Taylor Swift won Album of the Year for 2020 Folklore at the 63rd annual Grammy Awards on Sunday. In her acceptance speech, given alongside collaborators Laura Sisk, Jack Antonoff, and Aaron Dessner, Swift thanked her longtime boyfriend, Joe Alwyn.1]

"[He] is the first person to hear the new songs I write," Swift said. He was the first."

"I had the best time writing songs with you in isolation."

In November 2020, the singer explained how important Alwyn was in the process of making his eighth studio album.Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions, Swift was credited alongside him on "betty" and " exile" is actually Alwyn, a fan theory (opens in new tab). She added in the Disney+ film, "He plays the piano beautifully, and he's always just playing, making something up, creating something."

Also in an interview with Apple Music (opens in new tab), Swift further explained their working relationship, "Joe and I love really sad songs. We've always bonded over music. We say it was a surprise that we started writing songs together, but in a way it wasn't, because we've always bonded over music. Because we have always bonded over music and we have the same taste in music. He would always show me songs by artists and they would become my favorites."

The two have been dating since late 2016 and early 2017; while the beginning of their relationship was incredibly secretive, the singer and actor have since become a bit more public, appearing together at last year's Golden Globe Awards. (9]

Swift also gave a shout-out to close friends Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds in her speech, saying the couple are the "second and third" people she lets listen to a song before releasing it.

Lively and Reynolds are, of course, the parents of Inez, James, and Betty, who all have songs written about them or named after them in folklore. (James, it should be remembered, also appears on the song "Gorgeous" on Swift's album Reputation.) The couple also gave Swift permission to reveal their youngest daughter Betty's name (opens in new tab) in folklore. [Lively and Reynolds are very supportive of Swift's music; after the release of folklore, Lively wrote on social media (opens in new tab). 'Guys, I hope you'll join me in the piano and live in this album: ...... Like you, folklore is full of heart, soul, humor, passion, intelligence, wit, whimsy, reality, imagination, strength, vulnerability, and above all: love. We [15].