Taylor Swift becomes youngest woman in Songwriters Hall of Fame

From her thoughts on artificial intelligence and songwriting to an emotional tribute to the listeners who have followed her for two decades, Swift made an emotional 21-minute speech inside the New York Marriott Marquis in which she tearfully thanked her family as she made history.

Swift reflected on her family uprooting their lives to move her to Nashville, Tennessee, as a tween.

She offered young songwriters advice: “You really have to prioritize what you love, down to your very core. Because you'll need that." Steven Spielberg introduced Swift with a surprise speech about the power of songwriting. “There is something undeniable about how songs imprint on our souls,” he said, before changing his focus to Swift.

Tamar Braxton opened a spirited 2026 Songwriters Hall of Fame induction ceremony Thursday night with a tribute to a new inductee — the game-changing R&B songwriter, producer and rapper Christopher “Tricky” Stewart — with one of the biggest songs he's known for: Beyoncé's “Single Ladies.”