Taylor Swift and Madonna Performance: Pair Perform at iHeartRadio Awards 2015
Sunday's iHeartRadio Music Awards promised a lot of surprise collaborations, and fans were indeed blown away when Taylor Swift turned up to play acoustic guitar to accompany Madonna as she sang her new single "Ghosttown".
The duo started their performance sitting down on stools before rocking out with a spirited version of "Rebel Heart." Madonna later thanked Swift with a kiss on the cheek, and the 56-year-old later reappeared to present Swift with the Song of the Year award, which she won for "Shake it Off."
A source tells E! News that the friendship between the two stars began after Madonna praised Swift's songwriting skills in interviews. Swift, who has been a long-time fan of Madonna, took the compliments to heart and gushed over the iconic singer.
"She has an opinion, and she's going against the norm," said Madonna to Rolling Stone of the "Style" singer. "So in that respect, she is similar to me, yeah. And also, people just want to give her a hard time all the time because they think she's a goody-two-shoes, so of course I want to embrace her."
Meanwhile, another source tells E! News that the Swift and Madonna's performance was so tightly under wraps that many members of their camps were unaware of any partnership until just hours before the pair took the stage.
After their performance, the singers took to their Instagram page to post pictures. Madonna captioned hers, "My new favorite guitar player! Thank you Taylor! Just you and I in a #ghosttown #rebelhearts."
A few minutes later, Swift also posted a picture of them on the photo sharing app and captioned it, "I might be okay but I'm NOT FINE AT ALL. #MyFangirlLife #MadonnaAndTaylor."
