Taylor Swift Shows Love for Paul McCartney's New Album: 'Never Not Inspired'

Taylor Swift is rarely one to pass up an opportunity to champion the artists she genuinely admires, and Paul McCartney's new album gave her exactly that occasion. Following the release of The Boys of Dungeon Lane, McCartney's latest studio record, Swift took to Instagram Stories to share her enthusiasm, reposting a promotional graphic for the album alongside a caption that said everything it needed to: "Never not inspired by this eternally exceptional artist."

It was a small gesture by social media standards, but coming from Swift, one of the most followed and closely watched figures in the music industry, it amounted to a meaningful public stamp of approval for McCartney's new work. The album, described as deeply nostalgic in tone, marks another chapter in a solo career that McCartney has continued to build well into his eighties, seemingly unbothered by any expectation to slow down.

Swift's endorsement also came at a fitting moment, arriving shortly after McCartney had spoken about her in his own right. Last month, during an appearance on BBC Sounds, McCartney was asked whether he would offer Swift any advice, given that her level of global fame is perhaps the closest thing modern pop has produced to the hysteria that surrounded the Beatles at their peak. McCartney acknowledged the parallel openly. "You do see the parallel, you know the fame and the amount of fame, the worldwide fame that Taylor Swift has and that we had," he said. But he was quick to add, with characteristic humor, "I don't think she needs any advice, to tell you the truth." When pushed on the question, he relented just slightly: "If she asked for it, I definitely would. I'm like the older brother to that generation or more like the grandad, actually."

The back-and-forth reflects a friendship, or at least a warm mutual respect, that has been quietly developing for several years. In 2020, Rolling Stone brought the two together in London for its Musicians on Musicians series, pairing them ahead of a candid conversation about craft, fame, and the particular discipline that long music careers require. Each came to the interview having done their homework: McCartney listened to Swift's Folklore, the stripped-back, introspective album she made during the pandemic, while Swift worked through McCartney III, a solo project on which McCartney handled every creative role himself, writing, producing, and playing all the instruments across every track.

It was that last detail that Swift seized on when they sat down together. "I listened to your new record, and I loved a lot of things about it, but it really did feel like kind of a flex — to write, produce, and play every instrument on every track," she told him. "To me, that's like flexing a muscle and saying, 'I can do all this on my own if I have to.'" McCartney, who has never been much for self-congratulation, pushed back gently. "Well, I don't think like that, I must admit. I just picked up some of these instruments over the years. We had a piano at home that my dad played, so I picked around on that. I wrote the melody to 'When I'm 64' when I was, you know, a teenager."

At 83, McCartney shows little interest in the idea of a legacy lap. Swift, at 36, is in a different phase entirely, mid-career by most measures, though she has already accumulated enough accolades and cultural influence to fill several lifetimes.