James Taylor skipped Taylor Swift’s wedding to play gig
James Taylor revealed he and his wife were invited to Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce's lavish Madison Square Garden wedding but decided not to attend, instead sending the newlyweds his best wishes from the stage during a concert in Massachusetts.
James Taylor turned down an invite to Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s star-studded wedding at Madison Square Garden.
The singer, 78, instead wished the newlyweds “happiness and smooth sailing” during a concert over the Independence Day weekend.
He shared the revelation he had an invite to the pair’s nuptials while performing with his All-Star Band at the Koussevitzky Music Shed at Tanglewood in Lenox, Massachusetts, with his comments coming days after Taylor, 36, and Travis, also 36, married in New York City in one of the year’s biggest celebrity events, with actor Adam Sandler officiating the ceremony.
James – best known for classics including Fire and Rain and You’ve Got a Friend – told the audience he and his wife, Kim Smedvig, had received an invitation to the wedding, which drew around 1,000 guests.
He said: “You know, Kim and I were invited to a wedding at Madison Square Garden tonight.”
In a message to the newlyweds, James added: “Happiness and smooth sailing.”
Taylor’s wedding ceremony has dominated headlines since Friday, with reports confirming Adam presided over the celebration attended by a host of Hollywood and sporting stars.
Taylor and James have long shared a connection, with the singer-songwriter previously revealing she told him she was named after him.
Speaking to USA Today in 2024, James recalled meeting the singer for the first time around “15-16 years ago” during a benefit concert for the Candie’s Foundation.
He said: “We did a benefit for (the Candie’s Foundation), an organisation that tries to help with teenage pregnancy, and it was interesting. We were both there with guitars and played a couple of songs. I was performing with my wife and may have had a friend of ours playing cello and Taylor was there just playing by herself.”
James added: “She was just a teen. She told me she had listened to my music a lot and that her folks had named her with me in mind.”
Taylor later referenced James in the lyrics to Begin Again, the closing track on her 2012 album Red, further underlining the connection between the two musicians.
Taylor and Travis tied the knot on Friday, July 3, at Madison Square Garden in New York City, with guests including Reese Witherspoon, Emma Stone and Paul Rudd, while close friends including Lena Dunham, Jack Antonoff and Abigail Anderson attended rehearsal celebrations ahead of the ceremony.
In the days since the wedding, further details of the event have continued to emerge, including Adam’s reported advice to the couple to “keep kissing”, shared afterwards by Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid.
Taylor and Travis announced their engagement in a joint Instagram post on 26 August 2025, sharing photographs from the proposal.
Taylor captioned the post: “Your English teacher and your gym teacher are getting married.”
