Taylor Swiftâs parents have always helped her chase her âWildest Dreams.â
Long before she was a Grammy-winning superstar and the worldâs highest-paid female entertainer, the âFolkloreâ singerâs parents were listening to her sing karaoke and driving her to local gigs near her hometown of Wyomissing, Pennsylvania.
âShe was always singing music when she was 3, 5, 6, 7, years old,â her dad, Scott Swift, told UDaily, the newspaper of his alma mater, the University of Delaware. âItâs Taylor doing what she likes to do.â
Scott and Andrea Swift have been their daughterâs biggest fans since birth, nurturing her talent and passion from a young age while striving to keep the pressures of fame off of her.
âThere would always be an escape hatch into normal life if she decided this wasnât something she had to pursue,â Andrea told Entertainment Weekly in 2008. âAnd of course thatâs like saying to her, âIf you want to stop breathing, thatâs cool.â â
Andrea, a former marketing manager at an advertising agency, married Scott, a stockbroker-turned-vice-president for Merrill Lynch, on February 20, 1988, in Harris County, Texas. The couple welcomed Taylor on Dec. 13, 1989. Just over two years later, Taylor became a big sister when her brother Austin was born on March 11, 1992.
The two siblings grew up on a 15-acre Christmas tree farm in Pennsylvania before eventually moving to the suburbs of Nashville after the âTeardrops On My Guitarâ singer landed her first major record deal with Sony at age 14.
Within a few years of taking that leap of faith, Taylor made her debut onstage at the Grand Ole Opry as a rising country star in September 2006. Andrea began to accompany her on the road as her career took off, while Scott stayed home with Austin.
By 2010, Taylorâs chart-topping success took her to the Grammys, where she swept up four awards and made history as the youngest artist ever to take home album of the year for 2008âs Fearless. She effusively thanked both her parents for their support in her acceptance speech, dedicating the award to her dad. âThis is for all those times that you said I could do whatever I wanted in life,â she said. âAnd my mom, youâre my best friend.â
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Keep reading for more about Taylor Swiftâs parents, Scott and Andrea Swift.
They raised Taylor on a Christmas tree farm
The âLoverâ singerâs deep affinity for Christmas stems from growing up on a Christmas tree farm in Wyomissing, Pennsylvania. Though the family later moved to Nashville, Taylor has always spoken fondly of her memories on the farm, even returning to pay a visit there in 2018.
She later commemorated her childhood home in her 2021 song âChristmas Tree Farm,â on which she sings about her happy holiday memories from growing up.
They named her with a business career in mind.
Both of Taylorâs parents have backgrounds in the financial industry, something which influenced the moniker they chose for her.
âMy mom thought it was cool that if you got a business card that said âTaylorâ you wouldnât know if it was a guy or a girl,â she told Rolling Stone in 2009, explaining that they thought an androgynous name could help reduce any potential discrimination in the corporate world. âShe wanted me to be a business person in a business world.â
Andrea and Taylor traveled all over together to pursue the singerâs dreams
Sure of her talent and drive from a young age, Taylor sought to make her dreams a reality by trying to track down a record deal. Andrea was supportive from the start, driving Taylor to Nashville to hand out demos of her singing karaoke.
âMy mom waited in the car with my little brother while I knocked on doors up and down Music Row,â Taylor told Entertainment Weekly in 2008. âI would say, âHi, Iâm Taylor. Iâm 11. I wanted a record deal â call me.â
Upon returning from that fateful Nashville trip â where no one did call her â Taylor decided to take up guitar and focus on songwriting in order to help herself stand out. When her parents initially tried to dissuade her from starting with a 12-string guitar, suggesting that her fingers were still âtoo small,â she immediately set out to prove them wrong.
âDonât ever say never or canât do to Taylor. She started playing it four hours a day â six on the weekends,â Andrea told the outlet.
They moved to the suburbs of Nashville to support Taylorâs career
In 2003, Taylor and her family relocated to Hendersonville, just outside of Nashville, after she became the youngest person to sign with Sony/ATV Publishing. While the move was made in service of then-14-year-old Taylorâs budding career, her parents strove to keep the pressure off of her, promising the move was âa change of scenery.â
âI never wanted to make that move about her âmaking it,ââ Andrea told EW. âBecause what a horrible thing if it hadnât happened, for her to carry that kind of guilt or pressure around.â Meanwhile, Scott moved the financial advisory business whereâd he worked for nearly three decades â The Swift Group, under Merrill Lynch â to their new home.
Part of the reason they didnât move directly to Nashville was to offer Taylor a buffer against the trappings of fame as well, Andrea revealed. âAnd we moved far enough outside Nashville to where she didnât have to be going to school with producersâ kids and label presidentsâ kids and be reminded constantly that she was struggling to make it,â she explained. âWeâve always told her that this is not about putting food on our table or making our dreams come true.â
Andrea faced cancer twice
While writing songs is primarily how Taylor processes and shares her emotions with fans, she opened up directly in a candid Tumblr post in 2015, informing fans that Andrea had been diagnosed with cancer.
âIâm writing to you with an update I wish I wasnât giving you, but itâs important and Iâm used to sharing important events in my life with you,â Taylor began. âUsually when things happen to me, I process them and then write music about how I feel, and you hear it much later. This is something my family and I thought you should know about now.â She went on to explain that during a routine check-up which sheâd encouraged her mom to get, doctors discovered Andrea had cancer.
âIâd like to keep the details of her condition and treatment plans private, but she wanted you to know,â Taylor added. âShe wanted you to know why she may not be at as many shows this tour. Sheâs got an important battle to fight.â
In a reflective personal essay for Elle in 2019, Taylor revealed that her momâs cancer had returned. âItâs taught me that there are real problems and then thereâs everything else. My momâs cancer is a real problem. I used to be so anxious about daily ups and downs,â she said, adding that her priorities had since shifted. âI give all of my worry, stress and prayers to real problems now.â
In the same essay, Taylor shared that her dad Scott had also previously been diagnosed with cancer, though she didnât share specific details about his health journey. âBoth of my parents have had cancer,â she wrote in part, going on to expand on her momâs condition without elaborating on her dadâs.
While undergoing treatment for cancer, Andrea was also diagnosed with a brain tumor, Taylor revealed in 2020 to Variety.
âEveryone loves their mom; everyoneâs got an important mom,â Taylor told the outlet, going on to express how the news was impacting their family. âBut for me, sheâs really the guiding force. Almost every decision I make, I talk to her about it first. So obviously it was a really big deal to ever speak about her illness.â
She added that it was âa really hard timeâ for her family, explaining that âthe symptoms of what a person goes through when they have a brain tumor is nothing like what weâve ever been through with her cancer before.â
Andrea introduced Taylor at the 2015 Academy of Country Music Awards
Just over a week after her first cancer diagnosis was shared with fans, Andrea joined Taylor onstage at the ACM Awards, where the singer was being honored with the Milestone Award. Andrea shared what a âproud momâ she was as she introduced her daughter.
âIâve watched this milestone artist from the time she was a tangled-hair little girl ⊠Full of imagination and creativity until right now, when she prepares for her next world tour. Iâm a very proud mom,â Andrea said through tears.
Andrea has inspired two of Taylorâs songs
The pop star first gave fans a glimpse into her and Andreaâs close bond in 2008âs âThe Best Day,â which references a handful of sweet memories the pair have shared together over the years. When Taylor released a lyric video for the track in 2021, she included adorable never-before-seen home videos of the duo as well.
On Lover, Taylor opened up about the emotional trauma of navigating her momâs cancer diagnosis in âSoon Youâll Get Better,â singing, âAnd I hate to make this all about me/ But who am I supposed to talk to? What am I supposed to do? If thereâs no you.â During a YouTube Live, Taylor revealed that it was a family decision to ultimately include the song on the album. âItâs something Iâm so proud of, but itâs just really hard. I canât sing it. Itâs hard to just emotionally deal with that song,â she explained.