In the lead-up to the release of Cowboy Carter, fans theorized that Beyoncé and fellow pop superstar Taylor Swift, who got her start performing country, might pair up for a duet. Ultimately, they didn’t collaborate (although Miley Cyrus and Beyoncé did). But as fans listened to the album, some became convinced that the background vocals on “Bodyguard” sound a lot like Swift.
Beyoncé did not initially release the full credits for each individual song when the album dropped, however, Billboard seemed to have advance access. The outlet reported that “Taylor Swift’s name was nowhere in sight on the credits.” The press release for Cowboy Carter also does not mention Swift.
Billboard’s executive music director, Jason Lipshutz, also shut down the fan theory on X, formerly known as Twitter. He responded to post in which a user asked, “IS TAYLOR DOING THE BACKGROUND VOCALS FOR BODYGUARD OR NOT SOMEONE TELL ME.” Lipshutz simply wrote, “Nope 😕”
Swift and Beyoncé have been openly supportive of each other, with the two singers recently attending the premieres of each other’s concert films.
When Beyoncé was at Swift’s Eras tour film premiere, Swift shared an Instagram with the two of them together. She wrote, “I’m so glad I’ll never know what my life would’ve been like without @beyonce’s influence. The way she’s taught me and every artist out here to break rules and defy industry norms. Her generosity of spirit. Her resilience and versatility. She’s been a guiding light throughout my career and the fact that she showed up tonight was like an actual fairytale. 😇🙏🥹”
Swift also spoke in her Time interview about Beyoncé and how people have compared their tours. “She’s the most precious gem of a person—warm and open and funny,” Swift said. “And she’s such a great disrupter of music-industry norms. She taught every artist how to flip the table and challenge archaic business practices.”
“There were so many stadium tours this summer, but the only ones that were compared were me and Beyoncé,” she added. “Clearly it’s very lucrative for the media and stan culture to pit two women against each other, even when those two artists in question refuse to participate in that discussion.”
