The singer paused to collect herself as tears welled in her eyes on stage as she praised her family for uprooting “their entire lives” to support her artistry.

Taylor Swift tearfully honors family in moving speech after breaking major music industry record

The singer paused to collect herself as tears welled in her eyes on stage as she praised her family for uprooting "their entire lives" to support her artistry.

Joey Nolfi

Joey Nolfi is a senior writer at *. *Since 2016, his work at EW includes RuPaul’s Drag Race video interviews, Oscars predictions, and more.

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June 12, 2026 10:24 a.m. ET

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Taylor Swift at Songwriters Hall of Fame. Credit:

Jamie McCarthy/Getty

- Taylor Swift got emotional on stage as she accepted a major award and broke a music industry record.

- Swift paused to collect herself after she cried over her family's support for her talent at an early age.

- "It couldn't have been easy for my parents and my brother," Swift told attendees.

Taylor Swift can't shake off the lasting impact her family had on her talent at a young age, as the pop icon became visibly emotional on stage Thursday night upon accepting an award that, in the process, also set a music industry record.

The 36-year-old paused to collect herself amid her moving speech in New York City at the Songwriters Hall of Fame induction ceremony, where she became the youngest woman ever welcomed into the group.

In her acceptance speech, which followed an introduction by Steven Spielberg, Swift reflected on "the complete loss of privacy" she's endured after becoming one of the most popular music stars in history, heralding the "magical chaos of this path that I chose" at a young age.

Taylor Swift and Steven Spielberg at Songwriters Hall of Fame ceremony.

L. Busacca/Getty

"When I say the songwriting is the easiest part for me, I think what I mean is that it's instinctual. No one taught me how to do it. I had to be taught how to entertain a crowd and learn choreography and be less annoying and navigate the industry and fiercely protect my sanity," she told attendees. "I had to learn all of that over time, through difficult lessons and massive amounts of trial and error and chaos and calamity."

She then turned the conversation toward her family, reflecting on her parents recognizing her appreciation for songwriting when she was a child, and remembered driving home with them from the movie theater, singing Disney songs but remixing the lyrics to "be about my own life," she said.

"It felt easy to work incredibly hard on this. It felt easy to nurture something I loved so much, to watch callouses form on the tips of my tiny fingers and to become a constant observer of the human condition. People's feelings, passions, and motivations have always fascinated me, and it was easy to choose songwriting over everything else in my life," she said of fully tapping into her abilities at age 12, when she got her first guitar and composed a song.

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"But it couldn't have been easy for my parents and my brother..." Swift said, trailing off for a moment as tears welled in her eyes. "I'm good," she reassured the audience, before praising her family's ability "to just pick up and move our entire family from Pennsylvania to relocate to Nashville so that I could hone my craft in the songwriting capital of the world."

She added, "This was not even remotely a temporary phase their tween daughter was going through, they uprooted their entire lives to move me to music city, and even though words are supposed to kind of be my thing, I'll never be able to express my gratitude to you guys for doing that for me."

Swift's induction into the Songwriters Hall of Fame came after a 20-year career in music, following the release of her debut album,* Taylor Swift*, in 2006. She's since gone on to release multiple No. 1 singles and has won 14 Grammys, including a record four Album of the Year honors.

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In addition to Swift, the Songwriters Hall of Fame ceremony also honored Alanis Morissette, Kenny Loggins, Gene Simmons of Kiss, Paul Stanley, Christopher "Tricky" Stewart, and more.

Watch Swift's tearful speech in the video above.

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