Taylor Swift

Taylor Alison Swift, a defining artist of the 2010s born on December 13, 1989, is an American singer-songwriter and actress who has found success in country, pop, and alternative music genres. She moved to Nashville, Tennessee, at fourteen to pursue a country music career and signed with Scott Borchetta’s then-upcoming label, Big Machine Records, in November 2004.

Swift made her debut in June 2006 with "Tim McGraw," an ode to a departing lover, which introduced her self-titled debut album released on October 24, 2006. It included singles like "Teardrops on My Guitar," "Our Song," "Picture to Burn," and "Should've Said No," and became the longest-charting album of the 2000s, lasting 227 weeks on the Billboard 200.

Her sophomore album, Fearless, released on November 11, 2008, featured singles such as "Fifteen," "Love Story," "White Horse," and "You Belong with Me." Swift considers this album her breakthrough, as it was her first number one album and became the most awarded country album in history. Swift was, until Billie Eilish's 2020 win, the youngest person to win the Grammy Award for Album of the Year at the time.

In response to doubts about her songwriting, Swift wrote her third album, Speak Now, by herself to prove her abilities. Released on October 25, 2010, it included singles such as "Mine," "Back to December," "Mean," "The Story of Us," and "Ours," earning her numerous awards, including a Grammy for Best Country Album.

Swift's fourth studio album, Red, released on October 22, 2012, marked a dramatic visual change along with singles like "I Knew You Were Trouble," "22," "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together," and "Everything Has Changed" charting on Billboard. Red earned a Grammy nomination for Album of the Year in 2013, and its fifth track, "All Too Well," was named the best song of the 2010s by Rolling Stone.

Her fifth album, 1989, released on October 27, 2014, marked her official pop music entry and included hits like "Blank Space," "Style," "Out of the Woods," "Shake It Off," "Bad Blood," and "Wildest Dreams." 1989 was the only album of 2014 to sell over a million copies in its first week, earning Swift a Grammy for Album of the Year, making her the first woman to win Album of the Year twice for different genres.

Following a publicized feud with Kanye West and a backlash that led to a hiatus from the spotlight, Swift worked on songs like "This Is What You Came For" with Calvin Harris, "Better Man" for Little Big Town, and collaborated with ZAYN for "I Don't Wanna Live Forever," featured in Fifty Shades Darker.

Swift teased "Look What You Made Me Do" on August 18, 2017, before releasing it and her sixth album, reputation, on November 10, 2017, featuring singles "...Ready for It?," "End Game," and "Delicate." reputation sold over 1.2 million copies its first week in the U.S., becoming the best-selling album of 2018.

After reputation, Swift signed with Republic Records and began reclaiming her music. Her seventh album, Lover, released on August 23, 2019, featured singles like "Lover," "The Man," "You Need to Calm Down," and "ME!," later also making "Cruel Summer" a single in 2023. In November 2019, the American Music Awards named Swift Artist of the Decade, breaking Michael Jackson's record with 29 AMA wins, and Billboard named her Woman of the Decade.

Swift switched to an alternative genre with folklore, her eighth studio album released on July 24, 2020, featuring only "cardigan" as its single and focusing on storytelling. Folklore won a Grammy for Album of the Year in March 2021, making Swift the first woman and fourth artist overall to win the award three times.

Her follow-up project, evermore, came out on December 11, 2020, with "willow" as its single. Swift began re-recording her old albums in 2021 to regain ownership, starting with Fearless (Taylor's Version) on April 9, featuring "Mr. Perfectly Fine" as a single. She followed this with Red (Taylor's Version) on November 12, 2021, featuring singles "I Bet You Think About Me," and the 10-minute version of "All Too Well," which was made into a short film.

Swift's tenth studio album, Midnights, released on October 21, 2022, reflects on sleepless nights throughout her life. It features singles "Anti-Hero," "Bejeweled," and "Lavender Haze." Midnights earned Swift the distinction of being the first artist to occupy the Billboard Hot 100's top 10 completely and set the record for most Spotify streams in a single day.

Swift resumed re-releasing her older work in July 2023 with Speak Now (Taylor's Version), featuring "I Can See You" as its single, with associated video appearances by Taylor Lautner and Joey King. Her fourth re-recording, 1989 (Taylor's Version), was released nine years after the original on October 27, 2014, and includes five "From The Vault" tracks, with Swift stating it's her favorite re-recording.

On December 6, 2023, TIME Magazine named Taylor Swift Person of the Year, during which she hinted at her presumed fifth re-recording, reputation (Taylor’s Version). Previously, snippets of "Look What You Made Me Do (Taylor's Version)" and "Delicate (Taylor's Version)" had been shared in the Prime series Wilderness and The Summer I Turned Pretty.

Following her win at the 66th GRAMMYs for “Best Pop Vocal Album” with Midnights, on February 4, 2024, Swift announced her eleventh studio album titled THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT, set for release on April 19, 2024.