While he was once best known as a country artist, Taylor Swift has branched out in the world of music. She has worked with all of Indie rockers like Aaron Dessner to rappers like Kendrick Lamar. But given her origins, it makes sense that country megastar Keith Urban had a big influence on her style.
Taylor Swift and Keith Urban are longtime friends
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They first performed together when Swift performed as a support act for Urban’s Escape Together World Tour in 2009. Taylor Swift and Keith Urban have been friends for many years. They have since worked on Tim McGraw’s “Highway Don’t Care” in 2013, with Swift on guest vocals and Urban on guitar. The friends reunited in 2014 when Urban took the stage with Swift in Toronto during their 1989 world tour. More recently, video footage of Urban covers Swift’s song “Lover” buzz generated.
Based on Urban’s cover of Loverhe posted a clip of the performance to his Twitter feed. He introduced the song by saying, “Every once in a while you hear a song that you love and wish you had written…”.
Swift explains Urban’s influence on her music
For her part, Swift equally praises her boyfriend and his creative “experiments” within the genre. The Grammy winner expressed how Urban’s artistry influenced her. “His melodies and tonalities influenced me so much because they were so different from what I heard back then in country, bringing rock, pop and blues into the mix,” she said Rolling Stone in 2021. “He absolutely redefined the genre for me, making it a broader and more expansive place for me to create from within.”
In the article, Urban explained that his musical genius was not well received by others in the country at the time. “You don’t really get help and support until they see you really become a part of the community,” he said. “It’s very hard.” Rather than switch genres entirely, he focused on releasing country singles for radio while saving the more unique tracks to build his albums.
Swift has done this with her music as well. She began turning to pop music with her 2012 album. Redbefore releasing her first official pop album, 1989in 2014. Today, Swift is a pop artist first, but she sister albums folklore and always showed a shift into indie rock and not coincidentally more from their country roots.
Swift and Urban continue to work together
The mutual admiration and appreciation between the friends recently brought them together for Swift’s newly recorded album Fearless (Taylor’s version). The album features Urban on backing vocals and guitar for two songs.
Swift shared this news with her fans ahead of the album’s April 2021 release. “I’m really honored that @KeithUrban is a part of this project, dueting on ‘That’s When’ and singing harmonies on ‘We Were Happy,'” she wrote. “I was his opening act during the Fearless album era and his music inspired me endlessly.”
They are currently two of the biggest stars in music. Although the music of Taylor Swift and Keith Urban is difficult to categorize, it is among the best and most inspired of our time.
https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/taylor-swift-on-the-country-artist-who-redefined-the-genre-for-her.html/ Taylor Swift on the country artist who, for her, “redefined the genre.”
