“What’s the security issue?” one event photographer asked another. “You know why there are security issues,” the second answered. “Taylor Swift is here.”
On Thursday, the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York City played host to a small pack of bomb-sniffing dogs, an army of security guards, miles of black partition curtains, and unsuspecting hotel-goers who seemed unfamiliar with the mechanics of the Marquis’s automatic revolving doors—all (or at least some) in anticipation of Swift’s arrival.
But before there was Taylor Swift, the sea-parting mega-celebrity, Taylor Swift the world-conquering music mogul, or even Taylor Swift the pop star, there was Taylor Swift the songwriter. That’s the Swift who was being honored at the 2026 Songwriters Hall of Fame Gala—the youngest woman ever to be inducted, and the second-youngest person overall, behind Stevie Wonder, who was inducted at the age of 32.
Swift’s class of fellow inductees includes Alanis Morissette, Kiss’s Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons, Kenny Loggins, Terry Britten and Graham Lyle, Walter Afanasieff, and Christopher “Tricky” Stewart.
Paul Stanley, Taylor Swift and Nile Rodgers attend the Songwriters Hall of Fame 55th Annual Induction and Awards Gala at Marriott Marquis Hotel on June 11, 2026 in New York City.Gary Gershoff/Getty Images
As guests and Hall of Fame honorees filed into the dining room, Swift was flanked by her parents and her brother, Austin; Steven Spielberg and his wife, Kate Capshaw; her future in-laws, Donna and Ed Kelce; and her longtime publicist, Tree Paine—along with a wall of six security guards that parted to make way for her fiancé, Travis Kelce, as he came in late to sit by Swift’s side.
Throughout the night, Swift and Kelce danced to tribute performances for and by the musician’s fellow inductees, including a medley of hits performed by John Fogerty and his sons, Shane and Tyler Fogerty.