Blur's Damon Albarn apologises to Taylor Swift after claiming she does not write own songs

The Vamps guitarist Connor Ball and a music critic are supporting Taylor Swift, who is standing up to an industry often accused of misogyny, ITV News Reporter Louise Scott reports

Former Blur frontman Damon Albarn has apologised to multi-award winning singer Taylor Swift after falsely claiming she does not write her own songs.

British musician Albarn, 53, said in an interview with the LA Times that Swift “doesn’t write her own songs” and he is more attracted to Billie Eilish who is a “really interesting songwriter”.

The comments promoted a strongly-worded reply from Swift as well as a chorus of support from her fans.

The American pop star, who topped the charts in November with the release of Red (Taylor's Version), has said his claims are “completely false”.

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Writing on Twitter, the 32-year-old said: “I was such a big fan of yours until I saw this.

“I write ALL of my own songs. Your hot take is completely false and SO damaging.

“You don’t have to like my songs but it’s really f***d up to try and discredit my writing. WOW.

“PS I wrote this tweet all by myself in case you were wondering.”

Albarn has since apologised to Swift replying to her tweet a couple of hours later: "I totally agree with you. i had a conversation about songwriting and sadly it was reduced to clickbait."

"I apologise unreservedly and unconditionally. The last thing I would want to do is discredit your songwriting. I hope you understand," he added.

When prompted that Swift co-writes many of her songs, the lead singer of Gorillaz reportedly said to the publication: “Co-writing is very different to writing”.

He added: “I’m not hating on anybody, I’m just saying there’s a big difference between a songwriter and a songwriter who co-writes.

“When I sing, I have to close my eyes and just be in there. I suppose I’m a traditionalist in that sense.

“A really interesting songwriter is Billie Eilish and her brother. I’m more attracted to that than to Taylor Swift.

“It’s just darker — less endlessly upbeat. Way more minor and odd. I think she’s exceptional”.

Swift reached the top spot last year with her release of Red (Taylor’s Version) which she re-recorded in a bid to regain ownership of her music.