Taylor Swift’s talent runs in the family: Meet her grandmother, a successful opera singer

Taylor Swift’s maternal grandmother, Marjorie Finay, was born in 1928. By the 1950s, she’d shot to fame, winning a talent contest and hosting a popular Puerto Rican TV Show. Her legacy lives on in her granddaughter’s music.

Who is Marjorie Finlay?

Marjorie Finlay was a talented opera singer who worked for various symphonies. It was in 1950, when she was just 22 years old, that she won a talent contest which allowed her to tour the ABC radio network for 15 months. She was able to tour through South and Central America, releasing an album in Mexico.

She eventually married Robert Finlay, and the couple had two daughters, including Taylor’s mom, Andrea. They lived all over the world, from Cuba to Puerto Rico to Singapore. Around six decades later, her granddaughter, Taylor Swift, was in Singapore for her Eras Tour, referencing that time in Marjorie’s life.

“My mom actually spent a lot of her childhood with her mom and dad and sister growing up in Singapore,” Taylor announced to the audience at her tour in March 2024.

Swift has honored Marjorie in many ways, most notably through her emotional song titled “Marjorie” on her ninth studio album “Evermore”, which features Marjorie’s actual opera vocals. In the song, Swift reflects on advice from her grandmother and expresses regret and guilt at not having gotten to know her better.

“And I complained the whole way there / The car ride back and up the stairs / I should’ve asked you questions / I should’ve asked you how to be,” Swift sings.

Marjorie also appears in the videos for “Anti-Hero” and “Timeless.” She passed away in 2003, but Taylor keeps her memory alive through music and tribute.

“She was a singer, and my mom will look at me so many times a year and say, ‘God you’re just you’re just like her,’ when I’ll do some mannerism that I don’t recognize as being anyone other than mine.”

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