Taylor Swift Shares Inspiration Behind “Luxurious” Life of a Showgirl Album
Swifties knew they were in trouble when Max Martin and Shellback walked in as producers on The Life of a Showgirl.
The Swedish musicians teamed up with Taylor Swift as the sole collaborators on her new album, out Oct. 3—but it wasn’t their first time working with the superstar.
Indeed, Martin and Shellback are behind some of her most famous radio hits, including “Shake It Off,” “Blank Space,” “I Knew You Were Trouble” and “22.”
And that’s exactly why fans are expecting The Life of a Showgirl to be mind-blowing. Even Swift’s fiancé Travis Kelce described the 12 new tracks as true “bangers” during her August appearance on his New Heights podcast.
“We’ve never actually made an album before where it’s just the three of us,” Swift said on the episode. “It felt like catching lightning in a bottle, honestly.”
So, who exactly are the musical masterminds known as Max Martin and Shellback? We’re filling all the blank spaces about the team that helped Swift make what she called The Life of a Showgirl’s “infectious anthems.”
Who are Max Martin and Shellback?
Martin and Shellback are Swedish record producers and songwriters who have worked with many of the top global artists of the century. Shellback, 40, has four Grammy Awards under his belt, while Martin, 54, has won five. The pair was even nominated for an Oscar in 2016 for creating “Can’t Stop the Feeling!” with Justin Timberlake for the Trolls movie.
Last year, Martin—whose work inspired the 2019 jukebox musical & Juliet—broke the record for most No. 1s on the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart in history for a music producer.
But despite all their successes in showbiz, Martin doesn’t think he’s very business-minded.
“The minute you start thinking like that, is the minute the songs suffer,” he told PopJustice in 2009. “I try to make the songs as good as I can—the way I like it, you know? And I guess my taste sometimes happens to be what other people, particularly radio programmers, like too.”
“It’s music, it’s supposed to be fun and inspirational,” Martin added. “You have to be inspired. If I did it because it was my ‘job,’ and I only did it to make money, I don’t think I’d still be doing it.”
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What are Max Martin and Shellback’s real names?
Martin was born Karl Martin Sandberg in 1971, getting his start with the metal band It’s Alive as a teenager in the ’80s. He dropped out of high school to pursue music and eventually signed with the label Cheiron Records, founded by Swedish DJ Denniz PoP, who gave him the stage name Max Martin, according to the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
As for Shellback, his real name is Karl Johan Schuster. Born in Sweden in 1985, he originally pursued his interest in music as a rock drummer before meeting Martin in the early 2000s when he was 16 years old.
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How are Max Martin and Shellback involved in Taylor Swift’s album The Life of a Showgirl?
Martin and Shellback are Swift’s only collaborators on The Life of a Showgirl, helping her write and produce her 12th album.
“When I was on tour in Stockholm, I had Max Martin come out to the show and I was talking to him and I was like, ‘I just feel like we could knock it out of the park if we just went back in,'” she explained on New Heights of making her pitch last spring. “I essentially said I want to be as proud of an album as I am of the Eras Tour and he was like, ‘Do you understand how much pressure that is?'”
So, Swift would perform three shows in a row and then fly to Sweden for her three days off to work on the album.
“This album is about what was going on behind the scenes in my inner life during this tour, which was so exuberant and electric and vibrant,” she explained. “My main goals were melodies that were so infectious that you’re almost angry at it. And lyrics that are just as vivid but crisp and focused and completely intentional. I feel like we actually came together in a really beautiful way.”
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What songs have Max Martin and Shellback made with Taylor Swift previously?
The trio have been working together for over a decade, beginning with 2012’s Red when they penned the songs “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together,” “I Knew You Were Trouble” and “22.”
And when Swift officially entered the pop genre in 2014 with 1989, they were behind her biggest hits “Blank Space,” “Style,” “Shake It Off,” “Bad Blood” and “Wildest Dreams,” as well as “All You Had to Do Was Stay,” “How You Get the Girl,” “Wonderland” and “New Romantics.”
Their musical love affair continued for her next album Reputation in 2017, teaming for “End Game,” “I Did Something Bad,” “Don’t Blame Me,” “Delicate,” “So It Goes…,” “King of My Heart” and “Dancing with Our Hands Tied.”
However, Swift then went on to primarily collaborate with Jack Antonoff and Aaron Dessner for her albums folklore (2020), evermore (2020), Midnights (2022) and The Tortured Poets Department (2024), making Showgirl a return to her roots in some ways.
Mert Alas & Marcus Piggot
What has Taylor Swift said about working with Max Martin and Shellback?
The “Anti-Hero” singer has been effusive with her admiration for the artists.
“How does Max Martin think of those melodies that get stuck in your head?!” she asked Billboard at the 2012 iHeartRadio Music Festival. “To get to see it happen, it’s so much fun as a writer.”
And after their sick beats on 1989 earned her three Grammy wins in 2016, Swift made sure to share the credit.
“Mostly, I want thank my co-executive producer Max Martin,” she said on stage, “who has deserved to be up here for 25 years.”
Earlier this year, Swift described Martin as her “mentor” while admitting that their tracks with Shellback have been “some of my favorite songs that I’ve ever done before.” And when they reunited for The Life of a Showgirl, said the 35-year-old, it felt like “catching lightning in a bottle.”
“It felt like all three of us in the room were carrying the same weight as creators. It was really special,” she said on New Heights. “It meant the world to me to have this creative experience where we knew we had to bring the best ideas we’ve ever had. I also know the pressure I’m putting on this record by saying that, but I don’t care because I love it that much.”
Still, even she has to admit their process can be a little strange. During the 1989 era, Swift gave a behind-the-scenes look at the trio singing background vocals and stomping their feet on a slab of wood to create a beat.
As she quipped, “It might not be what you expect us to look like in the studio.”
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Who else have Max Martin and Shellback collaborated with in the music industry?
Odds are extremely high you’ve listened to many of their songs before, as the duo has worked with Britney Spears, Kesha, Usher, One Direction, Ed Sheeran, Adam Lambert and more hitmakers.
Martin has already released 27 Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 hit songs, starting with Spears’ “…Baby One More Time” in 1998. He went on to make magic with *NSYNC’s “It’s Gonna Be Me” and “My Life Would Suck Without You” by Kelly Clarkson, plus many of Katy Perry‘s early bangers including “I Kissed a Girl,” “Teenage Dream,” “California Gurls,” “Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.),” “Roar” and “Dark Horse.”
More recently, Martin filled his schedule with The Weeknd, dropping “Can’t Feel My Face,” “Blinding Lights” and “Save Your Tears” between 2015 and 2021.
As for Shellback, he worked on Maroon 5‘s “Payphone,” “Animals” and “Moves Like Jagger” alongside Selena Gomez‘s husband Benny Blanco, as well as “Problem” by Ariana Grande and Iggy Azalea and “Want U Back” by Cher Lloyd.
Together, the pair joined forces for P!nk‘s “Raise Your Glass,” “So What” and “F–kin’ Perfect,” as well as “Send My Love (To Your New Lover)” by Adele.
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Are Max Martin and Shellback married, dating or single?
Martin is reportedly married to Jenny Petersson, though they are very private. She has only attended a few major red carpet events with him, including his Songwriters Hall of Fame induction gala in 2017, the opening night of his Broadway show & Juliet in 2022 and the 2023 Tony Awards, where the production was nominated for Best Musical.
Shellback also maintains a private personal life, not confirming his relationship status. And while his Instagram is set to private, Katy Perry, Justin Timberlake, Adam Levine, Harry Styles and Charlie Puth are among his 1,100 followers.
As showtime approaches for The Life of a Showgirl, read on for everything Swift revealed during her New Heights appearance.
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What Happened to Travis Kelce’s Friendship Bracelet for Taylor Swift
As the couple’s love story goes, Travis Kelce landed on the Taylor Swift‘s radar when he shared his frustrations in failing to give her a friendship bracelet with his number on it at Eras Tour’s Arrowhead Stadium stop on a July 2023 New Heights podcast episode.
Well, according to Taylor, Travis “didn’t even reach out” to her management to set up a possible meeting in the first place.
“He thought because he knows the elevator lady, that he could just talk to her about getting down to my dressing room,” she quipped in an August 2025 New Heights episode. “He really was just like, ‘I know a guy. I can figure this out.'”
As for the friendship bracelet, Taylor said she’s still “never seen the original.”
Travis added, “They didn’t leave the stadium because I was butt hurt.”
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Why Travis Kelce Wanted to Date Taylor Swift
Travis detailed the exact moment he knew he wanted to date Taylor, telling her on his podcast, “If I would have never gone to that show and been mesmerized and just been captivated, and then left with such a desire to want to meet you, I would have never went on here and told everybody how butt hurt I was.”
Explaining how he was “so engulfed in the curiosity” of Taylor, the athlete continued, “You see how crazy you can get an entire stadium going, And then I get you in a room and it’s like I’ve known you forever.”
It was a sentiment shared by Taylor, who responded, “I felt the same exact way about you.”
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Did Coach Andy Reid Set Up Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce?
“Whatever Andy Reid says, we’re gonna stand by,” Taylor responded. “That’s what happened.”
She revealed that her dad Scott Swift has been longtime friends with the Kansas City Chiefs coach, so Andy has been coming to her concerts for years.
Noting that her dad “is the most social man who’s ever been born,” Taylor explained that she’s “always had a really positive vibe” when interacting with Andy.
“I didn’t really know what the sports were that he was doing but I knew that that was my dad’s friend Andy Reid,” she added. “I now know that he is the most iconic, legendary coach of all time.”
Ultimately, Andy “vouched” for Travis—and a lot of Taylor’s family and friends also put in a good word after he decided to shoot his shot on New Heights.
“My cousins were like, ‘Please please please, he’s amazing,'” Taylor recalled. “There was a lot of people whispering in my ear about you and that’s not normal. There are people just willing to go to bat for you.”
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What Taylor Swift Told Travis Kelce on Their First Date
The Grammy winner admittedly fumbled on asking the Kansas City Chiefs tight end a football question during their first date.
“I legitimately asked him what it was like when the Chiefs played the Eagles in the Super Bowl and he looked across the field,” Taylor recalled, “and saw his brother standing five feet away.”
Two years later, Taylor realized it was an “insane question” to ask since the brothers were never on the field at the same time due to their positions. Still, she said Travis patiently explained the game, leading her to develop a passion for the sport.
“He was like, ‘Actually, I’m on the offense and my brother is on the offense. I’m only on the field the same time as the defense,'” she recounted. “I thought everyone was on there at the same time.”
Mert Alas & Marcus Piggot
The Life of a Showgirl: Meaning and Inspiration Explained
While announcing her 12th album would arrive Oct. 3, 2025, Taylor said that she selected just 12 songs for The Life of a Showgirl to keep “the bar really high” and make the record “just right” with a holistic theme (so no, there won’t be more songs coming).
The inspiration was about going “behind the curtain” of the Eras Tour.
“This album was about what was going on behind the scenes in my inner life during this tour,” Taylor said, “which was so exuberant and electric and vibrant.”
She continued, “It just comes from the most infectiously joyful, wild, dramatic place I was in in my life, so that effervescence has come through on this record.”
On her days off from the tour, Taylor worked with hitmakers Max Martin and Shellback in Sweden to create these “infectious anthems,” including the titular track with Eras Tour opener Sabrina Carpenter.
In addition to “The Life of a Showgirl,” the tracks will be “The Fate of Ophelia,” “Elizabeth Taylor,” “Opalite,” “Father Figure,” “Eldest Daughter,” “Ruin the Friendship,” “Actually Romantic,” “Wi$h Li$t,” “Wood,” “Cancelled!” and “Honey.”
(Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images)
Travis Kelce Has Already Heard All the Songs
The football player praised her 12 tracks as “bangers,” confirming he’s heard every song. Meanwhile, Jason hasn’t listened to any but joked he wants to get his hands on the album before the Oct. 3 release date.
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Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s Green Flags for Each Other
“A huge green flag,” Taylor noted, “is that Travis has had the same friends since he was probably 4 years old. And he’s incredibly good at maintaining friendships and he’s so loyal and his friends are equally loyal.”
And after bonding with his pals in the NFL box at Arrowhead Stadium, she added, “They’re the funniest most hilarious group of people.”
And Taylor’s game day behavior impressed Travis, too.
“You wanna talk about green flags?” he quipped. “The first game she went to, the Bears game, she literally went through the front door of the stadium, though general admission.”
That move immediately convinced him she was down to become part of Chiefs Kingdom: “I was just like, ‘Oh, she’s just in it. She’s down for the ride. She’s here for the fun.’”
Instagram/Travis Kelce
How Travis Kelce Taught Taylor Swift Football
Another thing Taylor appreciates about her NFL star boyfriend? The fact that he didn’t judge her for her lack of football knowledge.
“You’re so nonjudgemental about people and you weren’t judgmental about the fact I knew nothing about the world you were in,” she told Travis. “I didn’t know what a first down was. I didn’t know what a tight end was.”
And while Travis responded, “I am forever thankful for you diving into the football world whole-heartedly,” Taylor noted she did more than dive in.
“I became obsessed with it,” she said. “My friends were like, ‘Who body snatched you?'”
New Heights
Jason Kelce Got Emotional Over Their Love Story
Travis’ brother and cohost Jason Kelce started tearing up when Taylor described Travis as a “human exclamation point,” gushing that his vibe is like “when you take a picture on your phone and you push the enhance color button.”
That’s what you do to everyone’s life,” Taylor explained, while Jason smiled and appeared emotional. “I use so many more exclamation points now.”
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Taylor Swift’s “Granny S–t” Hobbies
“I’d say all my hobbies could be categorized as hobbies you could have had in the 1700s,” Taylor quipped. “I like to sew—I specialize in children’s purses and baby blankets. I love to paint. I love to cook.”
In fact, she admitted that she has a “different baking obsession every six months,” with sourdough being the one that’s “taken up my life” during the episode’s recording.
“I’m always baking bread and texting my friends like, ‘Can I send you some bread?,'” Taylor added. “I’m on sourdough blogs. There’s a whole community of us, and I didn’t know it.”
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Inside Taylor Swift’s Bond With Jason Kelce’s Daughters
Speaking about her love of baking, the “Blank Space” singer shared she’s been working on creating a new variety of sourdough bread for Jason and wife Kylie Kelce‘s young daughters Wyatt, Elliotte, Bennett and Finnley.
“There’s one I’ve been workshopping for the girls because they love everything rainbow: Funfetti sourdough,” she revealed. “Because they love sprinkles. We put sprinkles in everything when we hang out.”
Instagram/Taylor Swift
Taylor Swift’s Cats Have Met the Kelces
Bread aside, Taylor also bonded with Jason’s girls through her cats Meredith Grey, Olivia Benson and Benajmin Button.
“It was actually really a great challenge, because as soon as I got the kids around the cats, it was my goal to prove to them that they weren’t poisonous,” she shared. “And there’s no better way to prove that than to just hand them Benjamin, my rag-doll cat, who lets humans hold him like he’s a baby.”
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How Taylor Swift’s Family Helped Her Buy Masters
Taylor bought the master recordings of her first six albums—Taylor Swift, Fearless, Speak Now, Red, 1989 and Reputation—in May 2025 after a years-long battle to obtain them.
Before striking the deal with Shamrock Capital, the “Bad Blood” artist had her mom Andrea Swift and brother Austin Swift handle the negotiations “rather than send lawyers or management.”
“I’m in the business of human emotion, so I would so much rather lead heart-first in something like this,” she tearfully explained, “because to me this isn’t something like, ‘I want to own this asset because of its return.’ I want it because these are my handwritten diary entries from my whole life.”
So, Taylor said her family told Shamrock “all the times we’ve tried to buy it, all the times it’s fallen through, all the times we had gotten plans together and figured out something we thought was gonna work and then it didn’t at the last minute.”
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How Taylor Swift Plans Her Easter Eggs
“There’s dos and don’ts,” she noted. “I’m never going to plant an Easter egg that ties back to my personal life. It’s always going to be towards music, something I have coming up.”
And while she jokingly admitted that the practice has become “a little Zodiac killer,” Taylor said she’ll keep dropping clue as long as fans enjoy them.
“I want Easter eggs to be a certain thing where if you are a part of the fandom and you want to experience music in a normal way, then then you don’t even see these,” she said. “If you know, you know.”
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The Inspiration Behind Travis Kelce’s Eras Tour Performance
According to Taylor, the idea of having Travis join her on stage all started out as a “bit.”
“It was a ‘wouldn’t it be funny if’ kind of thing,” she explained. “But when when we were talking about it, I saw that little twinkle in [his] eye.'”
But for Travis, it was anything but a joke. As he noted, “I was serious in a terrifying fashion.”
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When Did Taylor Swift Record The Life of a Showgirl Album?
The “Cruel Summer” hitmaker recorded her 12th studio album with producers Max Martin and Shellback during the European leg of her Eras Tour. According to Taylor, she would fly to Sweden to record whenever there was a multi-day break in between shows.
“This album was about what was going on behind the scenes in my inner life during this tour,” she explained, “which was so exuberant and electric and vibrant.”
That’s why Taylor said the album is filled with “bangers.”
“It just comes from the most infectiously joyful, wild, dramatic place I was in in my life,” she added, “so that effervescence has come through on this record.”
Mert Alas & Marcus Piggot
The Meaning Behind The Life of a Showgirl Album Cover
She explained that the cover art—taken by Mert Alas and Marcus Piggot, who also worked on her reputation photoshoot—represented her mood after getting into the bath at the end of the night after performing on the Eras Tour.
“When all this has gone down, you won’t be able to get to bed until 4 in the morning,” Taylor reflected, “but you had to jump through 50 million hoops in this obstacle course that is your show. And you did it. You got two more in a row, but you did it tonight.”
The superstar wanted a pic of her “behind the scenes” instead of in showgirl mode, because “this album isn’t really about what happened to me onstage. It’s about what I was going through offstage… This, to me, tells more of what the actual contents lyrically of the album are.”
Mert Alas & Marcus Piggot
Why Is the Life of a Showgirl Era Orange?
Though the cover art is minty green with a depiction of Taylor in a pool, she said the Life of a Showgirl era is orange to capture its sunny mood.
“It feels like energetically how my life has felt,” she mused. “And this album is about what was going on behind the scenes in my inner life during this tour, which was so exuberant and electric and vibrant.”
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How Taylor Swift Handles Rumors & Criticism Around Travis Kelce Romance
“We don’t,” she bluntly put it. “Anything you feed your brain, it will internalize. Anything you feed the internet, it will kill. I’ve been in the music industry for 20 years. It’s pretty hard to hurt my feelings at this point.”
In fact, Taylor quipped, “Something can be about me, my name can be in the actual headline, and it can still be none of my business.”
Explaining that she’s been about to “mediate a really healthy relationship with not seeing a whole lot” on social media, the singer added, “I do detach from the internet in a huge way.”
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Taylor Swift Moved in With Dad Scott Swift After His Quintuple Bypass Surgery
Taylor said she spent her summer 2025 with her dad following his quintuple bypass surgery, sharing he was the “loveliest patient ever” and has been doing “incredibly well” since the procedure.
“He was the funniest he’s ever been—and he’s usually really funny,” she shared of his post-op behavior. “He didn’t know how many blockages he had and I was like, ‘Dad, you had a quintuple bypass. You had five. That’s crazy. It’s more than we thought.’ And he’s like, ‘Well, you see, I come from a very competitive family.’”
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Taylor Swift’s Mom Andrea Swift Also Underwent Surgery
Andrea has also been “doing great” after getting a new knee this summer, according to Taylor.
“They’re two of my best friends and I just adore them,” the Miss Americana star explained of her parents. “It was actually one of the most special things that’s ever happened to me, spending all that time with them this summer. You have those long talks that you don’t have when it’s a small, concentrated period of time.”
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No, Taylor Swift Was Not the Bear in Happy Gilmore 2
“I can deny!” she said of the rumor that she played a costumed bear in the 2025 Adam Sandler comedy, which also costarred Travis. “I’m honored to be thought of in that context, because I loved that movie so much.”
Taylor added, “Whoever did the bear’s acting was exquisite.”
(Photo by David Eulitt/Getty Images)
How Travis’ Mom Donna Kelce Played a Role in Her Favorite “Welcome to the NFL” Moment
Her favorite moment from watching the guy on the Chiefs actually involved his mom Donna Kelce.
“We’re in the suite, [Travis] had just won the AFC Championship,” Taylor recalled. “We’re freaking out, everybody’s screaming. And his mom goes, ‘Alright, let’s go down to the field.’ And I was like, ‘What? What do you mean?'”
Noting that she and Travis hadn’t discussed her joining him on the field beforehand, Taylor said she worried that Travis was going to be like, “What are you doing here, dude?”
“[Donna] was like, ‘Trust me he wants you there,'” she remembered. “And I was like, ‘OK, well, she would know.'”
In the end, Taylor’s glad she took Donna’s advice and got to have the “magical” experience with Travis—even if she’d “never seen this many cameras.”
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