People.com Entertainment Music 'The A Team': A Timeline of Taylor Swift and Ed Sheeran's Adorable Friendship Taylor Swift and Ed Sheeran have been friendship goals since they teamed up for Red in 2012 — let's take a look back at their cutest moments on stage, in the studio and on social media By Jordan Runtagh Jordan Runtagh Twitter Jordan Runtagh is an Executive Podcast Producer at iHeartRadio, where he hosts a slate of pop culture shows including Too Much Information, Inside the Studio, Off the Record and Rivals: Music's Greatest Feuds. Previously, he served as a Music Editor at PEOPLE and VH1.com. He's written about art and entertainment for more than a decade, regularly contributing to outlets like Rolling Stone and Entertainment Weekly, and appearing as a guest on radio and television. Over the course of his career, he's profiled the surviving Beatles, Brian Wilson, Aretha Franklin, Roger Waters, David Byrne, Pete Townshend, Debbie Harry, Quincy Jones, Brian May, Jerry Lee Lewis, James Taylor and many more. A graduate of NYU's Tisch School of the Arts, he lives in Brooklyn, where he can be found DJing '60s soul records. People Editorial Guidelines Updated on February 11, 2022 11:12 AM Share Tweet Pin Email 01 of 23 The Story of Us Kevin Mazur/Getty Taylor Swift and Ed Sheeran first became close in 2012, after he learned that the songstress penned his lyrics on her arm during an Australian show (as you do). The "Lego House" singer had a quick meeting with Swift's manager in Nashville later that year, which ultimately brought the two future friends together. 02 of 23 Friends Who Record Together Stay Together Ed Sheeran/Instagram The duo put their hit-making heads together, penning several songs together in 2012. Two have yet to be released but one, "Everything Has Changed," was issued on Swift's 2012 album Red. Sheeran teased the song earlier that summer by posing for a picture with Swift, which he captioned "Duet coming soon...." 03 of 23 Jingle Ball Rock Theo Wargo/Getty Swift and Sheeran performed a duet together at Z100's Jingle Ball in 2012, held at New York City's iconic Madison Square Garden. The gig was a perfect dry run for... 04 of 23 Concert Comrades Larry Busacca/TAS/Getty ...Swift's Red Tour! She tapped Sheeran as her opening act for North American dates on her 2013-2014 global jaunt. 05 of 23 Jamming with Friends Ed Sheeran/Instagram Swift sent her buddy some homemade jam in August 2013 — complete with a handwritten label, which includes a hilarious shout-out to a certain VMAs incident... 06 of 23 Clowning Around Larry Busacca/TAS/Getty Sheeran's the clown to Swift's ringmaster on the Red Tour. 07 of 23 Cat in the Hat Larry Busacca/TAS/Getty One night on the Red Tour, Sheeran hit the stage dressed like the internet sensation Grumpy Cat — who looks oddly similar to Swift's own Scottish fold, Meredith. 08 of 23 Castle on a Ranch Larry Busacca/TAS/Getty Sheeran made a fairly convincing cowboy when the Red Tour hit Nashville in the fall of 2013... 09 of 23 End Zone, End Game Theo Wargo/TAS/Getty ...But not so much an NFL player. 10 of 23 New York Love Ed Sheeran/Instagram After months headlining with Sheeran, Swift returned the favor by coming out to cheer him on during his own performance at Madison Square Garden in October 2013. Donning an "I <3 Ed" t-shirt to match his "I <3 NY," they sang "Everything Has Changed" together. 11 of 23 "Sweeran" Is Born Taylor Swift/Instagram Swift shared a cute selfie of the two, each with their personalized mugs, in November 2013. "Ed told me to caption this 'SWEERAN,'" she captioned the photo — and thus the perfect moniker is born. 12 of 23 Going to Grammys Lester Cohen/WireImage High-profile award shows can be a total yawn (or so we hear) but thankfully the two friends were seated close to each other at the 2014 Grammys. 13 of 23 London Calling Gareth Cattermole/TAS/Getty Though he was no longer her official opening act, Sheeran made a special guest appearance when the Red Tour moved through London in February 2014. 14 of 23 Beauty Besties Taylor Swift/Instagram Swift served as Sheeran's one-woman glam squad before the 2014 VMAs. The "Sing" singer took home a moonperson for best male video — and also a fierce makeup job. 15 of 23 Secrets Between Friends Michael Stewart/FilmMagic Sheeran and Swift were among the many stars — including Ariana Grande — to dazzle the crowd at the 2014 Victoria's Secret fashion show. They performed separately, with Swift opening with her latest hit "Blank Space" while Sheeran performed "Thinking Out Loud," but came together at the end for a curtain call that (from the looks of it) Sheeran won't forget anytime soon. 16 of 23 Nothing Has Changed Taylor Swift/Instagram Sweeran celebrated three years of friendship in the spring of 2015 by — what else? — smooshing their faces on a Snapchat filter. 17 of 23 I Wear T-Shirts, He Wears Red Coats Taylor Swift/Instagram Sheeran repped his homeland when he showed up at Swift's 4th of July spectacular in 2015 wearing a British Revolutionary War jacket. Swift posted the faux "confrontation," complete with flag-waving, on Instagram with this caption: "When Ed shows up in a red coat for the 4th of July because he just can't let it go." 18 of 23 Going to Grammys, Part Deux Kevin Mazur/WireImage Another year (2016), another precious Grammy photo. 19 of 23 End Game Swift's latest album, 2017's reputation, features the pair duetting together for the second time on record. "End Game" includes not only help from Sheeran (who cowrote the song), but also a guest rap verse from Future. Always a supportive friend, Sheeran shared several posts about the album on Instagram, and also costarred in the music video. 20 of 23 Having a Ball Christopher Polk/Getty During the 2017 Jingle Ball, Swift and Sheeran made several appearances on stage as they performed "End Game." 21 of 23 Getting (Pea)cocky Taylor Swift/Instagram Friends can still bust each other's chops, right? Swift shared a funny video on Instagram in February 2018, in which she jokingly takes the fellow superstar to task for sitting closer to the camera than she — thus appearing bigger and taller. "I just want to start by saying that this is what he does, he tries to elevate himself geographically so he can seem better than me," she says in a playful mock accusatory tone. Sheeran, in on the joke, doesn't deny it. "Totally," he agrees. "Experts will study this and say that you're, like… peacocking right now," Swift continues. The expression, popularized in the 2005 pickup artist exposé The Game, refers to men who adopt an intentionally ostentatious persona to attract attention. 22 of 23 Together Again TAS Rights Management For Red (Taylor's Version), Swift and Sheeran teamed up to rerecord their duet "Everything Has Changed." Fans also got to hear their previously unreleased song "Run" on the album. For the special album release in November, Swift and Sheeran took several photos together for Spotify. 23 of 23 The Joker and the Queen Warner Music Group After dropping several Easter eggs about a potential collaboration, including in Swift's "I Bet You Think About Me" music video directed by pal Blake Lively, the music duo teamed up again for the remix of Sheeran's "The Joker and the Queen" from his album =. For the video, Swift and Sheeran enlisted the same child actors who starred in their 2013 "Everything Has Changed" music video, making the collaboration a full circle moment. "This video makes me think of our friendship all these years," wrote on Instagram following the release, adding "Can't believe Jack & Ava from the Everything Has Changed video came back and did this!! Nostalgic heaven!"