Photo: Skyler Barberio for iHeartRadio
Taylor Swift has a powerful message for anyone with a passion.
The Life of a Showgirl singer was presented the Artist of the Year win from Olympic gold medalist Alysa Liu at the 2026 iHeartRadio Music Awards on Thursday (March 26).
After Swift gushed over how honored she felt receiving the award from Liu, who brought so many people watching the Olympics "happiness," she explained just how far she has come in her career from where it first began.
"I didn't think I was an artist when I first started doing this, it was a hobby," she said, adding that it quickly became her "favorite hobby" that she rushed back to every day after school at 12 years old, spending "thousands of hours working at my craft, practicing making mistakes through trial and error ... all completely unobserved."
Looking into the crowd of "so many ambitious, cool, smart, awesome people who have dreams," Swift shared her hopes for everyone to "nurture" their own hobbies and offered advice for those hoping to hone their craft.
"If I had one hope for you, I would say that I hope that you can get to nurture your hobby and your passion just between you and that craft, and you give yourself time. Give yourself time to make mistakes, give yourself time to hone your craft," she said, adding, "I'm a firm believer that anything you feed your mind, it will internalize. Anything you feed the internet, it will attempt to kill, and I don't want that for your dreams."
She concluded, "Thank you for allowing me to turn my hobby into a love, into a passion, into a dream, into a career. Thank you for allowing me to have it this long, and I wish you the best with everything you do."
Swift's appearance at the awards also marked the first time she and fiancé Travis Kelce officially stepped out as a couple. Though they didn't walk the red carpet together, they were seen seated together throughout the night, enjoying the show and even singing along with the performances.
Photo: Adriana Casiano for iHeartRadio
Photo: Getty Images
Hosted by Ludacris, the 2026 iHeartRadio Music Awards featured special appearances and stellar performances by artists like Ludacris, Alex Warren, RAYE and Lainey Wilson as well as Kehlani, John Mellencamp and a must-see collaboration with TLC, Salt-N-Pepa and En Vogue, who performed together for the very first time.
Check out the jaw-dropping red carpet fashions and the complete list of winners to see which of your favorite artist took home an award.