Taylor Swift’s parents have been there every step of the way as she’s chased her “Wildest Dreams.”

Andrea Swift, a former marketing manager at an advertising agency, married Scott Swift, a stockbroker-turned-vice-president for Merrill Lynch, on Feb. 20, 1988, in Harris County, Texas. The couple welcomed Taylor on Dec. 13, 1989. Just over two years later, she became a big sister when her brother, Austin, was born on March 11, 1992.

The two siblings grew up on a 15-acre Christmas tree farm in Pennsylvania before eventually moving to the suburbs of Nashville after the “Teardrops On My Guitar” singer landed her first major record deal with Sony at age 14.

Within a few years, Taylor made her debut onstage at the Grand Ole Opry as a rising country star in September 2006. Andrea began to accompany her on the road as her career took off, while Scott stayed home with Austin.

Taylor has since become one of the world’s highest-paid female entertainers, but family remains her No. 1 priority. The “Cruel Summer” singer supported her mom through two cancer diagnoses, and most recently, she’s been by her dad’s side following his quintuple bypass surgery.

Here’s everything to know about Taylor Swift’s parents, Scott and Andrea Swift.

They raised Taylor on a Christmas tree farm

The “Lover” singer’s deep affinity for Christmas from growing up on a Christmas tree farm in Wyomissing, Pa. Though the family later moved to Nashville, Taylor has always spoken fondly of her memories on the farm, even returning to pay a visit there in 2018.

She later commemorated her childhood home in her 2021 song “Christmas Tree Farm,” on which she sings about her happy holiday memories from growing up.

They named her with a business career in mind

Both of Taylor’s parents have backgrounds in the financial industry, something which influenced the moniker they chose for her.

“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,” she told Rolling Stone in 2009, explaining that they thought an androgynous name could help reduce any potential discrimination in the corporate world. “She wanted me to be a business person in a business world.”

Andrea and Taylor traveled all over together

Sure of her talent and drive from a young age, Taylor sought to make her dreams a reality by trying to track down a record deal. Andrea was supportive from the start, driving Taylor to Nashville to hand out demos of her singing karaoke.

“My mom waited in the car with my little brother while I knocked on doors up and down Music Row,” Taylor told Entertainment Weekly in 2008. “I would say, ‘Hi, I’m Taylor. I’m 11. I wanted a record deal — call me.”

Upon returning from that fateful Nashville trip — where no one did call her — Taylor decided to take up guitar and focus on songwriting in order to help herself stand out. When her parents initially tried to dissuade her from starting with a 12-string guitar, suggesting that her fingers were still “too small,” she immediately set out to prove them wrong.

“Don’t ever say never or can’t do to Taylor. She started playing it four hours a day — six on the weekends,” Andrea told the outlet.

They moved to the suburbs of Nashville to support Taylor’s career

In 2003, Taylor and her family relocated to Hendersonville, just outside of Nashville, after she became the youngest person to sign with Sony/ATV Publishing. While the move was made in service of then-14-year-old Taylor’s budding career, her parents strove to keep the pressure off of her, promising the move was “a change of scenery.”

“I never wanted to make that move about her ‘making it,’ ” Andrea told Entertainment Weekly. “Because what a horrible thing if it hadn’t happened, for her to carry that kind of guilt or pressure around.”

Meanwhile, Scott moved the financial advisory business where’d he worked for nearly three decades — The Swift Group, under Merrill Lynch — to their new home.

Part of the reason they didn’t move directly to Nashville was to offer Taylor a buffer against the trappings of fame, Andrea revealed.

“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,” she explained. “We’ve always told her that this is not about putting food on our table or making our dreams come true.”

Andrea faced cancer twice

While writing songs is primarily how Taylor processes her emotions, she opened up directly in a candid Tumblr post in 2015, informing fans that Andrea had been diagnosed with cancer.

She explained that during a routine check-up, doctors discovered Andrea had cancer.

“I’d like to keep the details of her condition and treatment plans private, but she wanted you to know,” Taylor wrote. “She wanted you to know why she may not be at as many shows this tour. She’s got an important battle to fight.”

Just over a week after her cancer diagnosis was shared with fans, Andrea joined Taylor onstage at the 2015 Academy of Country Music Awards, where the singer was being honored with the Milestone Award. Andrea shared what a “proud mom” she was as she introduced her daughter.

In a personal essay for Elle in 2019, Taylor revealed that her mom’s cancer had returned. “It’s taught me that there are real problems and then there’s everything else. My mom’s cancer is a real problem. I used to be so anxious about daily ups and downs,” she said, adding that her priorities had since shifted. “I give all of my worry, stress and prayers to real problems now.”

In the same essay, Taylor shared that her dad, Scott, had also previously been diagnosed with cancer, though she didn’t share specific details about his health journey.

While undergoing treatment for cancer, Andrea was also diagnosed with a brain tumor, Taylor revealed in 2020 to Variety.

“Everyone loves their mom; everyone’s got an important mom,” Taylor told the outlet, going on to express how the news was impacting their family. “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.”

She added that it was “a really hard time” for her family, explaining that “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.”

Andrea has inspired two of Taylor’s songs

The pop star first gave fans a glimpse into her and Andrea’s close bond in 2008’s “The Best Day,” which references a handful of sweet memories the pair have shared together over the years. When Taylor released a lyric video for the track in 2021, she included adorable never-before-seen home videos of the duo as well.

Taylor later opened up about the emotional trauma of navigating her mom’s cancer diagnosis in “Soon You’ll Get Better,” singing, “And I hate to make this all about me / But who am I supposed to talk to? What am I supposed to do? If there’s no you.”

During a YouTube Live, Taylor revealed that it was a family decision to ultimately include the song on the album. “It’s something I’m so proud of, but it’s just really hard. I can’t sing it. It’s hard to just emotionally deal with that song,” she explained.

Andrea was also mentioned in Taylor’s song “thanK you aIMee,” which appeared to reference her feud with Kim Kardashian.

One part of the chorus seems to share Andrea’s feelings about Kardashian: “Everyone knows that my mother is a saintly woman / But she used to say she wished that you were dead.”

Scott worried about Taylor’s safety when she decided to speak out about politics

After years of being criticized for not sharing her political opinions, Taylor broke her silence and put public support behind two Democratic candidates in her home state of Tennessee in 2018 — much to the initial concern of her dad.

In her Netflix documentary Taylor Swift: Miss Americana, she and her dad discuss the social media post. “I’ve read the entire [statement] and … right now, I’m terrified. I’m the guy that went out and bought armored cars,” Scott told Taylor in the documentary.

Speaking to Variety, Taylor explained that while she understood his concerns for her personal safety, she felt she could no longer stay silent.

“This was a situation where, from a humanity perspective, and from what my moral compass was telling me I needed to do, I knew was right, and I really didn’t care about repercussions,” she explained. “My dad is terrified of threats against my safety and my life, and he has to see how many stalkers we deal with on a daily basis, and know that this is his kid. It’s where he comes from.”

Scott is a hands-on dad

When hundreds of Swifties camped out overnight in August 2019 to catch the “You Need to Calm Down” singer’s Good Morning America performance, Taylor made sure none of them went hungry.

The singer ordered 30 pizzas to be delivered to the line of fans outside New York City’s Central Park, handed out by members of her team — including her dad!

“For my parents, they’re like: That’s my kid! People are waiting on the sidewalk to see her sing!” Taylor told GMA of her dad getting involved.

In March 2023, Scott joined his daughter as she kicked off her Eras Tour. Ahead of her opening night concert, Taylor shared a snap of the backstage pass she created for her dad on her Instagram Stories. The handmade card was marked “D.O.H. Pass” in gold lettering, with “(Dad of Headliner)” written below in Taylor’s handwriting.

“Made my Dad’s tour credential,” Swift captioned the photograph. “We are a small family business.”

Scott and Andrea attended several shows during Taylor’s Eras Tour

In April 2023, Taylor gave her parents a sweet shout-out during an Eras Tour concert in Houston.

“I love you Houston,” she can be heard saying in a video posted on TikTok. “You treat us like Houston is my mom’s hometown, which it is. You treat us like this is where my parents got married, which it is.”

On Mother’s Day 2023, the Grammy-winning artist paid tribute to Andrea with a performance of “The Best Day.” Swift explained to the Philadelphia audience that she’d surprised her mom with the track back in 2008.

“I wrote this song just compiling these sort of core childhood memories I had of not just her as a mother, but her as a friend,” she could be heard saying in a video on X.

In July 2023, after a show in Santa Clara, Calif., Swift posted a TikTok of her dad riding his Segway backstage.

“My dads on his segway s— again,” she wrote alongside a clip of Scott trailing behind her golf cart as they weaved through the stadium’s tunnels.

Scott and Andrea both attended the Los Angeles premiere of Swift’s Eras Tour concert film in October 2023. They were also spotted in Vancouver in December 2024, where they watched one of their daughter’s final Eras Tour shows.

Taylor’s boyfriend, Travis Kelce, convinced Scott that he should be a Kansas City Chiefs fan

Travis Kelce and Scott met for the first time in Argentina — a trip they both made to support Taylor at her Eras Tour concerts in Buenos Aires.

While on the trip, the NFL star successfully made Scott, who is a “huge football guy,” a Chiefs fan.

“Just one by one, getting all the good ones to come on over,” Kelce said on his podcast, New Heights with Jason and Travis Kelce.

His brother, Jason Kelce, replied: “What are we doing, Scott? You’re gonna let this man’s devilishly good looks and relationship with your daughter sway you from a lifetime of fandom, Scott? This is ridiculous.”

Scott proved his newfound dedication to the Chiefs in December 2023 when he joined Taylor at two NFL games.

However, their football adventures didn’t stop there. Scott and Andrea were also in attendance when the Kansas City Chiefs won the Super Bowl on Feb. 11, 2024.

Scott underwent heart surgery in 2025

Scott, who previously had cancer, underwent quintuple bypass surgery in June 2025, PEOPLE confirmed a month later in July. The procedure was the result of a routine check-up.

Scott is reportedly on the road to recovery with Taylor, Andrea and Austin by his side.