Taylor Swift is that rarest of pop phenomena: a superstar who managed to completely cross over from country to the mainstream. Swift's plans to support Lover with a tour in 2020 were scrapped due to the COVID-19 pandemic. With some unexpected time on her hands, she wrote and recorded a new set of songs, many in collaboration with Aaron Dessner of the National; Bon Iver and longtime Swift associate Jack Antonoff also contributed. The resulting album, folklore, was released on July 24, 2020, and went straight to the top of the Billboard 200.

 Less than five months later, Swift released a companion album to folklore called Evermore. Featuring many of the same collaborators as its predecessor, Evermore debuted at number one upon its December 11, 2020 release.