The Celebrity Friend Groups That Gave Us #SquadGoals In 2015

When we look back at pop culture in 2015, there’s really only one word that stands out. Squad. Any time two or more famous (or famous-adjacent) people were spotted out in the wild together, the news was basically guaranteed to appear in headlines as #SquadGoals. Do two people even a squad make? That’s a question for the ages...or just the sages at Us Weekly.

Of course, the idea of calling a group of friends a squad is hardly a new phenomenon. In an article called "The Summer of the #Squad" published this past July, The Atlantic points out that this meaning of the word first appeared on Urban Dictionary in 2004. Plus, the word "squad" has existed as a classification for groupings of certain types of people forever. Gangsters. Cheerleaders. Firing. Soldiers. You get the idea.

Then, along came Taylor Swift and her friendship-is-magic revolution. The singer reinvented herself for her 1989 album (which came out in October 2014) and world tour, which commenced on May 5, 2015. No longer would her narrative be one of broken hearts and besotted love stories. On her social-media channels and tour stops, Swift preached about the importance of girl power and surrounding oneself with an amazing group of friends. She practiced what she preached by welcoming members of her squad to the stage and many of her concerts.

And so the idea — and ideal — of the squad became further ingrained in our cultural consciousness. What was once referred to as a posse (trust us; we lived through the '90s) is now — well, at least at the present moment and in the immediate future — one’s squad. If you’d like to be a part of someone’s friend group, that’s what the kids would call #SquadGoals.

These are just a few crews from 2015 who gave us major #SquadGoals.