Taylor Swift’s New Album Gives Nods to George Michael, Elizabeth Taylor

Global pop icon Taylor Swift pays tribute to entertainment legends George Michael and Elizabeth Taylor with a bouquet of musical flowers on her new studio album, The Life of a Showgirl, which was released Oct. 3, 2025.

The Grammy-winning artist, whose fan base consists of both young and older Swifties, has a track called “Father Figure,” which shares the title of Michael’s hit single from his 1987 multiplatinum debut solo album, Faith. The latter singer-songwriter died of heart disease in 2016.

Michael’s estate issued a statement thanking Swift for recognizing him, saying its representatives were “delighted” when her team reached out about “incorporating an interpolation of George Michael’s classic song ‘Father Figure’ into a brand-new song of the same title.”

George Michael's ‘Father Figure’ vintage 7'' record cover.

Alamy

“When we heard the track, we had no hesitation in agreeing to this association between two great artists, and we know George would have felt the same,” the statement reads.

On the track “Elizabeth Taylor,” named after the iconic Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? actress, Swift mentions several of Taylor’s prized possessions, including her famous perfume, White Diamonds (“All my white diamonds and lovers are forever”) and the Hôtel Plaza Athénée in Paris (“That view of Portofino was on my mind when you called me at the Plaza Athénée”), a frequent destination for the actress.

Fans will remember that Swift referenced Taylor on her 2017 Reputation album in the song “...Ready For It?” in which she sang that a partner was the “Burton to my Taylor.” The late actress’s son Christopher Wilding, 70, told TMZ in August that Swift is a “rare, positive role model for young girls” and that if the song calls attention to his mother’s work, he is for it.

British-born actress Elizabeth Taylor shows off the 33.19 carat diamond ring given to her by husband Richard Burton.

Express Newspapers/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

Taylor died of congestive heart failure in 2011.

Swift has a history of name-checking historical figures in her musical projects. In 2024’s The Tortured Poets Department, Swift drew inspiration from classic writers like Shakespeare and other musicians, including 77-year-old Fleetwood Mac singer Stevie Nicks.

This summer, Swift shifted from musician to caregiver when her father, Scott Swift, 73, needed quintuple bypass surgery after five blocked arteries were found during a stress test.

Album cover for Taylor Swift's ‘The Life Of A Showgirl.’

Mert Alas & Marcus Piggott

She discussed her caregiving experience on the New Heights podcast, hosted by NFL players (and brothers) Jason Kelce and Swift’s fiancé, Travis Kelce. Swift said her mother, Andrea Swift, 67, and brother, Austin Swift, 33, were by her father’s side after the surgery. 

“My brother, my mom and I were each taking shifts in the ICU and staying with him 24/7,” she said.

Quintuple bypass surgery involves taking blood vessels from another part of the body and transplanting them onto the affected heart vessels to reroute blood flow around the blockages, according to Verywell Health.

The “Shake It Off” singer noted that taking care of her dad felt like a “parent-child reversal in a lot of ways.” She compared him to a teenager, explaining that her brother had said their father was FaceTiming his friends all night and needed his phone taken away so he could get some rest.