In case you missed it, Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce got married. The two tied the knot in a high-profile affair at Madison Square Garden. You’ve probably encountered this news in some form recently, but let me point out a few notable details.
For starters, both Swift and Kelce are 36 years old, meaning they were born in 1989. That means in their formative years — when most people cement their taste in music — the sounds they likely ran into were pop acts like Britney Spears and *NSYNC, R&B and hip-hop like TLC and OutKast, or emo/pop punk like Blink-182 and Fall Out Boy.
When it comes to money, the newlyweds are definitely set. Taylor’s net worth is estimated at $2 billion, while Kelce’s is worth a mere $100 million. They certainly didn’t have to cut any corners at the wedding celebration and should be able to easily make a down payment on a house.
McCartney and Nicks Take the Stage
The reason I’m stating the obvious is that, as details about the wedding start to slowly trickle out, we’ve learned there were two musical performances at the couple’s reception: Paul McCartney and Stevie Nicks.
Well, would you look at that?
Two artists who are steadfast members of the Classic Rock/Hits universe performed at the wedding of the century. And while details are sparse so far — especially about what Nicks sang — reports indicate that McCartney’s performance included “I Wanna Hold Your Hand,” a song he hasn’t performed live in almost sixty years. That’s a pretty special wedding gift.
It’s not like the pair couldn’t afford to have anyone they wanted play at the wedding. They weren’t on a tight entertainment budget. And while they are both in the target demo, they are certainly in the younger half of it — not who we generally consider to be core Classic Rock/Hits listeners.
Now, I realize some people will discount McCartney and Nicks performing at the wedding because Swift is known to be close friends with the former and has many times cited the latter as a major influence. But all that means is that the two Classic Rock superstars surely rated a highly coveted invite to the affair. It didn’t mean they had to perform. Ultimately, this was who the mid-thirties couple wanted to play at their wedding.
Classic Rock’s Cross-Generational Power
I bring this up to once again make the point that this body of music — the one Classic Rock/Hits stations live on — continues to be one of the strongest libraries with enormous cross-generational appeal.
Now, I realize that’s a recurring theme for me in this column.
Maybe I keep coming back to it because I carry some unrealized trauma from so many conversations about how the format is going to fall off the demographic cliff. Or maybe it’s due to the inevitable follow-up question about how much music from the nineties and two thousands we need to play when the core music continues to impact pop culture.
Maybe I keep returning to this theme because formats based on new music and discovery are having a harder and harder time. Just a couple of weeks ago, Matt Bailey noted in his Graphs About Songs newsletter that 2026 is looking to be the worst year for hits this decade. Between January and April, only eleven new songs reached the Billboard Top 10, when the average is more like nineteen.
And maybe I’m just a little jealous that so many other radio formats got so much timely, topical content from the wedding, while Classic Rock/Hits seemed left out — until I realized there is a natural tie-in for our stations to talk about this massive pop culture event.
Whatever the reason, the fact is that Classic Rock/Hits music and artists continue to have an outsized impact on popular culture across all demographics. We’re lucky our stations represent this music in our markets. It’s an amazing foundation — let’s keep building on it.
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Mike Stern is a Classic Rock columnist and Features writer for Barrett Media. He has been with Jacobs Media consulting stations in the Classic Rock, Rock, Alternative and AAA world for more than a decade. Prior to that he programmed stations in Chicago, Detroit, Denver Las Vegas and other markets. He also worked as News/Talk Editor for Radio and Records, wrote about Top 40 Radio for Billboard Magazine and had his own radio talent coaching business called Talent Mechanic.