Aside from being a successful solo artist, Taylor Swift has made a pretty big name for herself writing songs for other major stars. As it turns out, she doesn’t actually write the songs under her own name. For years, Swifties have been convinced that the songstress used the pseudonym Nils Sjöberg to write music. However, during a November 2020 interview with Rolling Stone, she officially confirmed the fake name and explained the reason why she chose it.
“I think when a pseudonym comes in is when you still have a love for making the work, and you don’t want the work to become overshadowed by this thing that’s been built around you, based on what people know about you,” she explained. “And that’s when it’s really fun to create fake names and write under them.”
Keep reading for more details on Taylor’s fake name.
Why Does Taylor Swift Write Music Under a Fake Name?
“I wrote under the name Nils Sjöberg because those are two of the most popular names of Swedish males,” the Lover songstress continued. “I wrote this song called ‘This Is What You Came For’ that Rihanna ended up singing. And nobody knew for a while.”
What Songs Has Taylor Swift Written Under a Fake Name?
Aside from cowriting “This Is What You Came For,” Taylor also produced a stripped-down version of her own song “Look What You Made Me Do” under Nils’ name for the TV series Killing Eve. The version was recorded by a band called Jack Leopards & The Dolphin Club, and a few eagle-eyed fans have speculated that her brother Austin Swift and Taylor’s frequent collaborator Jack Antonoff are behind the vocals.
She’s also penned the lyrics for, “Better Man” by Little Big Town, “You’ll Always Find Your Way Back Home” by Hannah Montana, “Best Days of Your Life” by Kellie Pickler, “Babe” by Sugarland, “Both of Us” by B.o.B and “Two Is Better than One by Boys Like Girls.
Does Joe Alwyn Write Songs Under a Fake Name?
As it turns out, Taylor also recruited her boyfriend Joe Alwyn to help her write some songs under a fake name, too. When her album Folklore was released in July 2020 fans noted that the name William Bowery was credited on two songs. Swifties did some digging online and started to speculate that William was actually Joe since the British actor is related to composer William Alwyn and one of the couple’s first public outings was at the Bowery Hotel in New York City. Months later, during her concert film Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions, Taylor confirmed that Joe and William were in fact the same person.
“There’s been a lot of discussion about William Bowery and his identity, because … it’s not a real person. So, William Bowery is Joe … as we know,” she admitted. “Joe plays piano beautifully and he’s always just playing and making things up and kind of creating things.”
In fact, he even cowrote three songs on her December 2020 record Evermore. According to the writing credits, William was listed on “Champagne Problems,” “Coney Island” and “Evermore.” Due to his assistance with her music, Taylor gave Joe a massive shout out during her Grammys acceptance speech in March 2021. “I had the best time writing songs with you in quarantine,” the songstress gushed.
“We chose to do it so that people, first and foremost, would listen to the music first before dissecting the fact that we did it together,” Joe explained on The Kelly Clarkson Show in May 2022, confirming that the name came from William, his great-grandfather and Bowery, an area in New York.
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