Taylor Swift delivers inspiring speech after winning iHeartRadio Music Award

Taylor Swift delivered an inspiring speech for fans after receiving Innovator Award at the 2023 iHeartRadio Music Awards.

The Anti-Hero singer-songwriter advised young fans to allow themselves to experience failure, as she received the trophy during the award ceremony in Los Angeles on Monday night.

"I'm really flattered by this award. So thank you so much to iHeart for giving this to me," began Swift, 33, as she took to the stage in a Grace Jones-inspired sparkling hooded jumpsuit to receive the award from pal and "tour mate" Phoebe Bridgers.

"I never, a single time, woke up in the morning and thought, 'You know what I'm gonna do today? I'm gonna go innovate some stuff,'" she joked. 

"'Things need to be innovated and I'm gonna be the one that does it.' But what I did do was try to make the right decision for me at the time, whether or not it had ever been successfully done before" she added.

Swift went on "and I think maybe that might be the key, because oftentimes in any industry, people are looking for a precedent or data that shows this idea is a good one or a feasible one. People want an example of something working before. But I think the coolest ideas or moves or choices are the new ones, the ones that set a new precedent."

She also reflected on her own genre switch from country to pop, and her decision to re-record her music, for which the audience supported her with applause.

"They're shining a light on the choices I made that worked out, the ones that turned out to be good ideas," she continued. "But I really, really want everyone to know, especially young people, that the hundreds or thousands of dumb ideas that I've had are what led me to my good ideas. You have to give yourself permission to fail."