In 2020, Swift released two surprise albums with little promotion, to critical acclaim.[232] The first, her eighth studio album Folklore, was released on July 24.[233] The second, her ninth studio album Evermore, was released on December 11.[234] Swift wrote and recorded the albums while in isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic, working with producers Jack Antonoff and Aaron Dessner from the National. Both albums feature collaborations with Bon Iver, and Evermore features collaborations with the National and Haim.[235] Swift's boyfriend Joe Alwyn co-wrote and co-produced select songs under the pseudonym William Bowery.[236] The making of Folklore was discussed in the concert documentary Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions, directed by Swift and released on November 25.[237]
Both albums sold over one million units worldwide in its first week, with Folklore selling two million.[243][244] Folklore broke the Guinness World Record for the highest first-day album streams by a female artist on Spotify,[245] and was the best-selling album of 2020 in the U.S., having sold 1.2 million copies.[246]Swift was 2020's highest-paid musician in the U.S., and highest-paid solo musician worldwide.[247] At the 2020 American Music Awards, Swift won three awards, including Artist of the Year for a record third consecutive time.[248]Folklore won Album of the Year at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards, making Swift the first woman in history to win the award three times.[249]
Following the masters controversy, Swift released the first re-recording of her back catalog, Fearless (Taylor's Version), on April 9, 2021. The re-recording of her 2008 album Fearless peaked atop the Billboard 200, becoming the first re-recorded album to do so,[250] and was preceded by three of its tracks: "Love Story (Taylor's Version)", "You All Over Me" with Maren Morris, and "Mr. Perfectly Fine".[251] "Love Story (Taylor's Version)", the re-recording of Swift's 2008 single "Love Story", made Swift the second artist after Dolly Parton to have both the original and the re-recording of a single at number one on the Hot Country Songs.[252] Swift released "Wildest Dreams (Taylors Version)", the re-recording of her 2015 single "Wildest Dreams", on September 17, 2021, after the song gained traction on the online-video sharing app, TikTok.[253] The second re-recording of her back catalog, Red (Taylor's Version)—the re-recording of her 2012 album Red—is scheduled for release on November 12, 2021.[254]