name game

Taylor Swift Knows the Names of Many Famous People

The 22-year-old country star landed the cover of this month’s Vogue (looking very Kate Moss–ified, it should be noted), and the accompanying profile is a treasure trove of sunny Taylor Swift quotes and unexpected references. Business first: Yes, she’s working on a fourth album and surprise, it will be about heartbreak. She also has some new dating rules (“You can’t be in love with a Google search”). But without question, the highlight of the article are the many random celebrities (and one poor junior high classmate, whose name Vogue decided to print) that Swift name-checks throughout the interview. Karlie Kloss! Kris Kristofferson! A family of otters. The whole article is worth your time, especially if you are interested in Swift’s description of recent fashion collections (On Alexander Wang: “It was very race car–driver slash Tron slash ski slope slash parka-without-being-a-parka”), but Vulture has gone ahead and pulled the relevant name-checks for your convenience.

  • seventh-grade classmate Sarah Jaxheimer (“There’s always that seventh-grade girl who looks like she’s 25. And you’re like, How do you do it? How do you do it, Sarah Jaxheimer?” Unfortunately— or is it fortunately?— for Sarah Jaxheimer, she is very easily googleable, should you feel inclined to scope out the popular girl at Taylor Swift’s middle school.)
  • Kenny Chesney, U2, and Paul McCartney
  • Pink (“‘Need a motocross helmet?’ asks Wang, who has designed one with flowers on it. ‘That’s amazing,’ says Swift. ‘You should send one to Pink. She would love that.’”)
  • a dolphin
  • a family of otters
  • Karlie Kloss (“I love Karlie Kloss! I want to bake cookies with her.”)
  • Katy Perry
  • Jada Pinkett-Smith (“They walk over to a rack, and Altuzarra picks out a very sexy black dress. ‘That is soooo Jada Pinkett Smith.’”)
  • Samantha Spade, of Without a Trace
  • Caroline, Ethel, and Bobby Kennedy
  • Kris Kristofferson (“When I ask whose career she would most like to emulate, she places herself squarely in baby-boomer territory, identifying in some ways more with her parents than with her peers: ‘I look back and I think about Kris Kristofferson,’ [Swift] says without missing a beat.”)
  • James Taylor

Taylor Swift Knows the Names of Many Famous People