“Cardigan” opened Taylor Swift’s three-song Folklore medley at the 2021 Grammy Awards.
Swift performed “Cardigan,” “august,” and “Willow” in that order at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards on March 14, 2021. The first two songs came from Folklore, while “Willow” came from its sister album, Evermore.
The performance connected the songs’ fictional storytelling world with an intimate live setting. Swift began on top of a cottage while singing “Cardigan,” moved inside the cottage for “august,” and then performed “Willow” outside with collaborators Jack Antonoff and Aaron Dessner.
Listeners sometimes remember “august” as the opening because it is the centerpiece many fans discuss, especially during its annual seasonal revival. In the actual Grammy sequence, however, “Cardigan” came first and “Willow” closed the medley.