Taylor Swift, Oprah, Reese Witherspoon: Who are the biggest celebrities tied to Nashville?

It's pretty safe to say that everyone knows Oprah Winfrey. The billionaire TV talk show host, producer, author and philanthropist visited Nashville in May to give the keynote address during graduation at Tennessee State University.

But not everyone knows Winfrey lived in Nashville in the late 1960's. The aforementioned TSU is, in fact, her alma mater. She graduated in 1986.

Winfrey isn't alone when it comes to celebrities with ties to Music City. Here are several others.

Taylor Swift

It's safe to say that Nashville claims Taylor Swift as one of its own. The singer-songwriter was born Dec. 13, 1989 in Pennsylvania, but her parents sold their family farm when Taylor was 13 and moved to Hendersonville in nearby Sumner County, so she could pursue a career in music.

The young Swift attended two years of public school at Hendersonville High School before switching to a private school that offered homeschooling. She signed her first music deal in 2004, and her debut album, Taylor Swift, was released two years later. It was certified seven times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America.

Swift was the top Tennessee businesswoman featured this year in Forbes' list of America's Richest Self-Made Women, coming in at No. 34 with a net worth of $740 million. Dolly Parton was 59th and Franklin resident Cordia Harrington was 99th.

Her three-day Eras tour in May set attendance records at Nissan Stadium every night, ending with 71,000 fans watching the final show. Swift announced last week that a filmed version of the Eras tour would be hitting theaters across North America in October.

Swift has two homes in Nashville as well as several other properties in the U.S.

Reese Witherspoon

Reese Witherspoon may have been born in New Orleans, Louisiana, but she didn't stay there long. The Academy Award-winning actress and producer, born March 22, 1976, grew up in Nashville, attending the prominent, Green Hills-based, all girls private school Harpeth Hall, where she graduated in the Class of 1994.

Witherspoon landed the lead role in her first feature film, "The Man in the Moon," in 1991, at the age of 14. Her breakout role came in 2001's "Legally Blonde." Witherspoon starred as Elle Woods, a sorority-girl-turned-Harvard-law-student. She would go on to star in and produce the film's sequel two years later.

Witherspoon won an Academy Award for her portrayal of June Carter opposite Joaquin Phoenix as Johnny Cash in 2005's "Walk the Line." She was nominated for another Academy Award for her performance in 2014's "Wild."

In 2017, Witherspoon starred in an ensemble cast that included Nicole Kidman, Shailene Woodley, Alexander Skarsgard and Laura Dern on HBO's "Big Little Lies." The series returned for a second season in 2019 with Hollywood icon Meryl Streep joining the cast. Witherspoon was also a producer on the show.

In 2022, Witherspoon and her now ex-husband, agent Jim Toth, signed on as minority owners in the Nashville Soccer Club. She lives in a Nashville mansion, worth an estimated $18 million, with her three children.

Jelly Roll

While a lot of musicians and country music artists move to Music City to pursue their dreams, Jason Bradley DeFord, professionally known as Jelly Roll, was actually born here on Dec. 4, 1984.

The singer was raised in Antioch, writing his first rap in elementary school. The 36-year-old multi-genre singer and songwriter had a rough start in life. He turned to music, self-releasing albums and sharing his music online, after being incarcerated 40 times.

Earlier this year, a documentary featuring Jelly Roll, titled, "Save Me," debuted via the streaming platform Hulu. The film details the artist's struggles, chronicling his life as a street hustler who quit school in the 9th grade and watched his mother succumb to a drug addiction. But it also showcases his rise to fame.

“Son Of A Sinner” was Jelly Roll's first song to land on the Billboard Hot 100, with “Need A Favor” and “Save Me” joining the Hot 100 later on.

Annie Potts

Actress Annie Potts was born in Nashville on Oct. 28, 1952 and moved with her family to Kentucky shortly thereafter. She made her film debut in 1978's Corvette Summer, appearing alongside Mark Hammill.

Potts is better known for her roles in several popular 1980's films, including Ghostbusters, Ghostbusters 2 and Pretty in Pink. She also appeared briefly in 2021's Ghostbusters Afterlife and voiced Bo Peep in Toy Story, Toy Story 2 and Toy Story 4.

Some fans may know her from television. She spent seven years as one of the stars on Designing Women, and in 2017, she was cast as Meemaw on Young Sheldon.

Bill Belichick

William Stephen Belichick, born April 16, 1952 in Nashville, completed his 48th season as an NFL coach in 2022 and is in his 24th season as head coach of the New England Patriots. He's the only head coach in NFL history to win six Super Bowls, in 2002, 2004, 2005, 2015, 2017, and 2019.

A 1975 graduate of Wesleyan University, Belichick held positions with the Baltimore Colts, Detroit Lions, Denver Broncos, New York Giants, Cleveland Browns and New York Jets before he was named head coach of the Patriots shortly after the 1999 season ended.

He shares a home in Nashville with his long-time girlfriend Linda Holliday. She serves as president of the Bill Belichick Foundation, which was established in 2013 to provide coaching, mentorship and financial support to individuals, communities and organizations, according to its website.

Lily Aldridge and Caleb Followill

Model Lily Aldridge is likely best known for being a Victoria's Secret Angel from 2010-2018. She also appeared on the 50th anniversary cover of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue in 2014 alongside Chrissy Teigen.

During her downtime between modeling gigs, Aldridge, 37, can be found at her family’s 1930's Tudor revival home in Nashville alongside her husband, Kings of Leon front man Caleb Followill, and their two children, Dixie Pearl, 10, and Winston Roy, 4.

The couple met at the Bonnaroo Music Festival in 2007 and married in 2011. She's originally from California but moved to Nashville for Followill, who was born Jan. 14, 1982 in neighboring Mt. Juliet.

Kings of Leon formed in Nashville in 1999 and is best known for 2008's "Sex on Fire." The band is comprised of Followill, his brothers Nathan and Jared Followill and their cousin Matthew Followill.

Carla Hall

Born May 12, 1964 in Nashville, Carla Hall says she grew up immersed in southern soul food.

She's worked as a model, a trained chef in several professional restaurant kitchens and a television personality, appearing on "Top Chef, The Chew," and Food Network's “Thanksgiving, Holiday and Halloween Baking Championships.”

She's also the author of four books, one of which draws on her childhood memories from Nashville.

Mike Wolfe

One year after the television series American Pickers debuted in 2010, the show’s creator and star, Mike Wolfe, 59, moved from Iowa to Leiper's Fork.

The show follows Wolfe and co-host Frank Fritz as they dig and pick through junk across the country, “making a living telling the history of America, one piece at a time.”

Wolfe opened Antique Archeology, a renovated 1900's automobile factory, in North Nashville's Marathon Village not long after he settled in Music City.

Oprah Winfrey

Oprah Winfrey got her start in Nashville, but she was born poor in rural Mississippi on Jan. 29, 1954 and later moved to Milwaukee before making her way to Music City at age 12.

Winfrey attended East Nashville High School and Tennessee State University, where she studied speech communications and performing arts.

At 19, Winfrey became the first female African American news anchor at WLAC-TV in Nashville. She is best known for hosting the popular Oprah Winfrey Show from Chicago. It aired for 25 seasons, from 1986 to 2011.

Winfrey has been twice-nominated for Academy Awards. She was first nominated for her portrayal of Sofia in Steven Spielberg’s 1985 adaptation of Alice Walker’s novel "The Color Purple." In 2014, she was nominated as part of a group in a best picture nod for the film "Selma," which she produced.

Other notables

Running into a celebrity while out and about in Music City happens frequently, and most locals are very low-key about it. Many entertainers call Nashville and Middle Tennessee home, including power couples Keith Urban and Nicole Kidman, Tim McGraw and Faith Hill, Vince Gill and Amy Grant and Mike Fisher and Carrie Underwood.

Legends Dolly Parton and Reba McEntire also live in the Nashville area.

Nicole Young can be reached at nyoung@tennessean.com. Katie Nixon can be reached at knixon@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Taylor Swift, Oprah: Which other celebrities have Nashville ties?