Taylor Swift's dad met Jon Bon Jovi at an IndyCar race in Florida and her fans have rejoiced at the duo's encounter.
Scott Swift was photographed smiling widely as he greeted the rocker at the race in St. Petersburg.
The pair were spotted chatting in the pits of the Arrow McLaren team on March 10 and the moment was shared to the official account of radio station SiriusXM Hit 1, getting more than 313,000 views on the post.
"Jon Bon Jovi and Taylor Swift's dad Scott Swift spotted attending IndyCar's Grand Prix of St. Petersburg yesterday! Really hope they shared friendship bracelets. 🏁🏁🏁," the radio station captioned its post on X, formerly Twitter.
📸 | Jon Bon Jovi and Taylor Swift's dad Scott Swift spotted attending IndyCar's Grand Prix of St. Petersburg yesterday! Really hope they shared friendship bracelets. 🏁🏁🏁 pic.twitter.com/1zoWRIWc4U
— SiriusXM Hits 1 (Taylor's Version) (@SiriusXMHits1) March 11, 2024
Exchanging friendship bracelets is a long-running tradition amongst Swift's fans. They are bespoke bracelets with a person's name or other information and are usually swapped between people at her live concerts.
Swift's fans—better known as Swifties—were excited by the meeting of the two men.
"EXCUSE ME WHAT??? SCOTT SWIFT AT THE INDYCAR RACE?????? DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH THIS MEANS TO ME????," wrote @checosvlog on X.
Another person, @Aireella, added: "I knew I should have gone yesterday."
The pair have likely crossed paths before, including in 2013 when Bon Jovi shared the stage with Taylor Swift and Prince William.
Bon Jovi and Taylor Swift performed the former's hit "Living on a Prayer" at the Winter Whites Gala in aid of the charity Centrepoint at Kensington Palace when they were joined by the future king of England.
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The prince later admitted to "cringing" about the impromptu sing-a-long.
"I turn up and Jon Bon Jovi and Taylor Swift are at the event, which nearly knocked me off my feet," he told Apple Fitness+'s Time to Walk podcast in December 2021.
"And then I went inside, met everybody, a lot of handshaking to do these nights, a lot of chatting. I try and be charming and interactive.
"When I sat down to watch Jon Bon Jovi do his performance, I thought: 'That's it. My job is done. I'll get a dinner in a minute and I might be able to have a chat to some people and, you know, I'm off-duty a little bit now.'"
Prince William then described how his performance transpired.
"Honestly, even now I'm cringing at what happened next, and I don't understand why I gave in. But, frankly, if Taylor Swift looks you in the eye, touches your arm, and says, 'Come with me...' I got up like a puppy and went, 'Yeah, OK, that seems like a great idea. I'll follow you,'" he said.
But then the prince admitted while he initially felt embarrassed about the performance, he learned to poke fun at himself.
"I think we've got to the stage in this life where we do micromanage ourselves," he explained.
"We do worry about: how do we look on social media? Who said what about me? What am I wearing? There's so many pressures, but I think that making a fool of yourself is OK.
"It's OK to not take yourself too seriously and have those moments where
you let go and you just go: Do you know what? I'm OK with this."
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Shannon Power is a Greek-Australian reporter, but now calls London home. They have worked as across three continents in print, ... Read more
