On December 13th, 1983, Taylor Swift was born as Taylor Alison Swift. Swift was born in West Reading, Pennsylvania to Scott Swift—a stockbroker, and Andrea Smith—a home maker. At age nine she began to take vocal and acting lessons in New York, finding newfound passions. Her music took a genre shift as she began to take inspiration from artists like Shania Twain and Faith Hill. Swift learned to play guitar at age 12 when Ronnie Cremer— a computer repair man visited her home. He helped her write her first song titled, “Lucky You”. In 2003 Swift took a modeling gig for Abercrombie and Fitch, a popular clothing brand. The brand added one of her original songs onto their store CD, bringing Swift deals with major record labels. When Swift was 14 her family moved to Hendersonville, Tennessee to further support her music career. She graduated from high school a year early through homeschooling which she attended to accommodate her touring schedules.
Her career took off when she ventured to Nashville, Tennessee to work with songwriter Liz Rose. She became the youngest artist to sign with Sony/ATV Publishing house. Swift caught the attention of Scott Borchetta— a record executive who was preparing to open his own label, Big Machine Records. She signed with the label becoming one of their first artists. Taylor’s first self titled album which reached number five on the US billboard 200. In 2007, Swift was the opening act for country star, Brad Paisley. Swift became the youngest artist to have the title of BMI songwriter of the year, with several awards from the CMAs, ACMs, and AMAs.
Swift released her second album, “Fearless” on November 8th, 2008. With lead single “Love Story” peaking at number four on the US Billboard 100, hitting number one in Australia. Her second single, “You Belong With Me” reached number two on the US Billboard 200, and was the top selling album of 2009 in the US. She was named “Artist of the year” by Billboard in 2009, and won an award during the 52nd Grammys. Swift’s “Fearless” tour earned over $63 million dollars, she released a documentary shortly after.
Taylor Swift released her third studio album, “Speak Now” on October 10th, 2010— the album peaking at number one on the US Billboard 200. The album sold over one million copies in its first week. Taylor won Best Country Song and Best Country Solo Performance for “Mean” during the 54th Grammys. She was also awarded Songwriter of the Year at the BMI awards, Entertainer of the Year at the ACMs and CMAs, and Billboard named her woman of the year. Swift’s Speak Now World Tour earned her $123 million dollars during its two year duration period.
On October 22, 2012, Swift released her fourth studio album titled, “Red”. The album marked the start of Taylors switching genres with songs featuring heartland rock, dubstep, and dance pop influences. “Red” debuted on the charts earning its spot at number one in the US, with 1.2 million copies sold in its first week. It was also her first number one album in the UK. She earned several awards for the album such as four grammy nominations, a VMA trophy, multiple AMA statues and an award from BMI for “Songwriter of the year”. The Red tour ran from March 2012 to June 2014, and earned $150 million for Swift.
Moving to New York Swift chased her passion and began to work on her most influential and successful album— “1985”. The album was officially released October 27th, 2014 and sold 1.28 million copies in its first week out. The 1985 Tour ran from May to December 2015, and earned Swift $250 million dollars in revenue. This made it the highest earning tour of the year. Swift won three Grammy awards for the album including “Best Album of the Year”. She released her sixth studio album, “Reputation” on November 7th, 2017 after disappearing from the public eye for most of 2016. “Reputation” earned number one on the US Billboard 200, selling 1.21 million copies. With this, she was the first act to have four albums sell one million or more copies within its first week. After the release, Swift embarked on her Reputation Stadium tour which earned the star over $226.1 million dollars. The tour became the highest grossing tour in American history with over two million tickets sold. Reputation was nominated for Best Pop Vocal Album at the 61st Grammys. She also won four AMAs awards, after the 2018 ceremony she earned the title of most awarded female in AMAs history.
Swift signed with Universal Music Group in November, 2018 which allowed her to maintain and own the rights to her music. With this she released, “Lover” on August 23, 2019, her seventh— but first owned album. “Lover” sold over 500,000 copies during its first week in the US, making Swift the first female artist to ever do this. All 18 songs from her album debuted on the US Billboard 100 in the same week, setting the record for the most simultaneous entries by a woman. The album earned her three grammy nominations, three VMAs, and six AMAs, she became the first female artist to win Artist of the Decade at the American Music Awards.
July 23, 2020, and December 11, 2020 Swift released her sister albums— “Folklore”, and, “Evermore”. Following the release of Folklore it debuted at number one on the US Billboard 100, staying there for eight consecutive weeks. It became the year’s longest running no. 1 album. “Folklore”earned Swift five Grammy nominations, she won the Album of the Year statue— becoming the first woman to win the Grammy’s highest honor three times. “Evermore”, featured collabed with names such as Bon Iver, Jack Antonoff and Aaron Dessner. Both albums sold over one million copies in their first weeks. “Folklore” broke the record for first-day streams by a female artist.
