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Justin Vernon, founder of the band Bon Iver, recently spoke about his experience of hearing Taylor Swift fans (or Swifties) singing their collaboration track during the Eras Tour. Bon Iver featured in Swift's song Exile from her 2020 album, Folklore.
In an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on April 2, 2025, Justin Vernon described hearing Swifties singing Exile as "pretty powerful" and an "out of body" experience. When asked about it by Fallon, the singer said:
"Out of body. Out of body. Sadly we didn’t ever get a chance to sing it with her on her tour. She got to come sing it with us [in 2022], but I saw those clips and I’m like, ‘Gosh, they sound better than one of me can sound.' I mean pretty powerful to just see that and to hear how that sounded. It was amazing."
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Taylor Swift's Folklore is considered one of her most acclaimed albums, and the singer won the coveted Album of the Year at the Grammys for the same. This was her third Grammy AOTY award, following which she won her record-making fourth one for Midnights (2022).
Meanwhile, Bon Iver is an indie folk band that began as a solo project by singer-lyricist Justin Vernon. However, it eventually included other members, namely Sean Carey, Michael Lewis, Matthew McCaughan, Andrew Fitzpatrick, and Jenn Wasner.
Apart from Bon Iver, Taylor Swift has also collaborated with Big Red Machine—one of Vernon's other bands—for their 2021 album, How Long Do You Think It's Gonna Last? The songstress was part of two songs - Birch and Renegade.
Taylor Swift made a surprise appearance in one of Bon Iver's concerts in London
Back in 2022, Taylor Swift made a surprise appearance at one of Bon Iver's concerts in London to sing their collaboration track, Exile. As per Rolling Stone on April 3, 2025, The National's Aaron Dessner also joined them on stage. During the same show, Swift referred to them as "the most talented men in the world."
Meanwhile, Exile did not make it onto the fixed setlist for Swift's Eras Tour. However, she included it as a surprise song in some of her shows, where Swifties sang along with her.
In a July 2020 interview with Pitchfork, Folklore's co-producer Aaron Dessner explained the story behind Swift's collaboration with Vernon for the album. Dessner recalled from Swift's album notes that the original idea for the track came from "an exiled man walking the bluffs of a land that isn’t his own, wondering how it all went so terribly, terribly wrong."
Dessner further claimed that Taylor Swift wrote it with singer-songwriter William Bowery, adding:
"Taylor wrote that one with the singer-songwriter William Bowery. When Taylor sent it to me as a voice memo, she sang both the male and female parts — as much as she could fit in without losing her breath."
In a subsequent interview with Rolling Stone, Aaron Dessner further spoke about the backstory of Exile, claiming that Swift and Bowery "got it to a certain point" and then he "interpreted it and developed a recording of it."
“We talked about who she was imagining joining her, and she loves Justin’s voice in Bon Iver and Big Red Machine. She was like, ‘Oh my god, I would die if he would do it. It would be so perfect.’ I didn’t want to put pressure on Justin as his friend, so I said, ‘Well, it depends on if he’s inspired by the song but I know he thinks you’re rad,'" Dessner recalled.
Dessner mentioned that they then sent the song to Bon Iver. Justin Vernon was brought on board, and he did "the male parts and changed a few things." As per Dessner, Vernon also added his own lyrics and "wrote the ‘step right out’ part of the bridge, and Taylor re-sang to that."
Aaron Dessner described the making of Exile as "two of the greatest songwriters and vocalists of our generation collaborating." He recalled that he felt like "just a fan" at that point, despite being the facilitator of the collaboration.
Since Folklore, Taylor Swift has released two more studio albums - Midnights (2022) and The Tortured Poets Department (2024). She has yet to announce her next project.
