On Taylor Swift Playing the 2026 CMA Awards

Of course Taylor Swift will be performing at the 2026 CMA Awards on November 18th. It’s been one of the worst kept secrets in music over the last few months. As soon as the nominations were announced on September 10th and Taylor’s “country” track “I Knew It, I Knew You” was nominated, you pretty much knew she was going to be there. She said herself, “Looks like I haven’t yee’d my last haw. Thank you CMA! See you there Nov 18.”

Yet the confirmation of a Swift performance coming on Friday (11-13) is sweeping music media, as if it’s some big revelation. One thing that’s interesting to note: It’s being announced on Friday the 13th. The last time Taylor Swift played the CMA Awards was in 2013. It’s been 13 years since Taylor Swift played the CMAs. Taylor Swift’s lucky number is 13. So perhaps, this is all about the stars aligning.

Or perhaps it’s about something more.

It’s been hard to ignore that Taylor Swift has been giving off strong omens that she might be returning to country music in a future project. Her last tour called the “Eras Tour” was like a capstone of her career so far, meaning right now would be a good time to start over from the beginning.

The song “I Knew It, I Knew You” was written for the Toy Story 5 soundtrack, and the cowgirl character Jessie. Swift randomly showed up to BOB 94.9 FM out of Harrisburg, Pa. in early September to talk about the song. Harrisburg sits about an hour away from Wyomissing, PA where Taylor Swift grew up on a Christmas Tree farm. The geography might be a clue since Swift loves to drops Easter eggs to keep her fans engaged and guessing about what her intentions or next moves might be.

“I was seeing that she was going through a full-circle moment as a character,” Swift said in the interview. “A lot of reunions of old friends, seeing people that you haven’t seen in a while, and kind of forgiving past heartbreak, or whatever, and kind of healing that within yourself.”

“Full-circle moment” is also what it felt like when Taylor Swift recently concluded a long form interview with Harvey Mason Jr. of The Recording Academy (Grammys) on August 18th. The interview focused mostly on Taylor Swift the songwriter, and centered in-depth discussions of each of her recorded projects, starting in her country era.

Near the end of the discussion Taylor Swift said, “I think this can happen as you grow up. I love my country roots more and more the further long this path I get. The further along this path I get, I want to honor them more and more, and I feel more and more tied and more loyal to them — the people that shaped who I am as an artist and as a writer. That all happened in Nashville.”

Taylor Swift was also recently was in Nashville on October 26th to be inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame.

The fact that Swift even released what she characterizes as a “country” track and actively promoted it to country radio is a change of policy. After officially switching to pop with the album 1989 released in 2014, Swift made a conscious effort not to promote singles to country, even after her label head Scott Borchetta pleaded for her to do so. At the end of her era in country, Swift plopped $4 million on the desk of the Country Music Hall of Fame, moved to New York, and never looked back.

There we a few singles from Swift’s Folklore-era albums that did get sent to country radio and received some traction, but nothing as intentional as “I Knew It, I Knew You.”

What specifically are the prospects of Taylor Swift actually winning CMA Single of the Year for “I Knew It, I Knew You”? Up against Ella Langley’s “Choosin’ Texas,” it feels fair to say it’s slim to none, except that Ella can’t win absolutely everything, it would be a great PR boon for the CMAs for Taylor Swift actually won, and Ella is competing with herself in the category since her song “Be Her” is also nominated. So who knows?

“I Knew It, I Knew You” probably doesn’t deserve to win a CMA. It’s not really a country song, it’s not particularly good, and it only hit #1 because of who sang it, and then like so many Taylor Swift singles, precipitously fell off a cliff, unlike “Choosin’ Texas,” or even Langley’s “Be Her.”

But a win for Taylor Swift here is sort of irrelevant. The big question is, will she be “going country” again? Might she even announce it during the CMA Awards, or launch new music through the moment? Swift loves to use these award shows moments to announce such things, though she could also wait until the Grammys in February.

Either way, Taylor Swift doesn’t get the entourage together and agree to perform anywhere just because of an outside chance she might win a song award. People nominate Swift for stuff all the time, hoping she will show. Being confirmed as a performer only substantiates the idea she’s getting ready for something big, perhaps aligning whatever country bonafides she might have for a return.

And why wouldn’t she? Taylor Swift is a savvy businesswoman. She sees right now that country is the hot commodity.

Of course the big question is if Taylor Swift makes some big country move, will the music actually be any good, and will it actually be country? Swift’s first record or two were barely country to begin with. Her later “country” albums were not country at all, with maybe the song “Mean” being the one exception, and that was meant to answer critics that said she wasn’t country enough.

If “I Knew It, I Knew You” is an indication, country fans should keep any expectations measured, and people who like to keep country sounding country should be guarded. But the worry goes deeper than that. Swift’s return could be disruptive, overshadow the massive resurgence the women of country are having right now, and take momentum away from the “more country” shift in country’s sound at the moment, spearheaded by the renewed interest in neotraditional influences.

Taylor Swift’s appearance and performance at the CMA Awards could overshadow what will be Ella Langley’s big night, especially if Swift makes some big announcement. Swift’s participation also plays into the second controversy brewing over the 2026 CMA Awards beyond Sammy Kershaw’s initial snub to walk the red carpet. There’s lots of chatter right now about how there were no Black or Brown nominees this year for CMAs for the first time since 2017, and no performers so far either. Adding Taylor Swift and still not announcing a performer of color certainly doesn’t help quash that issue.

All that said, retrospective views on Taylor Swift’s songwriting have come back more favorable than they were in the era by some of her staunchest critics. She could help shine a spotlight on country’s resurgence, if she participates in it, and doesn’t undercut it somehow.

Maybe this is all getting way ahead of the game. But Taylor Swift returning to the CMAs for the first time in 13 years definitely doesn’t feel insignificant. In fact, it could be supremely important. Just how though, we’ll all have to wait and see.

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To see the full nominees for the 2026 CMA Awards, CLICK HERE. Make sure to stop by Saving Country Music on Wednesday, November 18th for the Saving Country Music CMA Awards LIVE blog.

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