Taylor Swift Says “Sombr Is The Future,” Quotes Yellowstone At Songwriters Hall Of Fame Induction

It's not like Taylor Swift ever disappears for any extended stretch of time, but pop music's reigning superstar has been especially active for the past week. Last Friday, she released her Toy Story 5 soundtrack song "I Knew It, I Knew You." On Tuesday, she performed that song and sang with Randy Newman at the film's premiere. On Wednesday, she sat courtside at Game 4 of the NBA Finals with two Haim sisters and Detective Olivia Benson, all of them rocking matching novelty shirts. And on Thursday night, Swift became the youngest woman ever inducted into the Songwriters Hall Of Fame.

The induction ceremony happened last night at New York's Marriott Marquis Hotel. As Billboard reports, Swift attended the dinner with her parents, her fiance Travis Kelce and his mom, and with motherfucking Steven Spielberg and Kate Capshaw. She was part of an induction class that also included Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley of KISS, the duo of Terry Britten and Graham Lyle, Kenny Loggins, Alanis Morissette, Christopher "Tricky" Stewart, and Walter Afanasieff.

Earlier this year, Swift said nice things about the young alt-pop figure Sombr, and Sombr paid tribute to Swift during the ceremony. With the house band behind him, Sombr sang Swift's 2020 hit "Cardigan" and her great 2010 John Mayer diss track "Dear John."

Swift asked Spielberg to give her induction speech, which is quite a flex. Before Swift herself took the stage, she hugged her old songwriting partner Liz Rose, who was inducted three years ago. In her speech, Swift said nice things about both Spielberg and Sombr: "His writing is so exceptional that it makes me actually envious, and I love that feeling. He's gonna be the top of my Spotify Wrapped this year, guaranteed. It's locked. It's in the bag. A lot of my late-night debates with my friends about the state of the music industry involve me saying very loudly, 'Sombr is the future, and he does it all on his own and he doesn’t need that AI! The kids are fine!'"

In speaking to the next generation of songwriters, Swift quoted a line from Yellowstone: "It’s the one constant in life, son: You build something worth having, somebody’s gonna try to take it." She also spoke at length about the difficult and rewarding work of songwriting, which might be her single favorite subject. If you've got 22 minutes to spare, you can watch her entire speech below.

And guess who else was there last night! Stereogum's own VJ Winter was out on the red carpet, interviewing people like Billy Corgan, Brandi Carlile, and Kenny Loggins. Watch her go to work below.