Taylor Swift has made history once more — this time at the iHeartRadio Music Awards. The pop superstar nabbed seven wins at the 2026 ceremony, making history as the most awarded artist in one night.
The singer-songwriter accepted the award for Pop Album of the Year onstage for her 12th studio album The Life of a Showgirl. In that speech, she shouted out fiancé Travis Kelce, who attended the ceremony with her. “This album probably also feels very happy and confident and free, because that’s the way that I get to feel every single day of my life, because of my fiancé, who’s here,” she said, adding, “Thanks for all the vibes.”
Later in the night, Swift took home one of the biggest awards of the year, Artist of the Year, which was presented to her by Olympic gold medalist and figure skater Alysa Liu. “I just want to say to receive this award from Alysa who brought me, and everyone else, so much happiness with your performances. I was so inspired by how much diligence, work, effort, and love you have for what you do,” she told the 2026 Winter Olympic champion.
The superstar went on to deliver a heartfelt acceptance speech, reflecting on her 20-year career trajectory. “I love writing songs more than anything in the world, and it I didn’t think I was an artist when I first started doing it,” she began. “It was a hobby, and then it was my favorite hobby, and then it was what I would like rush home from school to do… I just want to say, when I was 12 years old, I had the luxury of spending thousands of hours working at my craft, practicing making mistakes through trial and error. That was all completely unobserved, right?”
Swift continued by addressing her fellow nominees of the night: “I’m looking out into this crowd, and I’m seeing so many ambitious, cool, smart, awesome people who have dreams. We live in this world where there’s so much immediate feedback constantly,” she said. “If I had one hope for you, I would say that I hope that you get to nurture your hobby and your passion, just between you and that craft, and you give yourself time to make mistakes, give yourself time to hone your craft. I’m a firm believer that anything you feed your mind, it will internalize. Anything you feed the internet, it will attempt to kill and I don’t want that for your dreams,” she told the audience.
The star ended the speech with a note of gratitude: “Thank you for allowing me to turn my hobby into a love, into a passion, into a dream, into a career. Thank you for allowing me to have it this long. I wish you the best with everything you do.”
Swift is no stranger to historic wins, especially not at the iHeartRadio Awards. She is the most-awarded musician in the awards 12-year history.
Steve Cohen*
