Who Are Taylor Swift's Parents? Meet the Superstar's Guiding Forces, Scott and Andrea Swift

It's not easy headlining the highest-grossing tour of all time and making Grammys history, but Taylor Swift has the most loving support system in her parents, Scott and Andrea Swift. They've nurtured her talent since childhood, with Taylor referring to her folks as her "guiding force."

Videos by Wide Open Country

Scott Swift, 71, and Andrea Swift, 66, have backed their superstar daughter every step of the way. They were there for her Grand Ole Opry debut at 16 years old. When Taylor accepted the Milestone Award at the ACMs in 2015? Mama Swift tearfully introduced her "tangled-haired little girl" onstage. And on Christmas Day in 2023, Scott and Andrea Swift were all smiles cheering on Taylor's beau, Travis Kelce, at the Kansas City Chiefs' Arrowhead Stadium.

Scott and Andrea Swift went from shuffling their daughter to and from gigs in small-town Pennsylvania to accompanying her on global concert tours. But before becoming No. 1 Swifties, the couple had successful careers in business. Scott was a stockbroker and vice president at Merrill Lynch, and Andrea was a marketing manager at an advertising agency.

The Swift family, including Taylor's brother Austin, has remained tight-knit through the pressures of fame and multiple cancer diagnoses. Read on for more about Scott and Andrea Swift, and how Taylor has honored her beloved parents through music.

Scott and Andrea Swift Tied the Knot in Houston

Scott and Andrea Swift wed in her hometown of Houston, Texas on Feb. 20, 1988. They welcomed their first child, Taylor Alison Swift, on Dec. 13, 1989. Two years later, Taylor's younger brother, Austin Kingsley Swift, was born on March 11, 1992.

Having both forged careers in business, Scott and Andrea landed on a gender-neutral name for their daughter with the express wish that it help her avoid discrimination in the workplace.

"My mom thought it was cool that if you got a business card that said 'Taylor' you wouldn't know if it was a guy or a girl," Swift told Rolling Stone in 2009. "She wanted me to be a business person in a business world."

Taylor Swift Grew Up on a Christmas Tree Farm

Like any great Hallmark movie heroine, Taylor Swift spent her early years on a Christmas tree farm in Reading, Pennsylvania. Swift memorialized the 11-acre Pine Ridge Farm in her 2021 tune "Christmas Tree Farm," and even paid a visit to her childhood home in 2018.

On Instagram, Swift shared a sweet snap of her and her pals sitting cross-legged on the floor of her old bedroom. "Take pictures in your mind of your childhood room," she captioned the photo.

Scott and Andrea Nurtured Taylor's Music Ambitions

Scott and Andrea sold the Pine Ridge Farm and moved the family to Nashville when Taylor was 14 years old, after she became the youngest person ever signed to Sony/ATV Publishing. The couple took great pains to maintain a sense of normalcy amidst Taylor's burgeoning country music career, even opting to settle in Hendersonville, a suburb 20 miles out from the heart of the Nashville scene.

In a 2008 interview with Entertainment Weekly, Andrea said she "never wanted to make that move about [Taylor] 'making it'":

"Because what a horrible thing if it hadn't happened, for her to carry that kind of guilt or pressure around," Andrea explained. "And we moved far enough outside Nashville to where she didn't have to be going to school with producers' kids and label presidents' kids and be reminded constantly that she was struggling to make it. We've always told her that this is not about putting food on our table or making our dreams come true."

Both Taylor Swift's Parents Have Battled Cancer

Andrea Swift is a two-time breast cancer survivor. She was diagnosed in 2015 and again in 2019. In an essay for Elle that same year, Taylor shared her mother's diagnosis and revealed that her father, Scott, had previously been diagnosed with a form of cancer.

While undergoing cancer treatment, doctors discovered that Andrea also had a brain tumor. "Everyone loves their mom; everyone's got an important mom," Taylor told Variety in 2020. "But for me, she's really the guiding force. Almost every decision I make, I talk to her about it first. So obviously it was a really big deal to ever speak about her illness."

The Grammy winner added: "The symptoms of what a person goes through when they have a brain tumor is nothing like what we've ever been through with her cancer before."

Taylor reflected on the impact of Andrea's cancer diagnoses in "Soon You'll Get Better" from her 2019 album "Lover." The singer has not shared any new updates on her mother's health.

Have Taylor's Parents Met Travis Kelce?

It appears the entire Swift clan has met Travis Kelce and his folks — and they've spent Christmas together, no less! (A major honor coming from a family that owned a Christmas tree farm.) Taylor brought Scott and Andrea to the Kansas City Chiefs' Christmas Day game in 2023.

They were photographed with Travis' dad Ed Kelce in the NFL star's suite at Arrowhead Stadium by Chiefs fan Jacklyn Chappell Snider, who shared the snap on Instagram. Taylor's brother Austin also appeared in a Santa suit, per People.

Travis had met Scott Swift months before, at Taylor's Eras Tour stop in Buenos Aires. On their podcast, "New Heights with Jason and Travis Kelce," Jason teased his brother Travis for missing a high-five from Scott at the concert after Taylor shouted out her beau as "the guy on the Chiefs."

"Yeah, Mr. Swift, I apologize big guy," Travis said. "Aw, man. I missed that. I never miss a high-five, too. Big high-five guy. It's the most electric thing you can do at an event and, so, sorry Mr. Swift."

Travis Kelce and Scott Swift? Now that's a father-son duo we can get behind...

READ MORE: Young Taylor Swift Gushes About the 'Power' of Toby Keith in 2005 Interview