The title of Taylor Swift's upcoming album Tortured Poets Department just took on a whole new meaning. The DNA testing and family history company Ancestry just revealed that the pop star and the iconic 19th century poet Emily Dickinson are sixth cousins three times removed.
"Swift and Dickinson both descend from a 17th century English immigrant (Swift’s 9th great-grandfather and Dickinson’s 6th great-grandfather who was an early settler of Windsor, Connecticut)," Ancestry said in a statement provided to TODAY.
"Taylor Swift’s ancestors remained in Connecticut for six generations until her part of the family eventually settled in northwestern Pennsylvania, where they married into the Swift family line."
'Swift and Dickinson both descend from a 17th century English immigrant (Swift’s 9th great-grandfather and Dickinson’s 6th great-grandfather who was an early settler of Windsor, Connecticut),' the company said.
The singer has previously mentioned Dickinson while talking about her music.
"If my lyrics sound like a letter written by Emily Dickinson’s great-grandmother while sewing a lace curtain, that’s me writing in the Quill genre," Swift said in 2022 while receiving the Songwriter-Artist of the Decade Award from the Nashville Songwriters Association International.
Some fans also believe that the singer's 2020 album Evermore was inspired by Dickinson. It was released on Dec. 10, which is the poet's birthday.
Swift grew up in Reading, Pennsylvania, but she and her family moved to the Nashville area in 2004 so the star could pursue a career in music.
Pennsylvania and Connecticut don't share a border, but during the late 1700s the two states fought three different wars for control over the region around Scranton and Wilkes-Barre, Philly Voice reported.
Leaders in Connecticut laid claim to the land based on early colonial land charters which said the state's territory didn't end until the Pacific Ocean.
New York ended up boxing Connecticut in early on, but these western claims remained. That's why settlers representing Connecticut also settled the area around Cleveland, Ohio, in the final decade of the 1700s. They ceded the area to the Northwest Territory in 1800. It became part of Ohio three years later.
The star previously mentioned Dickinson while accepting an award in 2022.
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Swift announced Tortured Poets Department, which is due out on April 19, while accepting an award for Best Pop Vocal Album at the 2024 Grammys.
"This is my thirteenth Grammy, which is my lucky number," the pop star said.
"I know the way the Recording Academy voted is a direct reflection of the passion of the fans," she added. "I want to thank the fans by telling you a secret that I've been keeping from you for the last two years."
That's when Swift uttered the name of the upcoming record.
"I'm going to go and post the cover right now backstage," she said.
Her new album 'Tortured Poets Department' is due out on April 19.
See the tracklist for the 2LP vinyl version of Tortured Poets Department below. Note: "lolm" denotes "Love of My Life."
Side A
Fortnight (feat. Post Malone)
The Tortured Poets Department
My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys
Down Bad
Side B
So Long, London
But Daddy I Love Him
Fresh Out the Slammer
Florida!!! (feat. Florence + the Machine)
Side C
Guilty as Sin?
Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me?
I Can Fix Him (No Really I Can)
Loml
Side D
I Can Do It With a Broken Heart
The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived
The Alchemy
Clara Bow
Bonus Track: The Manuscript
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