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Taylor Swift’s "Toy Story 5" Song Could Earn Her an Oscar

Taylor Swift

Variety Music·Jun 17, 2026·via Variety Music

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Jun 17, 2026 2:31pm PT

Why Taylor Swift’s Reunion With Country Music for ‘Toy Story 5’ Ought to Get Her a First Date With Oscar

By Chris Willman

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Chris Willman

Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic

ChrisWillman

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On June 10, Taylor Swift marked another small career milestone when her “ Toy Story 5 ” song “I Knew It, I Knew You” “closed the panel” at country radio, getting instantly added at all 157 stations that report to Mediabase’s country chart — something that’s only occurred three times before, and never for a female artist. It was significant especially because Swift publicly declared herself no longer a country artist prior to releasing “1989” in 2015. Now she was pushing to get on those stations again, and genre gatekeepers cheerfully reopened the door. We didn’t just get a reunion between the Jessie doll and her owner … we got one between Taylor and twang.