Taylor Swift and Ed Sheeran’s Complete Friendship Timeline
THE RUNDOWN
- Taylor Swift and Ed Sheeran have been friends and collaborators for over a decade.
- Sheeran has appeared on Swift’s albums Red, reputation, and Red (Taylor’s Version).
- They’ve often performed onstage together, and their last performance was at Swift’s Eras Tour in 2024.
Taylor Swift and Ed Sheeran have been friends and collaborators for years. Since meeting in 2012, the pair have gone on to make songs and perform onstage together. They also make it a point to speak highly of each other publicly. Even today, their bond is still going strong. Ahead, an inside look at their friendship timeline.
Swift and Sheeran’s friendship reportedly began in 2012 after he discovered that she had written his “Lego House” lyrics on her arm during a performance in Australia. “I heard his song ‘Lego House’ in Australia when I was on the Speak Now tour,” Swift told Rolling Stone in 2017. “It just cut through everything else.” According to the outlet, their managers introduced them.
That same year, the pair collaborated on “Everything Has Changed,” which they wrote on Swift’s trampoline. The track appeared on Swift’s album Red. She co-wrote the song with Sheeran, and he’s also featured on it.
In December, they performed together for the first time at Z100’s Jingle Ball at Madison Square Garden.
Sheeran joined Swift on The Red Tour as her opening act. In an interview with Rolling Stone, Sheeran described the experience as“the most amazing fucking tour in the world.”
They released the official music video for “Everything Has Changed,” which starred younger versions of themselves.
When Swift won her first Brit award for best international female artist, she thanked Sheeran in her speech.
“Honestly, I know I wouldn’t be up here if it wasn’t for one of my best friends, who took me to pubs and taught me how to make a good cup of tea and taught me everything I know about the U.K.,” she said. “I just want to say I love you, Ed Sheeran.”
They both attended the Grammys that year, where Sheeran won Song of the Year for “Thinking Out Loud” and Swift won Album of the Year for 1989.
About her friendship with Sheeran, Swift told Rolling Stone, “We’ve gotten matching Scottish folds, made each other arts and crafts Christmas presents, vacationed with our families, and had each other’s backs.”
She continued, “He is the James Taylor to my Carole King, and I can’t imagine a time when he wouldn’t be.”
Sheeran added, “She would be there if everything ended for me. Taylor is kind of an anomaly in that sense.” He also defended her against the haters. “She’s omnipresent because she’s the most famous woman in the world, so she can’t make the decision to not be in the press. I always stick up for Taylor.”
November 2017On November 10, Swift released her album reputation, which featured another collaboration with Sheeran, “End Game.” Future also appeared on the track.
November 2021Swift released her re-recording of Red, titled Red (Taylor’s Version) on November 12. Sheeran re-recorded his vocals for their 2012 song, “Everything Has Changed.”
May 2023In an interview with Zane Lowe for Apple Music, Sheeran spoke about his friendship with Swift. “I have long, long, long conversations with Taylor about stuff,” he said. “I feel like she’s one of the only people that actually truly understands where I’m at. She’s a solo artist, she [performs in] stadiums.”
He also revealed that they spoke right before he sat down for the interview. “Everything that was on our minds, we talked about,” he shared. “I mean that in itself is kind of therapy as well because you’re actually talking to someone that genuinely gets it. That has all the things that you feel and have insecurities about and how other people treat you or how your family treats you, how your friends treat you, she’s just basically in the same sphere.”
February 2024They were photographed together at the Grammys. That night, Swift took home two awards: Album of The Year and Best Pop Vocal Album for Midnights. Sheeran was nominated for Best Pop Vocal Album for - (Subtract).
On August 15 and 16, Sheeran joined Swift during her Eras Tour stops at Wembley Stadium in London.
On October 6, Swift appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and explained why Sheeran revealed that he found out about her engagement to Travis Kelce on Instagram.
“He doesn’t have a phone,” she said. “This is one thing I love about him. It’s very eccentric. Love it. But when I’m going through saying, ‘Hey, who should we call? Who should we FaceTime?’ I’m going through my texts and being like, ‘Who have I texted within the last like, month of my life?’”
She added, “You have to email him or FaceTime him, and he has to find an iPad and they have to give it to him like he’s a child. This is one of my absolute favorite people on the planet. When the news came out, I was like, ‘We forgot to call Ed!’”
Sheeran confirmed this on Fallon’s TikTok, writing, “Hello from my allotted iPad time, this is factual.”
Ed Sheeran’s comment confirming Taylor Swift’s story.
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