Liz Rose (born in Dallas, Texas) is an American country music songwriter best known for her work with Taylor Swift. She has co-written several of Swift's songs and singles, including "White Horse," "Teardrops on My Guitar" and "You Belong with Me," which won her and Swift a Grammy Award in 2009.

Liz Rose was born in Dallas, Texas and raised in Irving, Texas. Rose moved to Nashville, Tennessee with her then-husband, Johnny Rose, and began writing songs through the suggestion of a friend. One of her first cuts was "Elisabeth," which was recorded by Billy Gilman. In 2003, Gary Allan took Rose's "Songs About Rain" (co-written with Pat McLaughlin) into the country top 20.

Rose began writing songs for Taylor Swift on Swift's 2006 self-titled debut album, on which Rose has seven co-writer's credits. Among those cuts were the album's first two singles, "Tim McGraw" and "Teardrops on My Guitar," which helped Rose win a Songwriter of the Year award from SESAC in 2007.

Rose continued to collaborate with Swift on her second album, 2008's Fearless, collaborating on the singles "White Horse" and "You Belong with Me" as well as the title track. "White Horse" won both of them the Grammy Award for Best Country Song in 2010, and "You Belong with Me" was nominated for Song of the Year.

Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter and occasional actress. Raised in Wyomissing, Pennsylvania, Swift moved to Nashville, Tennessee at the age of fourteen to pursue a career in country music. She signed to the independent label Big Machine Records and became the youngest songwriter ever hired by the Sony/ATV Music publishing house. The release of Swift's self-titled debut album in 2006 established her as a country music star. "Our Song", her third single, made her the youngest sole writer and singer of a number one song on the country chart. She received a Best New Artist nomination at the 50th Grammy Awards.

Swift's second album, Fearless, was released in late 2008. Buoyed by the chart success of the singles "Love Story" and "You Belong with Me", Fearless attracted a crossover audience and became the top-selling album of 2009. The record won four Grammy Awards, with Swift becoming the youngest ever Album of the Year winner. Fearless also received Album of the Year plaudits at the American Music Awards, Academy of Country Music Awards and Country Music Association Awards, making it the most awarded album in country music history. In 2010, Swift released her third album, Speak Now, which sold over one million copies in its first week. She then embarked on the 111-date Speak Now World Tour, which was attended by over 1.6 million fans and has become one of the highest-grossing concert tours of all time. The album's third single, "Mean", won two Grammy Awards for Best Country Song and Best Country Solo Performance. Swift is currently recording her fourth studio album, due for release in the fall of 2012.

Guillaume de Machaut (sometimes spelled Machault) (c. 1300 – April 1377) was a Medieval French poet and composer. He is one of the earliest composers on whom significant biographical information is available. According to Daniel Leech-Wilkinson, Machaut was "the last great poet who was also a composer". Well into the 15th century, Machaut's poetry was greatly admired and imitated by other poets, including Geoffrey Chaucer.

Machaut composed in a wide range of styles and forms. He is a part of the musical movement known as the ars nova. Machaut helped develop the motet and secular song forms (particularly the lai and the formes fixes: rondeau, virelai and ballade). Machaut wrote the Messe de Nostre Dame, the earliest known complete setting of the Ordinary of the Mass attributable to a single composer.

Guillaume de Machaut was born c. 1300 and educated in the region around Rheims. Though his surname most likely derives from the nearby town of Machault, 30 km east of Rheims in the Ardennes region, most scholars believe his birthplace was, in fact, Rheims.