About Babe (feat. Taylor Swift)

"Babe" is a song recorded by American country music duo Sugarland, featuring guest vocals from American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift. It was released by Big Machine Records on April 20, 2018, as the second single from Sugarland's sixth studio album, Bigger (2018). The song was originally written by Swift and Patrick Monahan of the American band Train, for Swift's fourth studio album, Red (2012); however, it did not make the final track-list. "Babe" is a midtempo country ballad and breakup song. It peaked at number 2 on the Billboard Digital Songs chart, number 8 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs, and at number 72 on the Billboard Hot 100.Patrick Monahan, the founding member of rock band Train, first spoke about the song during a 2013 interview with ABC News Radio. He said that when he asked Swift about collaborating on a song for Train's next album, she asked him to co-write a song for her album Red (2012). Ultimately, the song was not included on the album, but when Swift decided to put out a deluxe version of Red, Monahan thought it would finally be released. The song was not previously recorded.

The album's track list, which was released on April 12, 2018, shows that "Babe" is the only song on the album not co-written by Kristian Bush and Jennifer Nettles of Sugarland. It also marks the second song Swift has written for a country act since making her full transition to pop in 2014, following Little Big Town's "Better Man", as well as the first country song on which she is credited as an artist since that time. Sugarland told reporters backstage at the 53rd Academy of Country Music Awards that the collaboration came about after Swift, who is a Sugarland fan, called the duo wanting to work with them. "She was gracious enough to reach out to us when she heard we were coming back together and doing a record," Bush said. "She said, 'I have a song, would you like to do it?' And we said, 'Uh, yeah!' I was a little anxious. I didn't want to mess it up!" Nettles added: "But she loved it and wanted [us] to be a part of it, which is exciting. She said, 'I have a song,' and we said, 'Okay. Send it over.'" The duo found it to be an unusual experience, since they have never featured anybody on their past albums. "So we weren't really used to sorting through that and we didn't want to mess it up. We didn't tell anybody about it until we got finished and she liked it, thank God." In a video Swift posted on Instagram, she expressed that she is delighted that the song "gets its own life" and that "Sugarland wanted to record it and has done such a great job with it"