10-Time Grammy Winner Reveals Awkward Encounter With Taylor Swift originally appeared on Parade.

When Taylor Swift thanks you for coming to her birthday party, how do you reply?

In an interview with The Guardian published Sunday, Aug. 10, singer-songwriter and producer Finneas opened up about a “cringey” encounter he once shared with the global pop star in that exact scenario.

“I said thanks for coming to Taylor Swift. At her birthday party,” the 10-time Grammy winner, 28, told The Guardian. “She said, ‘Thank you so much for coming’ and I said, ‘Thank you for coming!'”

Fans also know Finneas — who did the recent interview with fellow singer-songwriter Ashe to promote their new pop duo The Favors — as the brother of renowned pop star Billie Eilish. Finneas shared with The Guardian about his upbringing in Los Angeles and, more specifically, the strangest job he ever had there.

“Growing up in LA, they have you do a thing that as a kid, you’re like, ‘sweet’ — and then as an adult, you’re like, ‘that was child labor.’ It’s called market research,” Finneas told the publication. “They’re like, do you want to watch a show or play a game and then talk to a panel of adults who are working on the thing for many hours in exchange for literally $15? Like, a crazy low number for a day’s amount of work! You’re probably eight. You’re very young. And you get a dial that you turn as you watch the show for like, ‘I’m enjoying it’ or ‘I’m not enjoying it.'”

And on an inspirational note, Finneas shared with The Guardian the best piece of advice he ever received.

“A guy who’s a mastering engineer once said to me, ‘Listen man, if something ever goes wrong, you just rock out.’ Just rock out, man,” said Finneas. “I sometimes think, damn, I really am doing that. I had a show recently where s— was going wrong, and I was like: time to rock out, dude. What’s my alternative here? Oh, my flight’s delayed four hours? Let’s rock out, dude.”

10-Time Grammy Winner Reveals Awkward Encounter With Taylor Swift first appeared on Parade on Aug 11, 2025

This story was originally reported by Parade on Aug 11, 2025, where it first appeared.