--- description: Ryan Adams revealed how deep his admiration for Taylor Swift runs when he compared the 25-year-old singer-songwriter to Shakespeare. title: Ryan Adams Just Compared Taylor Swift to Shakespeare image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd817cd2af8be8fad/698864832dce0110ca9e59d3/479222902.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Ryan Adams Just Compared Covering Taylor Swift to Performing Shakespeare by [Mark Rivett-Carnac](/author/mark-rivett-carnac/) ## Mark Rivett-Carnac Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oct 26, 2015 8:15 AM CUT  Ryan Adams performs at Roskilde Festival on July 2, 2015 in Roskilde, Denmark Ryan Adams performs at Roskilde Festival on July 2, 2015 in Roskilde, DenmarkYuliya Christensen—Redferns via Getty Images by [Mark Rivett-Carnac](/author/mark-rivett-carnac/) ## Mark Rivett-Carnac Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oct 26, 2015 8:15 AM CUT Ryan Adams [revealed](http://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/oct/25/ryan-adams-1989-album-taylor-swift-like-shakespeare-interview "undefined") how deep his admiration for Taylor Swift runs when he compared the 25-year-old singer-songwriter to Shakespeare in a recent interview with the _Guardian_. Adams’ song-for-song cover of Swift’s album _1989_ was released with some controversy and plenty of eye rolling, but that doesn’t seem to matter to the American rock star, who said working on the record was like being an actor “in _Ghostbusters_ or something, and then all of a sudden I have to go do Shakespeare.” And the 40-year-old revealed that the first Swift song he fell in love with was “White Horse.” “The first time I heard it I got chills head to toe,” Adams told the _Guardian_. “I remember feeling shocked by her voice, shocked at how clean that song was. I like stuff that sort of penetrates through my regular consciousness and hits me where I’m not looking. That’s usually stuff that’s a little darker.” Read the rest of the interview at the[_Guardian_](http://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/oct/25/ryan-adams-1989-album-taylor-swift-like-shakespeare-interview "undefined"). ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4086734/ryan-adams-taylor-swift-1989-cover-shakespeare/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4086734/ryan-adams-taylor-swift-1989-cover-shakespeare/"},"headline":"Ryan Adams Just Compared Covering Taylor Swift to Performing Shakespeare","datePublished":"2015-10-26T08:15:36.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T12:04:11.718Z","description":"The 40-year-old American rock star said the first Swift song he fell in love with was “White Horse”","url":"https://time.com/4086734/ryan-adams-taylor-swift-1989-cover-shakespeare/","keywords":["Music","Taylor Swift","Cover","Shakespeare","1989 topic"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd817cd2af8be8fad/698864832dce0110ca9e59d3/479222902.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Mark Rivett-Carnac","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/mark-rivett-carnac/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd817cd2af8be8fad/698864832dce0110ca9e59d3/479222902.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Roskilde Festival 2015 - Day 6","caption":"Roskilde Festival 2015 - Day 6","creditText":"Yuliya Christensen—Redferns via Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4086734/ryan-adams-taylor-swift-1989-cover-shakespeare/","name":"Ryan Adams Just Compared Covering Taylor Swift to Performing Shakespeare"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"The Power of Taylor Swift","description":"One day after Taylor Swift publicly blasted Apple Music for not paying artists during the service’s free, three-month trial period, Apple reversed its position","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/mUgZx3qP/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-06-22T20:13:13.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/mUgZx3qP.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4086734/ryan-adams-taylor-swift-1989-cover-shakespeare/","duration":"PT2M4S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4086734/ryan-adams-taylor-swift-1989-cover-shakespeare/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```