In 2012, Taylor Swift and Harry Styles briefly formed one of pop's most iconic power couples — dubbed "Haylor" — the legacy of which is speculated to live on in songs written by each of the Grammy award-winning musicians.
Styles was asked about his former flame during a visit to The Howard Stern Show in May 2022. The host noted that both Swift and Styles have songs titled "Daylight," but the One Direction alum quickly shut down Stern's theory that the track is about his ex.
"You're reading too much into it. You know I'd love to tell you that you're spot on, but I can't," he said with a laugh.In November 2023, Swift released a song titled "Is It Over Now?" that fans are convinced is about Styles — and the tumultuous end to their relationship in January 2013.
From their first meeting at the Kid's Choice Awards to their friendly reunion at the 2023 Grammys, here's everything to know about Taylor Swift and Harry Styles' whirlwind romance.
The pair reportedly first crossed paths backstage at the 2012 Kids Choice Awards, where Swift and close pal Selena Gomez were spotted dancing and singing along as One Direction performed their hit, "What Makes You Beautiful."
Sparks may or may not have been flying when Swift and Styles each took the stage at the 2012 VMAs, where a swooshy-haired Styles performed alongside the rest of One Direction and a newly single Swift performed her breakup anthem, "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together."
To ring in the "All Too Well" singer's 23rd birthday, the young couple jetted off to Northern England, where they were spotted holding hands while out and about on a romantic stroll, PEOPLE reported at the time. Styles appeared to introduce Swift to his mom, who was photographed feeding birds alongside the couple.
As the pair's romance heated up, they spent the holidays cooling down on the snowy slopes of Park City, Utah, where they enjoyed a ski trip over Christmas. As PEOPLE reported at the time, the vacation soon turned into an epic double date when they were joined by pop's other major power couple of the era, Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez.
Swift released her fifth studio album, 1989 — her birth year — in October 2014, cementing her move from country to pop in the process. Fans were quick to decode the album's lyrics in an attempt to gauge which songs could have been inspired by her relationship with Styles, and ultimately landed on "Style" (partly due to its title) and "Out of the Woods," among others.
After One Direction dropped "Perfect" — with the lyrics "And if you like cameras flashin' every time we go out/ Oh, yeah / And if you're looking for someone to write your breakup songs about / Baby, I'm perfect" — fans immediately assumed that the song, co-written by Styles, was about Swift.
But the One Direction star's lips were sealed: "I think people interpret songs in different ways," Styles told PEOPLE about the rumors. "I'm never going to tell someone what a song's about because I feel like it's up to them."
Over the course of a year-long interview with iconic music journalist Cameron Crowe (of Almost Famous fame) for Rolling Stone, Styles candidly discussed his relationship with Swift for the first time.
"When I see photos from that day," he told Crowe, referencing their first date in Central Park, "I think: Relationships are hard, at any age. And adding in that you don't really understand exactly how it works when you're 18, trying to navigate all that stuff didn't make it easier.
I mean, you're a little bit awkward to begin with. You're on a date with someone you really like. It should be that simple, right? It was a learning experience for sure. But at the heart of it – I just wanted it to be a normal date."
When asked if he had a message for Swift, Styles thanked her for their time together and the ways it has inspired him. "Certain things don't work out. There's a lot of things that can be right, and it's still wrong," he began. "In writing songs about stuff like that, I like tipping a hat to the time together.
You're celebrating the fact it was powerful and made you feel something, rather than 'this didn't work out, and that's bad.' And if you run into that person, maybe it's awkward, maybe you have to get drunk … but you shared something. Meeting someone new, sharing those experiences, it's the best s— ever. So thank you."
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