Taylor Swift’s sweet tribute to Travis Kelce as she sweeps iHeartRadio Music Awards

Taylor Swift has stolen the show at the 2026 iHeartRadio Music Awards, winning seven prizes from nine nominations in her first public appearance of the year.

The pop juggernaut has been keeping a low profile since releasing her chart-topping The Life of a Showgirl album in October. She was last spotted in February out with her fiance Travis Kelce, to whom she became engaged in August. She did attend Beyoncé’s Oscars after-party last week, but she remained under the radar.

However, Swift was thrust back into the spotlight at the iHeartRadio Awards at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on Friday (AEDT), which she attended alongside Kelce, marking the couple’s awards show debut.

Swift swept the biggest categories of the night, including best album, favourite tour style for the record-breaking Eras Tour, and artist of the year. She also won best pop album, as well as best pop song, best lyrics and best music video, all for her hit track The Fate of Ophelia.

“I love writing songs more than anything in the world,” Swift said while accepting the award for best artist.

“We live in this world where there’s so much immediate feedback constantly … 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.

“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 internalise; anything you feed the internet, it will attempt to kill. I don’t want that for your dreams.”

Earlier, Swift told the crowd that Showgirl was inspired by the positivity she felt from fans on her record-breaking Eras Tour.

“The album came out with this energy of just feeling really happy and strong and confident and free. And so I want to say thank you to the fans for giving me that feeling,” Swift said.

“This album probably also feels very happy and confident and free because that’s the way I get to feel every single day of my life because of my fiance who’s here tonight,” she added as the camera captured Kelce on his feet, beaming widely.

All eyes and ears were on whether the singer would make an announcement of some kind – speculation around wedding dates, pregnancy and album releases swirled online. But Swift kept things simple on Friday, thanking her fans and fiance for the joy that defines her current Showgirl era.

Despite the lack of any announcement, Swifties were still diligently searching for Easter eggs, analysing every detail of the singer’s outfit and acceptance speeches. Some wondered whether her pale green corset top, miniskirt and nude lip (rather than her signature red) hinted at a re-recording of her 2006 debut album, Taylor Swift. Her first album cover was somewhat understated, similar in colour scheme and tone as Swift’s red carpet fit.

In May, Swift regained full ownership of her music. This ended a years-long battle between the singer and former music manager Scooter Braun, who initially owned the masters of her early catalogue through Big Machine Label Group. Before taking back her entire discography, the pop star released re-recorded “Taylor’s versions” of four of her albums – Fearless, Red, Speak Now and 1989, with plans to release two more.

When she regained control of her back catalogue, Variety published a letter from Swift to her fans, in which she assured them the release of the rerecorded albums would still take place.

“Those 2 albums can still have their moments to re-emerge when the time is right, if that would be something you guys would be excited about. But if it happens, it won’t be from a place of sadness and longing for what I wish I could have. It will just be a celebration now,” she wrote.

Other winners included Bruno Mars, who took out song of the summer with I Just Might, while his collaboration with Australian artist Rosé, APT, picked up best collaboration. Pop artist of the year went to Sabrina Carpenter, and Miley Cyrus won the innovator award. Ludacris, who hosted the event, took home the landmark award.

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