Taylor Swift has had plenty of collaborators over the years, but none of them have stuck quite like Jack Antonoff.
Since their 2012 meeting, the pair have worked together on 10 albums and a few one-off singles — and became best friends in the process. “Sometimes he sits at the piano and we both just start ad-libbing and the song seems to create itself,” Swift told The New York Times in May 2017. “His excitement and exuberance about writing songs is contagious. He’s an absolute joy. That’s why everyone loves him. I personally wouldn’t trust someone who didn’t.”
The feeling is mutual, with Antonoff describing Swift as a trailblazer. “I’ve seen her change the music industry first-hand,” the Bleachers artist told NME in July 2021. “She’s amazing for being a champion, and making things better for the generations to come. She has a long history of rightly exposing some real darkness in the music industry. And I’m personally thankful for it, outside of our friendship and working relationship, just as an artist.”
Their connection outside of music runs deep too — Antonoff was by Swift’s side after her April 2023 split from Joe Alywn, and Swift was on hand when Antonoff wed Margaret Qualley in August 2023.
Keep scrolling for the complete timeline of Swift and Antonoff’s friendship:
November 2012
Swift and Antonoff first crossed paths at the MTV Europe Music Awards, where they reportedly bonded over their mutual love of the U.K. band Yazoo’s 1982 hit “Only You.” One month later, they saw each other again at the Grammys nomination concert.
Jack Antonoff and Taylor Swift at the MTV EMAs 2012. Dave Hogan/MTV 2012/Getty Images for MTV
October 2013
The duo released their first official collaboration: Swift’s single “Sweeter Than Fiction” from the One Chance soundtrack.
October 2014
Swift released her fifth studio album, 1989. Antonoff produced the songs “Out of the Woods,” “I Wish You Would” and “You Are in Love.” In an Instagram post, Antonoff revealed that his favorite moment of “Out of the Woods” comes at the 2:28 mark. “Will one day write an essay on the different production I used on the song + how much working with taylor on it has meant to me,” he wrote at the time. “She’s a wonderful artist.”
Once upon a time, several eras ago, Taylor Swift assembled a coalition of models, actresses and musicians for the “Bad Blood” music video, which premiered at the Billboard Music Awards in May 2015. Some of the featured stars were Swift’s besties, like her to-this-day ride-or-die Selena Gomez and her who-knows-what-exactly-happened-there former friend Karlie Kloss. Other […]
May 2015
Swift revealed that “You Are in Love” — particularly the line “you’re my best friend” — was inspired by Antonoff’s relationship with then-girlfriend Lena Dunham. “I’ve never had that [in a relationship], so I wrote that song about things that Lena has told me about her and Jack,” Swift told Elle. “That’s just basically stuff she’s told me. And I think that that kind of relationship — God, it sounds like it would just be so beautiful — would also be hard. It would also be mundane at times.” (Antonoff and Dunham split in 2018 after five years together.)
February 2016
The twosome celebrated after 1989 won Album of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Album at the 58th Annual Grammy Awards. “We wrote and worked on 1989 in the tiniest spaces,” Antonoff wrote via Instagram after the ceremony, alongside a photo of Swift giving him an emotional hug. “A lot of time over voice notes and email — it really encourages me that those small dream like ideas between friends can become album of the year. winning a grammy for records you make the same way you did when u were a kid is important to me.”
Jack Antonoff and Taylor Swift attend the 58th Grammy Awards on February 15, 2016. Christopher Polk/Getty Images for NARAS
November 2017
Swift released her sixth studio album, Reputation, which featured production from Antonoff on the tracks “Look What You Made Me Do,” “Getaway Car,” “Dress,” “This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things,” “Call It What You Want” and “New Year’s Day.”
August 2019
Swift and Antonoff collaborated again on her seventh studio album, Lover, which was her first release after her departure from Big Machine Records. Antonoff produced 11 songs on the LP, including “Cruel Summer,” “The Archer,” “Cornelia Street” and the title track.
July 2020
Swift surprised the world — then hunkered down amid the coronavirus pandemic — with her eighth studio album, Folklore. While the album featured production from new collaborator Aaron Dessner of The National, Antonoff worked on seven tracks, including “Betty” and “August.”
Jack Antonoff, Aaron Dessner and Taylor Swift pose onstage for the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards broadcast on March 14, 2021. TAS Rights Management 2021 via Getty Images
November 2020
Antonoff starred alongside Swift in the Disney+ special Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions, which was about the making of the album.
December 2020
Swift dropped her second surprise album of the year, Evermore, which again featured production and writing by Antonoff. (He’s credited on “Gold Rush” and “Ivy.”)
March 2021
Folklore won Album of the Year at the Grammys, making Swift the first woman to win that award three times (she also won for Fearless in 2010). “And @taylorswift, from 1989 to here … goddamn. you are the one who let me produce records first,” Antonoff wrote via Instagram after the ceremony. “Before you i just ‘wasn’t a producer’ according to the herbs. i just wasnt let in that room. then i met you, we made out of the woods and you said, ‘that’s the version’ and that changed my life right there.”
Laura Sisk, Jack Antonoff, Taylor Swift, Aaron Dessner and Jonathan Low, winners of the Album of the Year award for ‘Folklore,’ pose in the media room during the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards on March 14, 2021. Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for The Recording Academy
April 2021
Swift released Fearless (Taylor’s Version), her first rerecorded album from her Big Machine years. Antonoff produced some of the “From the Vault” tracks, including “Mr. Perfectly Fine” and “That’s When.”
September 2021
Swift posted a TikTok video with Antonoff nodding to their collaboration on “August” from Folklore. “Looks like we ran out of august,” she joked in her caption for the clip, which showed the duo sipping wine on a boat.
@taylorswift
November 2021
Swift dropped her second rerecorded album, Red (Taylor’s Version), which once again featured Antonoff production on the “From the Vault” tracks — including “All Too Well (10 Minute Version).” After the album’s release, Antonoff gushed in an Instagram post that he is “endlessly inspired” by Swift. “Nothing better than taylor … the artist and the person,” he added.
February 2022
Antonoff defended Swift after Blur frontman Damon Albarn claimed that she doesn’t write her own songs. “I don’t care if Damon Albarn or anyone likes or doesn’t like something,” he said during an interview on “The What” podcast. “But to unequivocally make a statement that isn’t true, that you actually have no idea about, and not to get too deep on it? Isn’t that kind of everything that’s wrong with our world at the moment? People talking about s–t that they have no clue about?”
May 2022
Antonoff credited Swift with kick-starting his career as a producer. “I’d been trying to produce for a while, but there was always some industry herb going, ‘That’s cute, but that’s not your lane,’” he told The New Yorker. “Taylor was the first person with the stature to go, ‘I like the way this sounds, I’m putting it on my album’ — and then, suddenly, I was allowed to be a producer.” (In addition to working with Swift, Antonoff has produced music with Lorde, St. Vincent, Lana Del Rey, The Chicks and Florence + The Machine.)
October 2022
Swift released her 10th studio album, Midnights, which featured Antonoff’s production on every track. Antonoff also made a cameo in the “Bejeweled” music video. “Midnights is a wild ride of an album and I couldn’t be happier that my co pilot on this adventure was @jackantonoff,” Swift wrote via Instagram after the album’s release. “He’s my friend for life (presumptuous I know but I stand by it) and we’ve been making music together for nearly a decade HOWEVER … this is our first album we’ve done with just the two of us as main collaborators.”
February 2023
The pals hung out at the 65th Annual Grammy Awards, where Antonoff took home the trophy for Producer of the Year, Non-Classical.
Jack Antonoff and Taylor Swift at the 2023 Grammys. Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for The Recording Academy
May 2023
Antonoff was a special guest during one of Swift’s New Jersey stops on the Eras Tour. The duo teamed up for an acoustic performance of “Getaway Car” during the surprise song portion of the set.
June 2023
Swift was spotted leaving a recording session with Antonoff at NYC’s Electric Lady Studios between dates on her Eras Tour.
July 2023
Swift released the rerecorded edition of Speak Now, which featured three “From the Vault” tracks produced by Antonoff: “Castles Crumbling,” “I Can See You” and “Timeless.”
Taylor Swift started writing songs about love and breakups in the early 2000s, but her talent was soon recognized by music executives who knew she was the real deal. From releasing her first record in 2006 to gracing stages all over the world this star has earned her place in the Hollywood A-list music scene. […]
August 2023
Swift attended Antonoff’s New Jersey wedding to Qualley and reportedly roasted the newlyweds during a 15-minute toast. That same month, Antonoff reposted a meme about Scooter Braun parting ways with many of his management clients. (Swift decided to rerecord her albums after Braun sold her masters.)
September 2023
Swift gave Antonoff a shout-out during one of her acceptance speeches at the MTV Music Video Awards, calling him one of her “best friends in the world.” She added: “He’s so talented it’s incomprehensible. And I’m so lucky I’ve been making music with him since we worked on an album called 1989. We’ll continue working together till 2089.”
October 2023
Swift released her fourth rerecorded album, 1989 (Taylor’s Version), which included five “From the Vault” tracks — all of which Antonoff produced. One special edition of the LP on vinyl included “Sweeter than Fiction,” Swift and Antonoff’s first collaboration. The song was originally recorded for the 2013 movie One Chance.
“There you’ll stand ten feet tall, I will say ‘I knew it all along,’” Swift shared alongside several throwback photos of herself and Antonoff via Instagram. “This song has always made me think of my friend Jack. It was the first song we made together and watching him challenge himself and make beautiful art over the years has been the thrill of a lifetime. How can he be 6 years older than me and also somehow still be my precocious young son? We may never know. ‘Sweeter Than Fiction (My Version)”’is now available exclusively at Target on Tangerine vinyl 🍊.”
February 2024
Antonoff defended Swift during a Los Angeles Times interview, admitting that he can be “a little bitch sometimes” when it comes to her critics.
“But you come for my friend Taylor, you’re toast to me. [It’s] like challenging someone’s faith in God. You just don’t go there,” he said.
Antonoff then said that Kanye West, who has publicly clashed with Swift numerous times since interrupting her 2009 VMAs acceptance speech, “just needs his diaper changed so badly.”
When asked whether he would ever collaborate with West, Antonoff said, “It’s been a long time since I would’ve taken Kanye’s call. I’m so incredibly bored when someone doesn’t have the sauce anymore, so they go elsewhere to shock. It’s just a remarkable waste of space.”
March 2024
Antonoff proved that he’s committed to keeping Swift’s secrets in the vault during an interview with Dutch news outlet NRC. After he was questioned about his involvement in Swift’s upcoming 11th studio album, The Tortured Poets Department, Antonoff abruptly ended the conversation.
“You know I don’t talk about that. If you’re looking for clickbait, you’ve come to the wrong place. Thank you for this conversation,” he said before hanging up the phone.
April 2024
Antonoff took to social media to show support after the release of The Tortured Poets Department, which he’s credited as a producer on.
“Love this album more than I can say …. Love you all very much … more later very overwhelmed … love you taylor,” he wrote via X on April 19.
Later that day, Antonoff wrote a more lengthy message to Swift, crediting TTPD to be his “favorite work” they’ve made together.
“All the pain distilled in this album and all the laughter that came out of it,” he captioned a collection of images via Instagram of Swift recording the album. “Will hold those days in the studio forever as the most inspiring of my life. I adore this album and the way it came together. TTPD FOREVER.”
