From Kendrick Lamar and Shawn Mendes to Zayn and The Chicks.
With 11 Grammys and the ability to sell out stadiums long before she even hits the road, there’s no denying Taylor Swift is a talented artist. Naturally, Miss Americana has collaborated with dozens of musical icons throughout her career. Some of these collaborations were satisfying, full-circle moments for Swift, like getting to work with The Chicks after being a lifelong fan. Other times, musicians like Maren Morris got to make their dreams come true by working with Swift.
Her latest collaboration? “Snow On the Beach” from her new album Midnights, which features vocals from Lana Del Rey. Preceding this, Swift made it a point to include her past collaborators when breathing new life into her old songs. Both Fearless (Taylor’s Version) and Red (Taylor’s Version) contain songs in which Swift either reunited with past collaborators to re-record their old songs (like Colbie Caillat on “Breathe”), or to add fresh guest vocalists to songs from the Taylor Swift Vault (like Phoebe Bridgers on “Nothing New.”)
Below, a refresher on some of the Swift collaborations you might have forgotten about.
Taylor Swift first emerged on the country music scene back in 2006 with her debut single “Tim McGraw.” In a full-circle moment in 2012, Swift got to collaborate with McGraw on his hit single “Highway Don’t Care,” which also features Keith Urban.
Swift has been a lifelong fan of The Chicks; She recorded a demo tape of her singing the country trio’s songs at 11 years old. Swift finally got to work with the iconic hit group in 2019 on the Lover track “Soon You’ll Get Better.”
There’s no “Bad Blood” between Taylor and Kendrick. Back in 2015, the two Grammy-winning artists joined forces for a hip-hop remix of Swift’s hit single “Bad Blood.” The remix hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 a week after its release.
Back in her Reputation era, Taylor collaborated with Grammy-winning rapper Future on her single “End Game.” The song also featured Ed Sheeran, making for an unlikely yet exciting trio.
In 2012, Taylor appeared as a featured artist on B.o.B.’s single “Both of Us” from his sophomore album, Strange Clouds. The song was actually Swift’s idea after she visited the Atlanta headquarters of B.o.B.’s Grand Hustle record label.
“She came to Atlanta and she hit up Grand Hustle. I wasn't there. [T.I.] was there and I eventually linked with her in Dallas and the rest is history,” the rapper said.
In 2019, Shawn Mendes joined Swift for a duet remix of her single “Lover,” the title track from her seventh studio album.
Taylor and Zayn collaborated on “I Don’t Wanna Live Forever” from the Fifty Shades Darker soundtrack. The song reached No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was certified four-times platinum.
Taylor Swift and country singer Maren Morris linked up in 2021 for “You All Over Me,” a song from the T-Swift Vault included on Fearless (Taylor’s Version).
“It was an honor to be a part of Taylor’s solidification of her art,” Morris said of being a part of Swift’s re-recording process. “No one else has the gall or bravery to do that.”
Snow Patrol frontman Gary Lightbody joined Taylor Swift on her single “The Last Time” from her 2012 album Red. In 2021, Lightbody collaborated with Swift once again on the re-recorded version of “The Last Time” from Red (Taylor’s Version).
“I’m so proud of the song and delighted to revisit it,” Lightbody wrote of the re-recording on Instagram. “I’m honoured to be a part of Red.”
Keith Urban and Taylor Swift first sang together on Tim McGraw’s 2012 single “Highway Don’t Care.” In 2021, Urban became a part of Swift’s ambitious re-recording mission with “That’s When,” a track from the T-Swift Vault on Fearless (Taylor’s Version) that never made it on to her original 2008 album. He also provided background vocals on “We Were Happy” from Fearless (Taylor’s Version).
Colbie Caillat collabed with Taylor Swift on “Breathe” from her 2008 breakout album Fearless. Caillat reunited with Swift to re-record “Breathe” over a decade later for Fearless (Taylor’s Version).
“I was honored that she asked me to be a part of it again,” Caillat told Insider of getting to revisit the song. “It was an instant yes, of course.”
Swift released not one, but two albums in 2020: Folklore and Evermore. And Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon was on both of them. He appeared on Folklore track “Exile” and Evermore’s title track. In 2021, Swift worked with Vernon again — as well as her Folklore and Evermore collaborator, The National’s Aaron Dessner — for the song “Renegade” from Vernon and Dessner’s group Big Red Machine.
Swift teamed up with Brazilian singer Paula Fernandes for a remix of her Speak Now song “Long Live.” Fernandes sings lyrics in Portuguese alongside Swift on the song, which was made to promote the Brazilian version of Swift’s Speak Now World Tour live album.
In 2012, Swift worked with indie band The Civil Wars on “Safe & Sound” for The Hunger Games’ soundtrack. The song would go on to receive double-platinum certification.
Fingers crossed Swift links up with some more familiar faces during her album re-recording process.
