Taylor Swift’s new album, The Life of a Showgirl, is already turning heads with it captivating collection of songs.
The Lover crooner, who is renowned for her knack for storytelling and turning personal experiences into songs, has once again released an album brimming with drama, glamour, and heartfelt emotion.
As devoted fans analyze every lyric, melody, and hidden nod, theories are swirling about which real-life stars may have influenced the tracks.
Meanwhile, during her appearance on New Heights, Swift explained that The Life of a Showgirl was written during her Eras Tour, and that the theme of the album is "everything that was going on behind the curtain."
Here's everything to know about the inspiration (both speculated and confirmed) behind each track of The Life of a Showgirl.
5 celebrity connections fans believe inspired Taylor Swift album 'The Life of a Showgirl'
Travis Kelce
The album opens with The Fate of Ophelia, a love song referencing her romance with Kelce.
Swift confirmed on a radio show that the lyric “Keep it 100” nods to their favorite numbers, 13 and 87. In the bridge, she sings, “No longer drowning and deceived / All because you came for me,” closing the track with, “You saved my heart from the fate of Ophelia.”
In her songs like Wood, Opalite, Wi$h Li$t and Eldest Daughter, she also gave nods to her fiancé, whom she engaged on August 26, 2025.
Elizabeth Taylor
In her second song, Elizabeth Taylor, Swift nods to the late Hollywood icon whose life and loves often made headlines.
The Blank Space singer seems to ask the actress for guidance on finding true love: “Elizabeth Taylor / Do you think it's forever? / Tell me for real / Do you think it's forever?”
She also references Easter eggs like “That view of Portofino was on my mind,” alluding to where Burton proposed to Swift in 1964.
George Michael
In Track 4, Father Figure, Swift pays tribute to George Michael while adding a fresh perspective.
With lyrics like “I was your father figure / You pulled the wrong trigger / This empire belongs to me.”
While the song’s inspiration remains unconfirmed, fans believe it may be about Scott Borchetta, who sold her early albums to Scooter Braun.
Blake Lively
When the track list was announced, fans speculated that Ruin the Friendship was about Blake Lively and the Justin Baldoni lawsuit.
In reality, it’s an emotional ballad about unrequited love and regret, inspired by Swift’s late high school friend Jeffrey Lang, who died at 21 in 2010.
She sings, “It was not an invitation / But should have kissed you anyway… My advice is to always ruin the friendship / Better that than regret it for all time.”
Charli XCX
Actually Romantic, is widely believed to be a diss aimed at Charli XCX, who has a song titled Everything Is Romantic. Swift sings about a songwriter calling her a “boring Barbie” and high-fiving her ex.
Fans link the lyrics to Charli’s friendship with The 1975’s Matty Healy, whom Swift previously dated, and to Charli’s song Sympathy Is a Knife, thought to reference their rumored feud.
