with Bon Jovi, belting out Livin’ on a Prayer.

Reminiscing on the event, William shared, “I’m sat next to Taylor Swift. She’s on my left — and after Jon does his first song, there’s a pause and she turns to me. She puts her hand on my arm, looks me in the eye and says, ‘Come on, William. Let’s go and sing.’ To this day, I still do not know what came over me. But, frankly, if Taylor Swift looks you in the eye, touches your arm and says, ‘Come with me…’ I got up like a puppy and went, ‘Yeah, OK, that seems like a great idea. I’ll follow you.’”