Get to know Taylor Swift’s grandparents.
While the singer has famously referenced her parents, Scott and Andrea, in her songs over the years, including “The Best Day” and “Never Grow Up,” she has recently written a few tracks about her extended family members: her paternal grandparents, Rose and Archie Dean Swift, and her maternal grandparents, Marjorie and Robert Finlay.
Her grandmother Marjorie was notably the inspiration behind her Evermore song of the same name, which was later performed during her Eras Tour. The song features a backing track of Marjorie’s vocals.
Most recently, Swift included her grandparents in the lyric video for her vault track “Timeless” for Speak Now (Taylor’s Version), which includes various home videos and photos of them when they were younger.
Here’s everything to know about Swift’s grandparents.
Her grandparents Rose and Archie were from Pennsylvania
Both of Swift’s paternal grandparents were born in Pennsylvania, where she too was born years later. Her grandmother Rose was born in Philadelphia County in July 1920, while Archie Dean was born in Ridgway – Elk County in December 1914, according to genealogy site, Geni.
The couple got married in March 1942 in Roxborough, Pennsylvania, and had three children together: Archie Dean Swift III, Douglas Baldi Swift and Scott Kingsley Swift, the latter of which was Swift’s father, per Geni.
Her grandparents Marjorie and Robert lived all around the world after getting married
Swift’s maternal grandparents, Marjorie and Robert, got married in Palm Beach, Florida, in March 1952, before eventually moving out of the country for Robert’s job in the United States military, per Geni. They lived in Havana, Cuba, for a short time before relocating to Puerto Rico.
Taylor Swift wrote “Epiphany” about her grandfather Archie
Swift wrote “Epiphany” from Folklore about her paternal grandfather Archie Dean. Archie enlisted as a Private in the United States Marine Corps in May 1938 and eventually worked his way up to Lieutenant Colonel. The song detailed his time in World War II when he fought in the Battle of Guadalcanal.
“It’s partially the story of her grandfather, who was a soldier, and partially then a story about a nurse in modern times,” co-writer Aaron Dessner told Vulture of the song. “I don’t know if this is how she did it, but to me, it’s like a nurse, doctor, or medical professional, where med school doesn’t fully prepare you for seeing someone pass away or just the difficult emotional things that you’ll encounter in your job. In the past, heroes were just soldiers. Now they’re also medical professionals.”
Taylor Swift’s grandmother Marjorie was also a singer
In December 2020, Swift wrote “Marjorie” from Evermore about her maternal grandmother, who was an American opera singer. She earned her Bachelor of Music from Lindenwood University in 1949, before winning a talent contest on the ABC network show Music With the Girls, which gave her the opportunity to tour around the world. While living in Puerto Rico with her husband, Marjorie continued to sing and even had her own television program. The song “Marjorie” features a recorded vocal of her grandmother singing operatically.
Taylor Swift has featured her grandparents in several music videos
In addition to writing songs about her grandparents, Swift has also included photos of them in various music videos. In “Cardigan” from Folklore, Swift includes a photo of her grandfather Archie Dean in the background, and in the video for “Anti-Hero” from Midnights, Swift includes a photo of her grandmother Marjorie.
She includes photos of all four of her grandparents in the lyric video for “Timeless,” which is a vault track from her album Speak Now (Taylor’s Version).
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