The two first met in 2012 and have been collaborating with each other ever since
Taylor Swift and Jack Antonoff are a dynamic musical duo.
While the two are well-known for their musical collaborations with each other, including Swift’s Grammy-winning albums such as 1989 and Folklore, their bond extends far beyond the recording studio.
Since meeting in 2012, the musicians have become close friends, often speaking highly of each other in interviews and showing support for one another on social media.
At the MTV VMAs, Swift gave a shoutout to Antonoff as she took home song of the year for her Midnights smash “Anti-Hero,” calling him “one of my best friends in the world.”
They’ve also supported each other in their personal lives. Most recently, Swift was one of the many celebrities in attendance at Antonoff’s wedding to Margaret Qualley.
From their early collaborations to the ways they’ve supported each other over the years, take a look back at Swift and Antonoff’s friendship timeline.
2012: Taylor Swift and Jack Antonoff first meet
The two seemingly first met at the MTV European Music Awards in November 2012, and crossed paths again in December 2012 at the GRAMMY Nominations Concert. During their interactions with each other, the two reportedly bonded over their shared love for the band Yazoo.
Oct. 21, 2013: Taylor Swift and Jack Antonoff work together on “Sweeter Than Fiction”
About a year after their first interaction, Swift and Antonoff joined musical forces when they co-wrote and co-produced “Sweeter Than Fiction” for the One Chance soundtrack, which many critics said was reminiscent of ’80s pop, a foreshadowing of what was to come for Swift’s 1989 album.
Oct. 27, 2014: Taylor Swift enlists Jack Antonoff as a producer for her 1989 album
Following her success with “Sweeter Than Fiction,” Swift enlisted Antonoff to produce several songs on 1989, which marked her very first pop album.
“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. she’s a wonderful artist,” Antonoff wrote about working with Swift on their hit single “Out of the Woods” following the album’s release.
Dec. 13, 2014: Jack Antonoff wishes Taylor Swift a happy birthday
A few months later, Antonoff solidified himself as part of Swift’s friend group as he attended her 25th birthday party in N.Y.C., which also included Beyoncé, Jay Z and Justin Timberlake.
“happy birthday to @taylorswift – an amazing friend and my favorite collaborator,” he captioned a photo of them from the night. “stayed out later than I thought my body could ever handle. it was THAT good a night.”
May 7, 2015: Taylor Swift reveals “You Are in Love” was inspired by Jack Antonoff and his then-girlfriend Lena Dunham
In her June cover story with Elle, Swift revealed that her song “You Are in Love” from 1989 was actually inspired by Antonoff’s relationship with actress Lena Dunham.
Referencing the lyric, “You’re my best friend,” Swift added that she’s “never had that” in a relationship, so she “wrote that song about things that Lena [Dunham] has told [her] about her and Jack [Antonoff].”
She continued of the song’s inspiration, “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.”
Feb. 15, 2016: Taylor Swift and Jack Antonoff win album of the year for 1989
At the 2016 Grammy Awards, Swift and Antonoff won big for their work on 1989. In addition to taking home best pop vocal album, which Antonoff accepted on Swift’s behalf during the premiere ceremony, the album also took home album of the year, marking Antonoff’s first win in the category.
Additionally, Antonoff was by Swift’s side as she opened the show with a performance of “Out of the Woods,” which they co-wrote together.
Antonoff reacted to the album of the year win on Instagram shortly after the ceremony, sharing a photo of him hugging Swift backstage. “my favorite pic from last night. we wrote and worked on 1989 in the tiniest spaces,” he wrote. “a lot of time over voice notes and e mail — 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.”
Feb. 26, 2016: Taylor Swift and Jack Antonoff celebrate their Grammy win
A few days after their big night at the Grammys, Swift and Antonoff hit the town together with a celebratory dinner in L.A.
“The duo were overheard reminiscing about the early times of Taylor’s career and how far she has come,” a source told PEOPLE at the time.
April 16, 2016: Taylor Swift and Jack Antonoff go to Coachella together
In April 2016, Swift attended Coachella with Antonoff and Lorde, documenting the event with a photo of them on Instagram, which showed off her newly bleached blonde hair.
May 24, 2017: Taylor Swift gushes about working with Jack Antonoff
In a New York Times feature about Antonoff, Swift gushed about her friendship with the musician. “Sometimes he sits at the piano and we both just start ad-libbing and the song seems to create itself,” she said of the producer.
“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.”
Nov. 10, 2017: Taylor Swift and Jack Antonoff work together on Reputation
In November 2017, Swift and Antonoff teamed up again for her Reputation album, with the Bleachers musician producing six songs on the album. Swift later gave a glimpse of their recording process in her The Making of a Song series.
June 30, 2019: Jack Antonoff seemingly shows support for Taylor Swift amid her masters battle with Scooter Braun
Following news that Scooter Braun bought the rights to Swift’s masters, many artists came out in support of the singer after she posted a lengthy note on Tumblr about the situation. Antonoff seemingly came to Swift’s defense on Twitter, writing, “herbs- don’t f— with artists,” which Swift reportedly liked a screenshot of on Tumblr.
Aug. 23, 2019: Taylor Swift and Jack Antonoff work together on Lover
Swift and Antonoff kept the musical collaborations coming as the singer released Lover in August 2019, the first album she owned the masters to through her record deal with Universal Music Group’s Republic Records.
Following the album’s release, Swift shared a glimpse of her album release party at home, which included a Lover cake and several close friends, including Antonoff.
Dec. 13, 2019: Taylor Swift celebrates her birthday with Jack Antonoff
After performing at Madison Square Garden for the Jingle Ball, Swift celebrated her 30th birthday with pals including Antonoff, Fletcher, Blake Lively and Reynolds, 5 Seconds of Summer, and many more.
“Honestly spending my 30th with the fans who have made my life what it is at jingle ball, then throwing the most aggressive holiday party known to womankind… I just.. seriously feel so lucky for you all and will spend forever trying to find ways to say thank you. *cries in Christmas tree*,” Swift captioned a group photo of her and her friends from the party.
A few days later, Antonoff and Laura Sisk kept the fun going as they threw Swift a surprise party in the recording studio. “Walked into the studio to a surprise birthday party from these two @jackantonoff & @sharp_stick – it’s equally wild and cozy to think it was the three of us in a room making a song called Lover here last year. ♥️,” Swift wrote in the caption.
July 24, 2020: Taylor Swift and Jack Antonoff work together on Folklore
In July 2020, Swift dropped her surprise album Folklore, which once again included Antonoff as a producer alongside Aaron Dessner and William Bowery (aka Swift’s boyfriend Joe Alwyn).
Nov. 24, 2020: Taylor Swift celebrates her Grammy nomination with Jack Antonoff
Following Folklore‘s multiple Grammy nominations in November 2020, Swift shared a photo of her celebrating with Antonoff and Dessner via Zoom with the caption, “ask us how our days been.”
Dec. 11, 2020: Taylor Swift and Jack Antonoff work together on Evermore
A month later, Swift dropped her second surprise album, Evermore, which also included Antonoff as a producer.
March 11, 2021: Taylor Swift and Jack Antonoff celebrate ahead of the Grammys
Ahead of their performance at the 2021 Grammys, Swift shared a selfie with Antonoff, Dessner, Sisk and Jonathan Low — who all worked on the Grammy-nominated album — on her Instagram Story as the group quarantined together ahead of the ceremony. She captioned the post, “folklorian family photo.”
March 14, 2021: Taylor Swift and Jack Antonoff win album of the year for Folklore
During the 2021 Grammys, Swift and Antonoff took home another big win as Folklore was named album of the year, marking Swift’s third time receiving the honor.
Antonoff reacted to the special win on Instagram, sharing a heartfelt tribute to Swift and the rest of the Folklore collaborators. “you are the one who let me produce records first,” he wrote about Swift. “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.”
April 9, 2021: Taylor Swift and Jack Antonoff work together on Fearless (Taylor’s Version)
As Swift released her re-recorded version of Fearless, she enlisted Antonoff to co-produce some of the vault tracks.
July 30, 2021: Jack Antonoff says Taylor Swift has changed the music industry
During an interview with NME, Antonoff spoke highly of Swift, noting that he’s watched “her change the music industry first-hand.” He continued, “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.”
Sept. 3, 2021: Taylor Swift and Jack Antonoff film an “August” TikTok
As August came to a close in 2021, Swift posted a funny TikTok of her and Antonoff sipping wine on a boat, which was set to her Folklore track “August.”
Nov. 12, 2021: Jack Antonoff celebrates the release of Red (Taylor’s Version)
After working with Swift on Fearless (Taylor’s Version), Antonoff helped produce a handful of vault tracks for Red (Taylor’s Version), including the singer’s 10-minute version of “All Too Well.”
“nothing better than taylor ….. the artist and the person. am endlessly inspired by you,” Antonoff wrote on Instagram following the album’s release. “and ….. thank you for all your kind words about the songs i produced on here – the undertaking of ATW10 was a wild wild rollercoaster and a g—— honor.”
Feb. 10, 2022: Jack Antonoff defends Taylor Swift following Damon Albarn’s comments about the singer
In February 2022, Damon Albarn made headlines for his Los Angeles Times interview where he said Swift “doesn’t write her own songs.” He went on to say that co-writing “doesn’t count.”
Antonoff later came to Swift’s defense during an appearance on “The What” podcast. “I don’t mind talking s—, like this or that — but I don’t like it when artists take almost this Trumpian approach of just making things up,” Antonoff said.
“I don’t care if Damon Albarn or anyone likes or doesn’t like something. 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 shit that they have no clue about?”
May 16, 2022: Jack Antonoff credits Taylor Swift for starting his career as a producer
In an interview with The New Yorker in May 2022, Antonoff credited Swift for jumpstarting his producing career.
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 said. “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.”
Sept. 16, 2022: Taylor Swift confirms Jack Antonoff collaborated with her on Midnights
Following the announcement of her 10th studio album Midnights, Swift confirmed Antonoff’s involvement with the album when she shared an inside look at the making of the album on social media.
Oct. 21, 2022: Taylor Swift opens up about writing Midnights with Jack Antonoff
When Midnights was released on Oct. 21, Swift opened up about her friendship with Antonoff as she talked about the creative process for the album.
“Midnights is a wild ride of an album and I couldn’t be happier that my co pilot on this adventure was @jackantonoff,” she said. “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.”
She noted that the album “really coalesced and flowed out of us” after their respective partners, Swift’s boyfriend Alwyn and Antonoff’s fiancée Margaret Qualley, filmed Stars at Noon together in Panama, leaving Swift and Antonoff to their own creative devices.
“Jack and I found ourselves back in New York, alone, recording every night, staying up late and exploring old memories and midnights past,” she recalled.
Oct. 25, 2022: Jack Antonoff makes a cameo in Taylor Swift’s “Bejeweled” music video
After collaborating on Midnights together, Antonoff made a cameo in Swift’s star-studded “Bejeweled” music video from the album. Taking inspiration from Cinderella, the Haim sisters played the evil stepsisters, Laura Dern played the evil stepmother, and Antonoff played a version of Prince Charming (whom Taylor ghosted after the proposal).
Feb. 5, 2023: Taylor Swift and Jack Antonoff hang out at the Grammys
During the 2023 Grammys, Swift and Antonoff were spotted sipping drinks as they sat together during the music ceremony. While Swift scored a Grammy for best music video, Antonoff took home producer of the year, non-classical.
May 26, 2023: Taylor Swift performs with Jack Antonoff at Eras Tour
During her Eras Tour concert in East Rutherford, New Jersey, Swift brought Antonoff on stage during her acoustic set where she surprised the crowd by singing “Getaway Car,” which the pair wrote together.
Aug. 19, 2023: Taylor Swift attends Jack Antonoff and Margaret Qualley’s wedding
On Aug. 19, Antonoff and Qualley tied the knot in New Jersey, and Swift was one of the many celebrities in attendance. The singer was spotted attending the ceremony alongside guests Channing Tatum, Zoë Kravitz and Lana Del Rey.
September 12, 2023: Taylor Swift shouts out Jack Antonoff in her MTV VMAs speech
As Swift took home song of the year for her Midnights song “Anti-Hero” during the MTV VMAs, she took a second to gush about working with Antonoff on the song, calling him “one of my best friends in the world.”
“He’s so talented it’s incomprehensible,” she continued. “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 til’ 2089.”
