"It was instinctual. No one taught me how to do it," the 36-year-old said of songwriting through a raspy voice on Thursday night that she attributed to screaming along to the night's performances and Wednesday night's historic NBA game between the New York Knicks and the San Antonio Spurs.
She fought back tears as she told the room about her family uprooting their lives to move her to Nashville as a tween.
"I will never be able to express my gratitude," she said while holding back tears - crediting their sacrifice for her career.
She offered young songwriters advice: "You really have to prioritise what you love, down to your very core. Because you'll need that."
At the ceremony in New York, Steven Spielberg introduced Swift with a surprise speech about the power of songwriting.
"There is something undeniable about how songs imprint on our souls," he said, before changing his focus to Swift.
"Somehow Taylor knows us all too well."
Swift, who was joined at the ceremony by her fiance Travis Kelce, her mother Andrea Swift and her future mother-in-law Donna Kelce, started her speech by acknowledging Spielberg.
"Because of examples like Steven's, I trusted my imagination," she said.
The Gen Z singer Sombr launched Swift's segment by performing Cardigan and Dear John in front of her.
Swift has brought new eyes to the 2026 ceremony and undeniably shaped contemporary pop music trends with her songwriting.
Swift is the youngest woman inducted, but Stevie Wonder, who started his recording career at 13, was the youngest ever inducted, it was announced on stage.
Other inductees into the Songwriters Hall of Fame this year included KISS rockers Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley, Alanis Morissette, Christopher "Tricky" Stewart, Walter Afanasieff, Terry Britten, Graham Lyle and Kenny Loggins.
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