Taylor Swift 'shocked' Chase Rice during first chance meeting

Chase Rice recalled meeting one of his biggest inspirations in the music industry, Taylor Swift, in a new interview.

The 40-year-old country music star detailed his surprise meeting with the pop superstar, 35, at the Tight End University event in June where he almost skipped the meeting.

The 14-time-Grammy winner, who gave a surprise performance at her beau Travis Kelce’s event, invited Rice for a chat when he ran into her.

“I actually walked up to her and just said bye to Travis and her, and she said, ‘Well, can you sit down for 10?’” the Eyes on You hitmaker told Us Weekly.

Rice went on to share that he politely refused at first, “I looked at her. I said, ‘I got to write with Lori McKenna tomorrow. No, I’m going home.’ And she said, ‘Oh, my God, I love Lori McKenna.’ Luckily, I changed my mind.”

The singers spent the next 45 minutes discussing the various aspects of their careers and the admiration they share for each other.

“We just talked music, and I talked to her about Cruise and it was a really, really full-circle moment that was cool,” the Bench Seat singer said, referring to the song Swift tweeted about when it was released.

“She was a big part of my career early on with that song and blowing it up, and it was a good moment to sit there and thank her for that,” Rice said about the impact of the Anti-Hero hitmaker’s support.

The Ride singer also appreciated the Eras Tour performer for her humble demeanour, saying, “While I’m talking to her, she just has this way about her that’s like, ‘OK, you’re not talking to Taylor Swift the superstar. You’re just talking to Taylor,’ and that’s what it was. It was really, really cool to just all of a sudden sit down as just friends, not music people, even though we’re talking music.”