Taylor Swift Pays Tribute to All the Female Artists Who Inspire Her at the 2018 Billboard Music Awards

Lynsey Eidell
Updated
Taylor Swift took home Top Female Artist at the 2018 Billboard Music Awards, and paid tribute to her fellow female artists in her acceptance speech.

Taylor Swift has been missing in action from the awards show scene in recent years, so her surprise appearance at the 2018 Billboard Music Awards was noteworthy in and of itself. And as soon as she took her seat in the front row (in between bestie Camila Cabello and Shawn Mendes), it was as if she never left: Swift resumed her corny dance moves, shameless lip-synching, and award-winning habits in no time—and delivered a moving speech that honored female artists both past and present. All in a night’s work.

When Swift took the stage to accept the Billboard Music Award for Top Female Artist—her 22nd BBMA, the most in Billboard history—she used the opportunity to honor her fellow female artists rather than her own successes.

“I haven’t been to an awards show in a few years and it is so nice to be here tonight,” Swift began her acceptance speech. “And it is so nice to receive female artist. I’m on an all-female artist stadium tour right now, so I have to start out by saying thank you to my tour mates Charli XCX and Camila Cabello.” (Insert sweet bestie moment with Cabello standing, cheering, and waving for her “Reputation” tour mate.)

Swift then went on to pay tribute to the women artists of the past, present, and future, thanking them for trailblazing a path and providing inspiration for herself and countless others. “I want to thank all the artists, all the female artists who paved the way for us to get to do what we do, the way we get to do it,” she said. “All the new artists, the new female artists, who are killing it right now—we are so inspired by you. And shoutout to the future female artists who just picked up a guitar and learned how to play piano."

Watch her speech, below:

Later in the night, after she won Top Selling Album, Taylor thanked her fans. “You guys, when I started writing songs when I was 12, I started writing songs because it made me feel more understood,” she said. “When I was making Reputation, this album, for a while there I was feeling really misunderstood by a lot of people. So I want to say to the fans, thank you for continuing to show up. We just started our tour last week and the ways that you’ve cared about me and the ways that you’ve treated me—thank you for making me feel understood again.”

Related: Taylor Swift Just Quietly Made a Generous Donation to Sexual Assault Survivors