Inside Taylor Swift's 'collaboration' with George Michael on new song 'Father Figure'

2 October 2025, 22:00

Taylor Swift has reportedly covered George Michael's song 'Father Figure'. Picture: Getty

By Hope Wilson

Taylor Swift's new album 'The Life of a Showgirl' will feature a song titled 'Father Figure' which is rumoured to be a cover of the 1987 George Michael hit.

Loading audio...

Taylor Swift has revealed the tracklist for her 12th album 'The Life of Showgirl' which sees her seemingly collaborated with the late George Michael on one of her songs.

The 'False God' singer surprised fans on Wednesday August 13 when she appeared on the New Heights podcast with her boyfriend Travis Kelce and Jason Kelce to announce her upcoming record which will be released on October 3.

Featuring songs such as 'Eldest Daughter', 'Ruin The Friendship' and 'Wi$h Li$t', fans also noticed that Taylor has included a tune titled 'Father Figure' on the album, which is reportedly a cover of the George Michael 1987 classic track.

Listen to Heart on Global Player, the official Heart app

Taylor's song 'Father Figure' is said to be produced by her long-time collaborator Max Martin who previously worked with her on tracks such as '22', 'I Knew You Were Trouble' and 'We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together'.

Taylor Swift has a new song titled 'Father Figure'. Picture: Getty

However this isn't the first time Taylor has covered one of George Michael's songs as the superstar singer released her own version of 'Last Christmas' by Wham in 2008.

It also appears that George and Taylor have seen similar parallels in their music careers, with George taking on Sony for his restrictive contract, whilst the 'Shake It Off' songstress fought for ownership of her music after her former manager Scooter Braun bought her old record label Big Machine.

Now it appears that Taylor's admiration has endured as she's taken on one of George's most famous hits.

Read more: Taylor Swift's heartfelt speech at Selena Gomez's wedding revealed
Read more: Taylor Swift's engagement ring cost, design details and hidden meaning
Read more: Taylor Swift's albums ranked ahead of 'The Life of a Showgirl' release

George Michael released his song 'Father Figure' in 1987. Picture: Getty

During an interview with ET, the late star explained his inspiration behind the song, stating: "'Father Figure' is just a very, without going into too much detail, it’s just a very specific experience that I wrote about a specific relationship with one person.

"I think there’s a definite pattern in people’s lives where they move away from their parents, then they spend time on their own and then they look for that replacement."

The release of Taylor's version of 'Father Figure' is rather timely as the original song has had a recent resurgence on TikTok, with the tune becoming a trend on the social media app.

George Michael's song 'Father Figure' was inspired by his own experience. Picture: Getty

Taylor has also previously spoken about her love for the 1980s and how that era has influenced her career.

Speaking to Etalk about making her album '1989', the star revealed: "They were taking a lot of risks back then and synth-pop became popular and I think just in culture in general, people were taking a lot of risks.

"I was very inspired by that time period. Looking back on it in music history, it was a bright spot, I think."

She also told Rolling Stone: "What you saw happening with music was also happening in our culture, where people were just wearing whatever crazy colors they wanted to, because why not? There just seemed to be this energy about endless opportunities, endless possibilities, endless ways you could live your life."