Taylor Swift's parents, Scott and Andrea Swift, were the first to believe their daughter had what it takes to conquer the music world.
You might even say the singer's parents were the first Swifties.
The former couple moved to Nashville more than two decades ago to help their talented daughter, then still a teenager, navigate the country music industry.
As Taylor Swift's success as a crossover artist took on a life of its own, her parents have continued to support her every step of the way. The pair can be found singing along at Swift's concerts, holding up a phone to record a memory, interacting with fans and simply looking on at their daughter with pride.
The "Karma" singer has often spoken about how her family's love has guided her, and she's thanked them for the sacrifices they've made for her career.
After winning top new female vocalist at the 2008 Academy of Country Music Awards, Swift said "there are so many people that deserve to be thanked for this," but she dedicated her acceptance speech to just one: her mom.
"And that’s the person that used to love to go to lunch with her friends and cook dinner for her family and sleep in her bed every night, and she gave that all away and left it all behind to go on the road with her 16-year-old daughter," she said. "And so, Mom, thank you so much. I love you. This is for you."
More than 16 years later, Taylor Swift continues to gush about her family. Read on to learn more about Taylor Swift's parents.
Who are Scott and Andrea Swift?
Andrea and Scott Swift tied the knot in 1988, about a year before their daughter was born.
They welcomed Taylor Swift on Dec. 13, 1989 — a date significant to many Swifties as 13 is the singer's lucky number and her fifth album is named "1989."
They became parents again when they welcomed Taylor’s younger brother, Austin, in 1992.
Andrea Swift is the daughter of American opera singer Marjorie Finlay and spent some time growing up in Singapore, Taylor Swift revealed during her March 2 “Eras Tour” show in Singapore.
“So a lot of the time when we’d come here on tour, my mom would take me and drive me past her old house, where she used to go to school. So, I’ve been hearing about Singapore my whole life,” she said during the show.
“Mama Swift,” as Swifties know her, is frequently seen by her daughter's side at concerts and other events, where she is friendly with fans. She's often her daughter’s guest at award shows.
The pop star's relationship with her mom is shown in a heartwarming compilation of images and videos from her childhood in the official video for her song "The Best Day (Taylor's Version)."
Swift allows fans a rare glimpse at family photos, touching on her relationship with her mother from the age of 5 until her young adult years.
"You're the prettiest lady in the whole wide world," she sings on the song. "I love you for giving me your eyes."
In the song, Swift also mentions her love for her father.
"I have an excellent father," she sings. "His strength is making me stronger."
Scott Swift has worked as a financial advisor at Merrill Lynch and later established Swift Group. Though he's clearly got a head for business, the proud dad also likes to let less, as evidenced in a playful TikTok video of him riding a Segway that his daughter posted during her "Eras Tour."
Taylor Swift also frequently alludes to her maternal grandmother, who passed away in 2003, and her impact on her singing career, dedicating her track “Marjorie” to her grandmother on the album “Evermore.”
They moved from Pennsylvania to Tennessee
Taylor Swift shared another compilation of family images and videos in her official video for the 2019 holiday tune "Christmas Tree Farm."
Swift alludes in the song to the Christmas tree farm where she was raised.
Swift and her brother were both born in Reading, Pennsylvania, and in 2003, their parents moved the whole family to Nashville to support Swift's singing career.
"At 13, I was offered a development deal by a major record label," Swift told Time in 2014.
"My parents gave in and we moved from Pennsylvania (to Nashville)."
Swift announced the release of "Speak Now (Taylor's Version)" in Nashville during "The Eras Tour" on May 5.
In an Instagram post, she reflected on how she felt when first writing the album between the ages of 18 and 20 while living in Nashville.
"The songs that came from this time in my life were marked by their brutal honesty, unfiltered diaristic confessions and wild wistfulness," she wrote.
Scott and Andrea Swift's cancer journeys
Both Andrea and Scott Swift have battled cancer, Taylor Swift revealed in a 2019 essay for Elle.
“I’ve had to learn how to handle serious illness in my family,” she wrote. “Both of my parents have had cancer, and my mom is now fighting her battle with it again.”
Taylor Swift revealed that her mother was battling cancer in 2015, then again in 2019, though she did not share the type of the cancer.
Her daughter shared her distress over her mom's diagnosis in her music.
“Who am I supposed to talk to? What am I supposed to do if there's no you,” she sang in her 2019 track “Soon You’ll Get Better.”
“You’ll get better soon, ‘cause you have to.”
In a 2019 interview with CBS News, she said she "can't even listen to" the song.
"I don't think I have written a song quite like that before," she said. "It's just not something we deal with until we have to. Writing about it was really emotional."
She performed the song live for the first time in August 2019.
In 2020, Taylor shared that her mother was diagnosed with a brain tumor.
She told Variety that her mother was diagnosed with the tumor while undergoing chemotherapy treatments for cancer.
Scott Swift's political disagreements with his daughter
The 2020 Netflix documentary “Miss Americana” showed Taylor Swift and her father having political disagreements.
Taylor Swift decided to voice her political opinions on social media, a choice her father didn’t agree with at the time. In 2018, she released a lengthy statement on Instagram.
She said she does not support Marsha Blackburn running for Senate in the state of Tennessee, saying she "votes against equal pay for women," and the "Violence Against Women Act."
"These are not MY Tennessee values," she wrote.
The documentary shows her father saying he was "terrified" about Taylor Swift sharing her political views.
Taylor Swift went through with the post.
“I need to do this,” she told her father. “Dad, I need you to forgive me for doing this, because I’m doing it.”
Andrea and Scott Swift at 'The Eras Tour'
To this day, the star's parents publicly support her career.
On the North American leg of "The Eras Tour," Andrea and Scott Swift attended many of the shows.
One TikTok user posted a video in May 2023 which shows the two at her Philadelphia show.
The two are walking into the venue together and fans are giving them friendship bracelets.
Another TikTok video, posted in July 2023, shows them inside the VIP tent at their daughter's Seattle show.
They're singing along as their daughter performs her track "You Belong With Me," and Scott Swift takes out his phone to record his daughter's performance.
Scott and Andrea Swift also appear to be fans of their daughter's boyfriend, Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce.
Scott Swift has cheered on his daughter at her "Eras Tour" shows alongside Kelce at multiple concerts, including a Nov. 11, 2023 show in Argentina and Feb. 23, 2024 concert in Sydney.
Taylor Swift's parents have joined her at multiple Kansas City Chiefs games
The singer's parents have also been spotted at plenty of Kansas City Chiefs games, including the Chiefs' Nov. 29, 2024 Black Friday game. Scott Swift was photographed arriving to Arrowhead Stadium with his daughter and Travis Kelce's mom, Donna.
Taylor Swift also brought along her parents and her brother, Austin, on Jan. 26, 2025, when the family watched the Chiefs claim victory over the Buffalo Bills in the AFC Championship, which advanced the Chiefs to the 2025 Super Bowl, the team's third Super Bowl in a row.
CORRECTION (Oct. 19, 2023, 9:10 a.m. ET): A previous version of this article stated Andrea Swift battled breast cancer. It has been updated to reflect that the type of cancer she was diagnosed with has not been publicly disclosed. This story also incorrectly stated Scott and Andrea Swift had reportedly ended their marriage in 2011, and the story has been updated.
