Taylor Swift wiped away tears as she delivered a 21-minute speech at the Songwriters Hall of Fame ceremony in New York, making history as the youngest woman ever inducted into the prestigious institution.
Introduced by director Steven Spielberg, whom she called a hero who shaped her storytelling, the 36-year-old pop superstar thanked her family for uprooting their lives from Pennsylvania to Nashville when she was 14 "so that I could hone my craft in the songwriting capital of the world."
“Taylor Swift, 36, became the youngest woman inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, tearfully thanking her family.”
"It couldn't have been easy for my parents and my brother to just pick up and move our entire family," she said, her voice breaking. "Even though words are supposed to kind of be my thing, I will never be able to express my gratitude to you guys for doing that for me. You're the reason I'm here tonight."
Swift, whose fiance NFL star Travis Kelce joined her at the event as rumours swirl they will marry next month, described songwriting as the only aspect of her career that came naturally.
"When I say that songwriting was the easiest part for me, I think what I mean is that it was instinctual," she told the audience. "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 own sanity through difficult lessons and massive amounts of trial and error and chaos and calamity. But songwriting for me was pretty much the only thing I naturally did."
The honour caps a glittering period for Swift, who broke her own sales record with her latest album, The Life of a Showgirl, released in October. Her key tracks recognised by the Hall of Fame include All Too Well (10 Minute Version) (Taylor's Version), Blank Space, Anti-Hero, Love Story and The Last Great American Dynasty.
Swift is the second-youngest inductee ever, behind Stevie Wonder who was 33 when he joined. Other inductees this year included Alanis Morissette, Kenny Loggins, Kiss stars Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley, Christopher "Tricky" Stewart, Walter Afanasieff, Terry Britten and Graham Lyle.
Founded in 1969, the Songwriters Hall of Fame annually honours those "whose work represents a spectrum of the most beloved songs from the world's popular music songbook." Fewer than 500 people have been inducted over the last 50 years. Swift, one of the best-selling music artists of all time with 12 studio albums and four re-recorded "Taylor's Versions," now joins that exclusive club.