, the maestro of melancholy and romance, has been weaving sonic spells that capture the essence of love’s triumphs and heartbreak’s despair. With a life replete with its share of fairy and cautionary tales, Swift’s songbook is a testament to her own experiences. Though Cupid’s arrow may have finally found its mark with Travis Kelce, Swift’s discography boasts a pantheon of muses, some shrouded in mystery and others not as much. But before the NFL charm, Swift’s lyrical allure had entangled her in a melodic tango with another chart-topper, Harry Styles. As the spotlight scrutinized their star-crossed romance, the whispers of Tinseltown echoed far and wide.
While Swift and Styles’ relationship had been under the microscope, here are 5 lesser-known facts that the world might not know.
How Taylor Swift and Harry Styles met
Taylor Swift and Harry Styles were linked together for a brief period from March 2012 to January 2013. Yet, during their short-lived romance, they became one of the most iconic ‘It’ couples, whom fans dubbed “Haylor
.” Swift and Styles reportedly came across each other backstage during the 2012 Kids Choice Awards on March 31
when the ‘Karma’ singer was caught in the lens, dancing and singing with her BFF, Selena Gomez, as One Direction performed their super hit track, ‘What Makes You Beautiful’.
March 31st.
Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards, Harry and Taylor met for the first time. Taylor and Selena Gomez danced when the boys performed “What Makes You Beautiful” on stage. pic.twitter.com/UrXh6znjL9
— haylor timeline (@haylorthread) May 14, 2018
Next, they performed at the MTV Video Music Awards in September. By November, dating rumors were already in the air, especially after news broke out that Styles paid a visit to her during The X Factor
rehearsals ahead of her performance on the show. From then on, the couple was spotted on multiple occasions, sometimes strolling in Central Park and other times, flexing their sonic skills at karaoke.
That said, what convinced the world that they were probably in a relationship? A kiss that did not lie.
Taylor Swift and Harry Styles laid the rumors to rest with a smooch
After Taylor Swift and Harry Styles were seen together consecutively in November and December 2012, they were spotted a third time within a week at a friend’s birthday party. The pair reportedly shared a kiss at the birthday bash, which was held at New York’s Crosby Hotel on December 6. However, before the clock could tick to the New Year, the One Direction singer accompanied her to England for her birthday trip.
December 31st (cont.)
Harry and Taylor were photographed by fans kissing at midnight after Taylor’s performance in Times Square on New Year’s Eve. pic.twitter.com/qovTCfCGBo
— haylor timeline (@haylorthread) May 14, 2018
On New Year’s Eve, all doubts were put to bed when they shared a kiss at midnight in Times Square
after Swift’s performance on D— Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest. Although sparks were visibly flying, it was not long before the romance rumors turned into split speculations surrounding the pair.
Taylor Swift’s isolated departure from a Caribbean trip with Harry Styles
From her birthday trip to England to their Christmas ski-trips in the snowy slopes of Park City, Utah, Taylor Swift and Harry Styles’ love story was in full bloom. But just when fans thought nothing could top and convince them otherwise after their Times Square kiss, they took another trip, this time for a New Year’s getaway to the Caribbean.
Fue hasta diciembre de ese año que finalmente se les vio juntos publicamente.
La pareja fue vista dando un paseo por la ciudad de Nueva York. Según E! News, estaban caminando en el zoológico de Central Park junto con la estilista de Styles, Lou Teasdale, además del prometido de… pic.twitter.com/0sitOzuzrA
— Pop’s Lit & Skip Intro (@ThePopsLit) December 27, 2023
Swift and Styles reportedly stopped at a resort in the British Virgin Islands, and throughout the trip, multiple fans had spotted the two. However, trouble somehow followed when, on January 4, 2013, the self-made billionaire
left the Caribbean Island alone. The ‘Watermelon Sugar’ singer did not accompany Swift back to the mainland and instead stayed behind, paying a visit to Richard Branson’s private island.
Today in TS History:
January 4, 2013: Taylor Swift returns home alone after her ruined ski/Caribbean holiday with BF Harry Styles.
It was in this moment that she decided to end their relationship for good.
🧵1/- pic.twitter.com/1Ww6r7kJpp
— Jen | Tortured Poet (@Barely_Jen) January 5, 2024
Pictures showed the ‘Lover’ artist solo on a boat outside the customs while Styles was snapped with Branson and more people in a hot tub. Within a few days, a source confirmed to PEOPLE that Swift and Styles
had split just after the Caribbean getaway.
Although their split was official, the probe did not stop about the two’s potential references of each other in their tracks.
Taylor Swift’s tracks which were possibly inspired by Harry Styles
Taylor Swift has a knack for hiding subtle references in her albums, as was seen in ‘The Tortured Poets Department.’
But it was not an isolated record that had fans speculating. When the pop queen released her fifth studio album, ‘1989’, in October 2014, fans were quick to suspect that quite a few of her lyrics were cryptic references to her brief yet iconic relationship with Harry Styles. ‘Style’ was one among many.
Though Swift is not someone to deliberately unveil the subject of her songs, in a radio interview with Ryan Seacrest, she revealed
the hook, “We never go out of style,”
was too long for a title. While she did not directly name-drop, she said, “The song speaks for itself.”
In fact, the track ‘Out of the Woods,’ where she sings, “They loved each other recklessly,”
was taken as a sly nod to the secret trip to the hospital following a snowmobile incident during their ski trip in Utah.
The mention of “paper airplanes”
and “necklace
” further convinced fans of her cryptic clues due to the paper airplane necklace the One Direction artist wore. Speculations also surround ‘Wonderland,’ an additional track on the deluxe edition of her album, ‘1989,’
which talks about the “green eyes”
and the “Cheshire cat.”
Styles has green eyes and he hails from Cheshire, England. To persuade fans even more, when the music video of ‘I Knew You Were Trouble’ was released with Swift flaunting a pink ombre hairstyle, a ripped shirt, and skinny denims, Marie Claire suspected it was her way
of representing an outgrowth of the good girl image which coincided with her relationship with the English singer.
The video begins with Swift waking up in a desert and ends with her alone in that same desert. While Swift’s clever references to her love interests have always had fans putting on their detective hats, the speculation was as abundant surrounding Styles’ songs.
Harry Styles’ songs which were possibly inspired by Taylor Swift
‘Two Ghosts,’ a track from Harry Styles’ self-titled solo debut album, is widely considered his response to Taylor Swift’s ‘Style.’
He writes, “Same lips red, same eyes blue. Same white shirt, couple more tattoos,”
and honestly, it is all too telling of the signature features Swift flaunts. Nick Grimshaw even asked on his Radio 1 Show
if the track was indeed about Swift, and he said, “I mean, I think it’s pretty like self-explanatory.”
It was also believed that Styles shaded Swift through a Ye, formerly Kanye West, song,
knowing their rough history.
A similar theory surrounded the second single, ‘Perfect,’ of One Direction’s fifth and final studio album, ‘Made in the A.M.’
Styles and Louis Tomlinson co-wrote the track. When James Corden asked Styles in a 2015 interview on The Late Late Show
, referencing the line, “And if you’re looking for someone to write your breakup songs about, baby, I’m perfect,”
alongside some more, he laughed it off. However, in a later conversation with PEOPLE, Styles hinted that the song was open to interpretation. Then again, Tomlinson did not play coy and gave away what fans strongly believed in.
The speculations took a long time to hit the brakes years after Swift and Styles called it quits. However, all hell broke loose when the pair chatted at the 2023 Grammy Awards, ushering a new era of alliance beyond the past heartbreaks and bad blood.
Did you know about these details of Taylor Swift and Harry Styles’ relationship? Let us know in the comments below!
