Expressing Gratitude: Taylor Swift Credits Faith Hill Song for Life-Changing Impact

Faith Hill straddled the lines of country songs and pop songs before Taylor Swift recorded a single note of music. Swift revealed that one of Hill’s songs was a massive influence on her as an artist. She also discussed what it was like to get to know Hill as a person.

During a 2015 interview with Rolling Stone, Swift discussed the music that made her into an artist. Her picks included Carly Simon’s “You’re So Vain,” Jimmy Eat World’s “The Middle,” and Dashboard Confessional’s “Hands Down.” The only country song on the list was Hill’s crossover hit “This Kiss,” which resonated with both country and easy-listening audiences.

“I sang this song for my fourth-grade chorus audition,” she recalled. “I think it changed the way I saw country music and music in general. Everyone loved ‘This Kiss,’ not just country fans. Pop and rock fans loved it too. I guess you could say that theme rubbed off on me.”

Truer words were never spoken! From the beginning, Swift had a major crossover appeal that many other country singers lacked. During her early years, she always put a little pop in her country and country in her pop. She garnered a lot of fans who were more interested in her as an individual than in country music as a whole, so when she became a full-fledged pop singer with the release of 1989, her fans were willing to take the jump with her.

Swift isn’t just fond of “This Kiss.” She’s a fan of Hill as a person. During a 2019 interview with Billboard, she discussed the difference between the country industry and the pop industry. “I had so many mentors in country music,” she said. “Faith Hill was wonderful. She would reach out to me and invite me over and take me on tour, and I knew that I could talk to her.”

She didn’t have the same experience after switching genres. “Crossing over to pop is a completely different world,” she said. “Country music is a real community, and in pop I didn’t see that community as much. Now there is a bit of one between the girls in pop — we all have each other’s numbers and text each other — but when I first started out in pop it was very much you versus you versus you. We didn’t have a network.”

“This Kiss” hit No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming Hill’s biggest solo hit on the chart up to that point. The single spent an impressive 48 weeks on the chart. Love or hate “This Kiss,” it was an important part of the country crossover scene of the 1990s and it helped prove that female country singers could be superstars.

“This Kiss” appeared on the album Faith. That record reached No. 7 on the Billboard 200 and lasted on the chart for 99 weeks. It was Hill’s most popular record until she put out the chart-topping Breathe.

“This Kiss” touched the hearts of so many listeners and it helped send Swift down the path to stardom.