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Taylor Swift

American singer-songwriter (born 1989) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Taylor Swift
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Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter. Known for her autobiographical songwriting, artistic versatility, and cultural impact, Swift is one of the best-selling music artists, the highest-grossing touring musician, and the wealthiest female musician—the first billionaire with music as the main income.

Quick Facts Born, Occupations ...

Swift signed to Big Machine Records in 2005, debuting as a country singer with the albums Taylor Swift (2006) and Fearless (2008). The singles "Teardrops on My Guitar", "Love Story", and "You Belong with Me" found crossover success on country and pop radio formats. She incorporated rock on Speak Now (2010) and electronic on Red (2012), later re-calibrating her image from country to pop with the synth-pop set 1989 (2014); the ensuing media scrutiny inspired the hip-hop-imbued Reputation (2017). The albums contained the Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together", "Shake It Off", "Blank Space", "Bad Blood", and "Look What You Made Me Do".

Shifting to Republic Records in 2018, Swift released the electropop album Lover (2019) and contested with Big Machine for masters, re-recording four albums as Taylor's Version.[a] She explored indie folk styles in the 2020 surprise albums Folklore and Evermore, and experimented with pop subgenres on Midnights (2022) and the double album The Tortured Poets Department (2024). Throughout the 2020s, Swift garnered the number-one songs "Cardigan", "Willow", "All Too Well (10 Minute Version)", "Anti-Hero", "Cruel Summer", "Is It Over Now?", and "Fortnight". In the U.S., a record seven Swift albums have sold one million copies first-week each. She has undertaken six concert tours, including the Eras Tour (2023–2024), the highest-grossing tour of all time. Her films include Miss Americana (2020), All Too Well: The Short Film (2021), and The Eras Tour (2023)—the highest-grossing concert film.

Swift is a subject of extensive media coverage and has a global fanbase called Swifties. Publications such as Rolling Stone and Billboard have listed her amongst history's greatest artists; she is the only individual from the arts to have been named the Time Person of the Year (2023). Among other accolades, Swift has received 14 Grammy Awards (including a record four Album of the Year wins), a record five IFPI Global Recording Artist of the Year awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, and a string of Guinness World Records. She is the most-awarded artist of the American Music Awards (40), the Billboard Music Awards (49), and the MTV Video Music Awards (30).

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Life and career

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Early life

Taylor Alison Swift was born on December 13, 1989, in West Reading, Pennsylvania.[1] She is named after the singer-songwriter James Taylor;[2] her parents chose a unisex name with hopes of her becoming successful in business.[3] Her father, Scott Kingsley Swift, was a stockbroker for Merrill Lynch, and her mother, Andrea Gardner Swift (née Finlay), worked as a mutual fund marketing executive.[4] Swift's younger brother, Austin, is an actor.[5] The siblings are of Scottish, English, and German descent, with distant Italian and Irish ancestry.[6][7][8] Their maternal grandmother, Marjorie Finlay (née Moehlenkamp), was an opera singer, whose singing in church became one of Swift's earliest memories of music.[9]

During childhood, Swift spent her holiday seasons on a Christmas tree farm in Pennsylvania,[10] and summers at her family's vacation home in Stone Harbor, New Jersey, where she occasionally performed acoustic songs at a local coffee shop.[11] Raised Christian,[12] she attended preschool and kindergarten at a Montessori school run by the Bernardine Sisters of St. Francis before transferring to the Wyndcroft School in Pottstown.[13][14] When her family moved to Wyomissing, she attended Wyomissing Area Junior/Senior High School.[15][16] At age nine, she aspired to a career in musical theater, performing at local festivals and in Berks Youth Theatre Academy productions,[17][18] and traveling regularly to New York City for vocal and acting lessons.[19][20] After watching a documentary about Faith Hill, she changed her goal and became determined to pursue a country music career in Nashville, Tennessee.[21]

At 11, Swift traveled to Nashville with her mother to visit record labels and submit demo tapes of Dolly Parton and Dixie Chicks karaoke covers.[22] She was rejected by all the labels, which led her to focus on songwriting.[23] She started learning the guitar at 12 with the help of a computer repairman and local musician who assisted Swift with writing an original song.[24] In 2003, she and her parents started working with the talent manager Dan Dymtrow. With his help, Swift modeled for Abercrombie & Fitch, had an original song included on a Maybelline compilation CD, and was given an artist development deal from RCA Records at 13.[25][26] To help Swift break into the country music scene, her father transferred to Merrill Lynch's Nashville office when she was 14 years old, and the family relocated to Hendersonville, Tennessee.[27][28] Swift attended Hendersonville High School for two years before transferring to Aaron Academy, which offered homeschooling.[3][29][30]

2004–2008: Career beginnings and first album

Swift signed to Sony/ATV Tree Music Publishing in 2004; at 14, she became the youngest signee in the publishing company's history.[31] In Nashville, she worked with experienced Music Row songwriters, including Liz Rose.[32][33] Rose and Swift would write songs every Tuesday afternoon after school.[34] After one year on the development deal, she left RCA Records, who decided to keep her in development until she turned 18.[35] Swift decided so because she wanted to release the songs immediately, to make sure that they still resonated with her teenage experiences.[36]

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Swift opening for Brad Paisley in 2007. To promote her first album, she opened tours for other country musicians in 2007 and 2008.[37]

Swift organized a showcase concert at Bluebird Cafe on November 3, 2004; among the attendees were Scott Borchetta, a music executive who was planning to establish an independent record label, Big Machine Records.[38] She signed a recording contract with Big Machine two weeks after the concert, on the condition that her albums would be written by herself;[39][40] her father purchased a three-percent stake in the company.[41] The contract finalized by July 2005, when Swift ended the working relationship with Dymtrow.[42] She spent four months near the end of 2005 to record her debut album, Taylor Swift, with the producer Nathan Chapman.[43]

Swift's debut single, "Tim McGraw", was released in June 2006. She and her mother spent mid-2006 sending promotional copies of the song to country radio stations across the US.[44] Taylor Swift was released on October 24, 2006.[45] On the US Billboard 200 chart, the album peaked at number five and spent 157 weeks—the longest chart run by album in the 2000s decade.[46] With Taylor Swift, she became the first female country music artist to write or co-write every track on a platinum-certified debut album.[47] The album was promoted by a six-month radio tour and Swift's opening for other country artists including Rascal Flatts in 2006,[43][48] and George Strait,[49] Brad Paisley,[50] and Tim McGraw and Faith Hill in 2007.[51] She opened for Rascal Flatts again in 2008,[52] when she dated the singer Joe Jonas.[53]

Taylor Swift was supported by four more singles in 2007 and 2008: "Teardrops on My Guitar", "Our Song", "Picture to Burn", and "Should've Said No". "Our Song" and "Should've Said No" reached number one on the Hot Country Songs chart; with the former single, Swift became the youngest person to single-handedly write and sing a number-one country single.[54] "Teardrops on My Guitar" was Swift's breakthrough single on mainstream radio and charts, reaching the top 10 of the Pop Songs, Adult Pop Songs, and Adult Contemporary charts.[55][56] Her next releases were the Christmas extended play (EP) The Taylor Swift Holiday Collection in October 2007,[57] and the Walmart-exclusive EP Beautiful Eyes in July 2008.[58] Swift became the youngest person to be awarded with Nashville Songwriters Association's Songwriter/Artist of the Year, in 2007.[59] At the 50th Annual Grammy Awards in 2008, she was nominated for Best New Artist.[60]

2008–2010: Fearless

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Swift at the 2009 premiere of Hannah Montana: The Movie. She had a cameo appearance in the film and wrote two songs for its soundtrack.

Swift's second studio album, Fearless, was released on November 11, 2008, in North America,[61] and in March 2009 in other markets.[62] Fearless spent 11 weeks atop the Billboard 200, becoming her first chart topper and the longest-running number-one female country album; it was the best-selling album of 2009 in the US.[63][64] The album's lead single, "Love Story", became the first country song to top the Pop Songs chart, and its third single, "You Belong with Me", was the first country song to top Billboard's all-genre Radio Songs chart;[65][66] both reached the top five of the Billboard Hot 100 chart and peaked atop the Hot Country Songs chart.[67][68] Three other singles—"White Horse", "Fifteen", "Fearless"—all reached the top 10 of Hot Country Songs.[68] In 2009, Swift opened for Keith Urban's tour and embarked on her first headlining tour, the Fearless Tour.[69]

Fearless became the most-awarded country album of all time.[70] It won the three highest awards for a country album: Album of the Year by both the Country Music Association Awards and Academy of Country Music Awards in 2009, and Best Country Album by the Grammy Awards in 2010.[71] At the Grammys, it also won Album of the Year, and "White Horse" won Best Country Song and Best Female Country Vocal Performance.[72] Also in 2009, Swift was named Artist of the Year by both the American Music Awards and Billboard,[73][74] and Entertainer of the Year by the Country Music Association Awards, becoming the youngest person to win the honor.[75] "You Belong with Me" won Best Female Video at the MTV Video Music Awards. Her acceptance speech was interrupted by the rapper Kanye West, an incident that became known as "Kanyegate" and turned into the subject of controversy and widespread media coverage.[76]

Swift collaborated with other musicians in 2009. She featured on "Half of My Heart" by John Mayer, with whom she was romantically linked later that year.[77][78] She wrote "Best Days of Your Life" for Kellie Pickler,[79] co-wrote and featured on Boys Like Girls' "Two Is Better Than One,[80] and wrote and recorded "You'll Always Find Your Way Back Home" and "Crazier" for the soundtrack of Hannah Montana: The Movie, in which she had a cameo appearance.[81][82] She had her acting debut in the 2010 rom-com Valentine's Day and wrote "Today Was a Fairytale" for its soundtrack.[83] "Today Was a Fairytale" reached number one on the Canadian Hot 100.[84] While shooting Valentine's Day in October 2009, Swift dated co-star Taylor Lautner.[85] On television, she made her debut as a rebellious teenager in an CSI: Crime Scene Investigation episode[86] and hosted and performed as the musical guest on Saturday Night Live; she was the first host to write their own opening monologue.[87]

2010–2014: Speak Now and Red

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Swift on the Speak Now World Tour in 2011

Swift wrote her third studio album, Speak Now, entirely herself.[88] Released on October 25, 2010,[89] Speak Now expands on the country pop sound of Fearless and incorporates strong rock music influences.[90] Speak Now debuted the US Billboard 200 with over one million first-week copies sold, registering the highest single-week tally for a female country artist.[91] Five of its singles—"Mine", "Back to December", "Mean", "Sparks Fly", and "Ours"—charted in the top three of Hot Country Songs; "Sparks Fly" and "Ours" reached number one.[68] "Mine" peaked at number three and was the highest-charting single on the Billboard Hot 100.[92]

Swift embarked on the Speak Now World Tour from February 2011 to March 2012.[93] In 2011, Swift was honored as Woman of the Year by Billboard,[94] Entertainer of the Year by both the Academy of Country Music Awards and the Country Music Association Awards,[95] and Artist of the Year at the American Music Awards.[96] She again won Entertainment of the Year by the Academy of Country Music Awards in 2012.[97] At the 54th Annual Grammy Awards in 2012, "Mean" won Best Country Song and Best Country Solo Performance.[98] After Speak Now's release, Swift dated the actor Jake Gyllenhaal.[78]

On October 22, 2012, Swift released her fourth studio album, Red,[99] which featured collaborations with Chapman and new producers including Max Martin, Shellback, Dan Wilson, Jeff Bhasker, Dann Huff, and Butch Walker. Conceived as a record that expanded beyond Swift's country pop releases, Red incorporates eclectic styles of pop and rock such as Britrock, dubstep, and dance-pop,[100][101] leading to a critical debate over Swift's status as a country musician.[102] The album opened at number one on the Billboard 200 with 1.21 million sales, becoming the fastest-selling country album in US history.[103] It was Swift's first number-one album in the UK.[104] During promotion of Red, Swift was romantically involved with the political heir Conor Kennedy, and subsequently the singer Harry Styles.[78]

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Swift on the Red Tour in 2013

Two most successful singles from Red, "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" and "I Knew You Were Trouble", peaked at numbers one and two on the Billboard Hot 100;[105] both of them also reached the top five on the UK singles chart, and the former was Swift's first chart topper in the US.[106][107] Two other singles, "Begin Again" and "Red", peaked in the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100;[67] while two others, "Everything Has Changed" and "22", reached the top 10 on the UK singles chart.[106] The Red Tour ran from March 2013 to June 2014 and became the highest-grossing country tour with revenue of $150.2 million upon completion.[108] Swift was named Artist of the Year at the American Music Awards in 2013.[109] In 2014, Swift was honored with the Pinnacle Award at the Country Music Association Awards, becoming the second recipient in history after Garth Brooks.[110]

Swift wrote and recorded two songs for the soundtrack album to the 2012 dystopian film The Hunger Games: "Eyes Open" and "Safe & Sound".[111] The latter, which was co-written with the Civil Wars and T-Bone Burnett, won the Grammy Award for Best Song Written for Visual Media in 2013.[112] She wrote and recorded "Sweeter than Fiction" for the soundtrack to the 2013 biographical film One Chance,[113] and featured as a guest vocalist on B.o.B's 2012 single "Both of Us" and Tim McGraw's 2013 single "Highway Don't Care".[114][115] Her acting roles included a voice acting role in the 2012 animated film The Lorax,[116] a cameo in a 2013 episode of the sitcom New Girl,[117] and a supporting role in the 2014 dystopian film The Giver.[118]

2014–2018: 1989 and Reputation

Swift relocated from Nashville to New York City in March 2014 and transformed her image from country to pop with her fifth studio album, 1989.[119][120] She produced 1989 with Martin, Shellback, Chapman, and new collaborators Jack Antonoff, Imogen Heap, Ryan Tedder, and Ali Payami.[121] Rooted in 1980s synth-pop, 1989 incorporates upbeat dance and electronic arrangements of synthesizers, drum machines, and processed vocals.[122] Released on October 27, 2014, the album spent 11 weeks at number one and one year in the top 10 of the Billboard 200.[123][124] It has sold 14 million copies worldwide, becoming Swift's best-selling album.[125]

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Swift on the 1989 World Tour, the highest-grossing tour of 2015

Three of 1989's singles—"Shake It Off", "Blank Space", and "Bad Blood"—reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100; the first two made Swift the first woman to replace herself at the top spot.[126] Two other singles—"Style" and "Wildest Dreams"—peaked at numbers six and five, making 1989 the first album by Swift to have five consecutive top-10 singles on the Hot 100.[127] The 1989 World Tour was the highest-grossing tour of 2015 with $250 million in revenue.[128] She was named Billboard's Woman of the Year and received the inaugural Dick Clark Award for Excellence at the American Music Awards in 2014,[129][130] and "Bad Blood" won Video of the Year and Best Collaboration at the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards.[131] At the 58th Annual Grammy Awards in 2016, 1989 made Swift the first woman to win Album of the Year twice; it also won Best Pop Vocal Album, and "Bad Blood" won Best Music Video.[132]

During promotion of 1989, Swift publicly opposed to free music streaming services. She published an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal in July 2014 to stress the importance of albums as a creative medium for artists,[133] and, in November, removed her discography from ad-supported, free streaming platforms such as Spotify.[134] Big Machine kept her music only on paid, subscription-required platforms.[135] In a June 2015 open letter, Swift criticized Apple Music for not offering royalties to artists during its free three-month trial period and threatened to withdraw her music from the platform,[136] which prompted Apple Inc. to announce that it would pay artists during the free trial period.[137] Big Machine returned Swift's catalog to Spotify and other free streaming platforms in June 2017.[138]

Swift dated the DJ Calvin Harris from March 2015 to June 2016.[139] They co-wrote the EMD single "This Is What You Came For", which featured vocals from Rihanna; Swift was initially credited under the pseudonym Nils Sjöberg.[140] "Better Man", the 2016 single which Swift wrote for the country vocal group Little Big Town, won the Country Music Association Award for Song of the Year.[141] She recorded "I Don't Wanna Live Forever" with Zayn Malik for the soundtrack to the 2017 film Fifty Shades Darker; the song became the highest-charting single from the Fifty Shades franchise on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number two.[142]

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Swift on her Reputation Stadium Tour (2018)

In April 2016, Kanye West released the single "Famous", in which he references Swift in the line, "I made that bitch famous." Swift criticized West and said she never consented to the lyric, but West claimed that he had received her approval, and his then-wife Kim Kardashian released video clips of Swift and West discussing the song amicably over the phone. Although the clips were proved to be purposefully edited,[143] the controversy made Swift a subject of an online "cancel" movement, where her critics denounced her as a fake and calculating "snake".[144] In late 2016, after briefly dating the actor Tom Hiddleston, Swift began a six-year relationship with the actor Joe Alwyn and underwent a hiatus.[145][146]

In August 2017, Swift countersued and won a case against David Mueller, a former radio jockey for KYGO-FM, who sued her for damages from loss of employment. Four years earlier, she informed Mueller's seniors that he had sexually assaulted her by groping her at an event.[147] The public controversies influenced Swift's sixth studio album, Reputation, which explores themes of fame, drama, and finding love amidst the tumultuous affairs.[148] A primarily electropop album, its maximalist production experiments with urban styles of hip-hop and R&B.[149][150] Released on November 10, 2017,[151] Reputation opened atop the Billboard 200 with 1.21 million US sales[152] and also reached number one in Australia,[153] Canada,[154] and the UK.[155]

Reputation's lead single, "Look What You Made Me Do", topped the Billboard Hot 100 with the highest sales and streaming week of 2017,[156] and was Swift's first UK number-one single.[157] The singles "...Ready for It?", "End Game", and "Delicate" were released to pop radio; all of which reached the top 20 on the Billboard Hot 100.[158] In 2018, Swift featured on Sugarland's "Babe",[159] surpassed Whitney Houston as the most-awarded female musician at the American Music Awards,[160] and embarked on the Reputation Stadium Tour, which grossed $345.7 million worldwide.[161]

2018–2021: Lover, Folklore, and Evermore

In November 2018, Swift signed a record deal with Universal Music Group, which promoted her albums under Republic Records' imprint.[162] The contract included a provision for Swift to maintain ownership of her masters. In addition, in the event that Universal sold any part of its stake in Spotify, it agreed to distribute a non-recoupable portion of the proceeds among its artists.[163][164]

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Swift at the American Music Awards of 2019, where she was named Artist of the Decade

Swift's first album with Republic Records and seventh overall, Lover, was released on August 23, 2019.[165] She produced the album with Antonoff, Louis Bell, Frank Dukes, and Joel Little.[166] Lover peaked atop the charts of such countries as Australia, Canada, Ireland, Mexico, Norway, Sweden, the UK, and the US,[167] and was the global best-selling album by a solo artist of 2019.[168] Three of its singles—"Me!", "You Need to Calm Down", and "Lover"—were released in 2019 and peaked in the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100. "The Man" was released in 2020 and reached the top 30, and "Cruel Summer" became a resurgent success in 2023, reaching number one.[169]

In 2019, Swift was honored as Artist of the Decade by the American Music Awards and Woman of the Decade by Billboard,[170][171] and became the first female artist to win Video of the Year for a self-directed video with "You Need to Calm Down" at the MTV Video Music Awards.[172] During promotion of Lover, Swift became embroiled in a public dispute with the talent manager Scooter Braun after he purchased Big Machine Records, including the masters of her albums under the label.[173] Swift said that Big Machine would allow her to acquire the masters only if she exchanged one new album for each older one under a new contract, which she refused to sign.[173] In November 2020, Swift began re-recording her back catalog, which would enable her to control the licensing of her songs for commercial use.[174]

In February 2020, Swift signed a global publishing deal with Universal Music Publishing Group after her 16-year contract with Sony/ATV expired.[175] Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Swift surprise-released two "sister albums" that she recorded and produced with Antonoff and Aaron Dessner: Folklore on July 24, and Evermore on December 11.[176] Joe Alwyn co-wrote and co-produced several songs under the pseudonym William Bowery.[177] Both albums incorporate muted, atmospheric indie folk and indie rock sounds with orchestrations;[178][179] each was supported by three singles catering to US pop, country, and triple A radio formats. The singles were "Cardigan", "Betty", and "Exile" from Folklore, and "Willow", "No Body, No Crime", and "Coney Island" from Evermore.[180] Folklore and "Cardigan" made Swift the first artist to debut a number-one album and a number-one song in the same week in the US; she achieved the feat again with Evermore and "Willow".[181]

Swift won Artist of the Year at the American Music Awards in 2020[182] and Album of the Year for Folklore at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards in 2021, becoming the first woman to win the Grammy Award for Album of the Year three times.[183] She played Bombalurina in the film adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical Cats (2019), for which she co-wrote and recorded the original song "Beautiful Ghosts".[184] The documentary Miss Americana, which chronicled parts of Swift's life and career, premiered at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival and received positive reviews.[185][186]

2021–2023: Re-recordings and Midnights

Swift released two re-recorded albums in 2021: Fearless (Taylor's Version) in April and Red (Taylor's Version) in November. Both peaked atop the Billboard 200, and the former was the first re-recorded album to do so.[187] The latter helped Swift surpass Shania Twain as the female musician with the most weeks at number one on the Top Country Albums chart.[188] The song "All Too Well (10 Minute Version)" from Red (Taylor's Version) became the longest song in history to top the Billboard Hot 100.[189]

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Swift performing in 2022

Swift's tenth studio album, Midnights, was released on October 21, 2022.[190] The album features a minimalist electropop and synth-pop sound,[191][192] with elements of hip-hop, R&B, and electronica.[190][193] Midnights was Swift's fifth album to open atop the Billboard 200 chart with US first-week sales of one million. Its tracks, led by the single "Anti-Hero", made her the first artist to occupy the entire top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 the same week.[194] The album peaked atop the charts of at least 14 other countries including Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Norway, and Sweden.[195] Two other singles, "Lavender Haze" and "Karma", both peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100.[196]

In 2023, Swift released two re-recorded albums: Speak Now (Taylor's Version) in July and 1989 (Taylor's Version) in October. The former made Swift the woman with the most number-one albums (12) in Billboard 200 history, surpassing Barbra Streisand,[197] and the latter was her sixth album to sell one million US first-week copies.[198] The single "Is It Over Now?" from 1989 (Taylor's Version) peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100.[199] Swift featured on Big Red Machine's "Renegade" and "Birch" (2021),[200] Haim's "Gasoline" (2021),[201] Ed Sheeran's "The Joker and the Queen" (2022),[202] and the National's "The Alcott" (2023).[203] She wrote and recorded "Carolina" for the soundtrack of the 2012 mystery film Where the Crawdads Sing,[204] and had a supporting role in the 2022 period comedy film Amsterdam.[205]

In 2022, Swift won Artist of the Year at the American Music Awards[206] and Video of the Year for All Too Well: The Short Film, her self-directed short film that accompanies "All Too Well (10 Minute Version)" at the MTV Video Music Awards; All Too Well also won the Grammy Award for Best Music Video.[207][208] The following year, she again won the MTV Video Music Award for Video of the Year with "Anti-Hero",[209] became the first musician to rank at number one on Billboard's year-end top artists list in three different decades (2009, 2015 and 2023),[210] and had five out of the 10 best-selling albums of the year in the US, a record since Luminate began tracking US music sales in 1991.[211] At the 67th Annual Grammy Awards in 2025, Midnights made Swift the first artist to win Album of the Year four times; it also won Best Pop Vocal Album.[212]

2023–present: The Eras Tour and The Tortured Poets Department

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Swift on the Eras Tour in 2023

In March 2023, Swift embarked on the Eras Tour, which she conceived as a tribute to her entire discography. The tour spanned five continents through December 2024.[213] It exerted a global cultural, economic, and political impact and culminated in an unprecedented height of popularity for Swift,[214][215][216] resulting in a phenomenon that the media dubbed "Swiftmania".[217][218] The Eras Tour became the highest-grossing tour in history, with $2 billion in revenue.[219] Its concert film grossed $250 million to become the highest-grossing of its kind,[220] and its photobook sold nearly a million copies in its first week in the US.[221]

During the run of the Eras Tour, there were controversies surrounding Ticketmaster's monopoly that led to political scrutiny in the US,[222] venue mismanagement that lead to a death in Brazil,[223] and Singapore's exclusivity deal that led to political tension in Southeast Asia.[224] In July 2024, three children were killed in a stabbing attack at a Swift-themed workshop in Southport, England, leading to civil unrest in the UK.[225] The following month, the Vienna concerts were canceled following the arrest of suspects who planned a terrorist attack.[226]

Swift's eleventh studio album, The Tortured Poets Department, was released on April 19, 2024.[227] It became the first album to accumulate one billion streams on Spotify within one week and topped charts of various countries including Australia, Canada, France, Germany, and the UK.[228][229] In the US, The Tortured Poets Department debuted atop the Billboard 200 with 2.6 million first-week units and stayed at number one for 17 weeks, becoming Swift's longest-running number-one album.[230] The album was the global best-seller of 2024, with 5.6 million copies sold.[231] Its songs, led by the single "Fortnight", made her the first artist to monopolize the top 14 of the Billboard Hot 100 the same week;[228] the second single, "I Can Do It with a Broken Heart", peaked at number three.[232]

Swift began dating the football player Travis Kelce in 2023; their high-profile relationship resulted in their status as a "power couple".[233][234] In January 2024, AI-generated pornographic images portraying Swift in a football context were posted to Twitter and spread to other social media platforms, spurring criticism and demands for legal reform.[235] On May 30, 2025, Swift finalized the purchase of the masters to her first six original studio albums from Shamrock Holdings, who had acquired them from Scooter Braun in 2020.[236]

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Artistry

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Musical styles

With continuous musical reinventions, Swift was described as a musical "chameleon" by publications such as Time and the BBC.[237][238][239] Her discography spans styles of pop,[240][241] country,[242][243] folk,[244][245] and rock,[246][247] with elements of R&B, hip-hop, and indie pop.[248][249] She self-identified as a country musician with her first four studio albums, from Taylor Swift to Red.[250][251] Her influences were female country artists of the 1990s such as Shania Twain, Faith Hill, LeAnn Rimes, the Dixie Chicks,[252] and Keith Urban's country crossover sound with elements rock, pop, and blues.[253] The albums feature a country pop sound defined by instruments such as six-string banjo, mandolin, fiddle, a slight twang in Swift's vocals, and pop-rock melodies;[254][255] Speak Now draws on rock styles of the 1970s and 1980s such as pop rock, pop-punk, and arena rock.[88][256] Some critics argued that country was an indicator of Swift's songwriting rather than musical style[257][258] and accused her of causing mainstream country to stray away from its roots.[259][260]

After the critical debate around Red's eclectic pop, rock, and electronic styles, Swift chose 1980s synth-pop as a defining sound of her recalibrated pop artistry and image, inspired by the music of Phil Collins, Annie Lennox, Peter Gabriel, and Madonna.[261][262] 1989, the first album in this direction, incorporates electronic arrangements consisting of dense synthesizers and drum machines.[263] Swift expanded on the electronic production on her next albums.[264] Reputation consists of hip-hop, R&B, and EDM influences; maximalist arrangements of heavy bass and manipulated vocals; and an emphasis on rhythm.[149][150][265] Lover incorporates eclectic sounds from country, pop-punk, and folk rock.[266] Midnights and The Tortured Poets Department both have a minimalist synth-pop sound characterized by analog synthesizers, sustained bass notes, and simple drum machine patterns.[267][268] When Swift embraced a pop identity, rockist critics regarded it as an erosion of her country songwriting authenticity,[269] but others considered it necessary for her artistic evolution and defended her as a pioneer of poptimism.[270][271]

Her 2020 albums Folklore and Evermore, described by some critics as "alternative",[272][273] explore indie folk and rock styles. They incorporate a subtle, stripped-back soundscape with orchestration, muted synthesizers, and drum pads.[274][275][276] Evermore experiments with varied song structures, asymmetric time signatures, and diverse instruments.[277][278] Critics deemed the indie styles a mature representation of Swift's singer-songwriter status and credited her with popularizing "alternative" music, although there were disagreements on this description.[279]

Voice

Swift possesses a mezzo-soprano vocal range,[284] but she mostly sings in her alto range,[285][286][287] and a generally soft and breathy timbre.[288][289] Reviews of Swift's early country albums criticized her vocals as weak and strained compared to those of other female country singers.[290] Despite the criticism, most reviewers appreciated that Swift refrained from correcting her pitch with Auto-Tune and how she prioritized "intimacy over power and nuance" to communicate the messages of her songs with her audience[291]—a style that critics have described as conversational.[285][292] According to the critic Ann Powers, Swift's defining vocal feature was her attention to detail to convey an exact feeling—"the line that slides down like a contented sigh or up like a raised eyebrow".[293]

On Red and 1989, Swift's vocals are electronically processed to accompany the pop production.[294][285] Her voice on Reputation and Midnights incorporates hip-hop and R&B influences that result in a near-rap delivery which emphasizes rhythm and cadence over melody.[248][295] She uses her lower register vocals extensively in Folklore[296] and both her lower and upper registers in Evermore; the musicologist Alyssa Barca described her timbre in the upper register as "breathy and bright" and the lower register as "full and dark".[278]

Reviews in The New York Times, Variety and The Atlantic were more appreciative of Swift's vocals in her later albums.[255][297][298][299] She ranked 102nd on Rolling Stone's 2023 list of the 200 Greatest Singers of All Time; the magazine commented: "A decade ago, including her on this list would have been a controversial move, but recent releases like Folklore, Evermore, and Midnights officially settled the argument."[289] Amanda Petrusich praised how the clarity and tone of Swift's live vocals accentuate her lyrics.[300]

Songwriting

Swift's fascination with songwriting began in her childhood; she credited her mother with igniting early interests by helping her prepare for class presentations,[301][302] and would make up lyrics to Disney soundtrack songs once she had run out of words singing them.[303] In her early career, her influences were the country musicians Patsy Cline, Loretta Lynn, Tammy Wynette, and Dolly Parton;[18][94] and the 1990s female singer-songwriters Melissa Etheridge, Sarah McLachlan, and Alanis Morissette.[304] In later interviews, she listed Joni Mitchell and Pete Wentz of Fall Out Boy as additional influences;[305][306] and Paul McCartney, Bruce Springsteen, Emmylou Harris, and Kris Kristofferson as career role models for their evolving and consistent songwriting outputs.[27][307]

Swift considers herself a songwriter first and foremost.[27] She divides her lyrics into three types: "quill lyrics", songs rooted in antiquated poeticism; "fountain pen lyrics", based on modern and vivid storylines; and "glitter gel pen lyrics", which are lively and frivolous.[308] Using songwriting to cope with personal experiences, her songs are largely autobiographical and feature narratives that mostly revolve around love and romantic relationships.[28][309][310] She would start writing by identifying an emotion she wanted to convey, and the story and melody would follow.[311] Where Taylor Swift and Fearless are rooted in adolescent feelings and detail optimistic romance inspired by fairy tales, Speak Now reflects her young adulthood with newfound wisdom on real-life heartbreak.[312][88] Red explores the tumult of an intense breakup, and 1989 reflects on failed relationships with a wistful perspective; both albums incorporate lyrics that hint at sex, reflecting her personal growth.[286] Swift described Lover as a "love letter to love", inspired by her realization of "love that was very real".[313]

As her career progressed, Swift wrote about self-perception and confrontation against her critics, influenced by fame, sexism, and scrutiny on her personal life by the press.[314] This was first exhibited in Speak Now, which set the precedent to the frantic media speculations on the subjects of Swift's songs, specifically concerning her dating history;[315] Swift considers this practice sexist.[316] Reputation both tackles the public controversies that tarnished her wholesome image and addresses a blossoming romance with intimacy and vulnerability; its extensive references to sex and alcohol set it apart from the youthful innocence that had informed Swift's past albums.[149][317][318] The nocturnal ruminations addressed in Midnights encompass regrets and fantasies, informed by Swift's self-awareness of her fame.[191] The Tortured Poets Department was conceived amidst her heightened fame brought by the Eras Tour and intensely publicized love life during 2023.[319] It explores heartbreak and other themes to the extremes: erotic desires, forbidden love, and escaping from the public spotlight.[249][320]

On Folklore and Evermore, Swift was inspired by escapism and romanticism to explore fictional narratives, deviating from the autobiographical songwriting that had characterized her artistry.[321] She imposed her emotions onto imagined characters and story arcs, inspired by authors and poets of romantic and modernist literature like F. Scott Fitzgerald, Robert Frost, William Wordsworth, and Emily Dickinson;[322][323] the last of whom was a distant cousin of Swift.[324] The characters of Folklore and Evermore construct their narratives based on fragments of memory, symbolizing the nature of folktales and oral traditions that pass through time.[325]

Swift considers her songwriting "confessional",[316][326] and academics have connected her style to that of confessional poetry, in that her songs reference personal events and publicize internal feelings to her audience.[310][327] Critical reception of her songwriting has been largely positive.[27][328][329] Several scholars have credited her with taking the confessional singer-songwriter tradition to new heights,[330][331] although some critics have dismissed her "confessional" style as material for tabloid gossip.[332] Music critics have also praised her melodic compositions for optimizing the verse-chorus form with memorable bridges.[285][333][334]

Swift has been variedly described by journalists as a "poet laureate"[335]—of puberty,[27][336] of romance,[337] and of her generation.[338] Objection to the perceived poetic value of her songs views her as a pop star using literary subtexts as a superficial, commercial ploy.[339] Rockist critics opine that Swift's writing, confined by the limits of pop stardom, is simplistic and contains metaphors that are at times imprecise or self-indulgent.[340] In the views of the literary critic Stephanie Burt, although Swift's writing is not poetry in its traditional sense, it is proficient at "placing inventive, evocative language into pop melodies designed to be sung".[341]

Performances and stage

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Swift playing a six-string banjo on the Speak Now World Tour (left, pictured in 2011) and a piano on the Reputation Stadium Tour (right, 2018)

Swift's concerts are equipped with elaborate settings, incorporating elements from Broadway theatre and high tech.[342][343][344] She does not rely on elaborate choreography and instead emphasizes on connecting emotionally with her audience through storytelling and vocal delivery.[345] Since 2007, she has toured with the same live band.[346] She plays four instruments live: guitar (including electric, acoustic six-string, and twelve-string), six-string banjo, piano, and ukulele.[347][348][349]

Critics have praised her stage presence, stamina,[350][351] and ability to bring forth an intimate atmosphere for her audience even in stadium settings.[300][352][353] Sasha Frere-Jones, in a 2008 article for The New Yorker, hailed her as a "preternaturally skilled" entertainer who exerted professionalism with a vibrant energy.[258] In Time's 2023 Person of the Year piece, Sam Lansky wrote: "Swift is many things onstage—vulnerable and triumphant, playful and sad—but the intimacy of her songcraft is front and center."[329]

Videos and filmmaking

Swift emphasizes visuals as a key creative component of her music.[354] She established her production company, Taylor Swift Productions, in 2008.[355] Her directorial debut was the music video for "Mine", co-directed with Roman White, in 2010;[356] and she developed the concept and treatment for "Mean" in 2011.[357] For the music videos of the 1989 and Reputation singles, she had an extensive collaboration with the director Joseph Kahn on eight videos;[358] among them, she produced "Bad Blood", which won Best Music Video at the Grammy Awards in 2016.[359] She worked with American Express for the "Blank Space" music video (which Kahn directed) and served as executive producer for the interactive app AMEX Unstaged: Taylor Swift Experience, for which she won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Interactive Program in 2015.[360]

As of May 2025, Swift has directed 13 of her music videos.[361] Her first solo directorial role was for "The Man", which made her the first female artist to win the MTV Video Music Award for Best Direction.[362] All Too Well: The Short Film marked her filmmaking debut,[194] and it made her the first artist to win the Grammy Award for Best Music Video as a solo director.[363] In June 2023, Swift was invited to the Academy of Motion Pictures.[364] She has cited Joseph Kahn, Chloé Zhao, Greta Gerwig, Nora Ephron, Guillermo del Toro, John Cassavetes, and Noah Baumbach as filmmaking influences.[354][365]

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Achievements

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Swift with her Best Female Video trophy at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards

Swift has won 14 Grammy Awards (including four for Album of the Year—the most wins by an artist),[366] 12 Country Music Association Awards,[367] 8 Academy of Country Music Awards,[368] 2 Brit Awards,[369] and an Emmy Award.[370] She is the most-awarded artist of the American Music Awards (40 wins),[371] Billboard Music Awards (49),[372] and MTV Video Music Awards (30, tied with Beyoncé).[373] She is the first woman honored with the Global Icon Award by the Brit Awards, in 2021.[374] Swift has been critically recognized for her songwriting. At the 64th BMI Pop Awards in 2016, she became the first female songwriter to be honored with an award named after its recipient, the Taylor Swift Award.[375] On Rolling Stone's 2015 list of the 100 Greatest Songwriters of All Time, she is the youngest person to be featured.[376] The National Music Publishers' Association awarded her the Songwriter Icon Award in 2021,[377] and the Nashville Songwriters Association International named her the Songwriter-Artist of the Decade in 2022.[194]

The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry honored her as the Global Recording Artist of the Year five times (2014, 2019, 2022, 2023, 2024), more than any other artist.[378] She is the most-streamed artist on Spotify as of February 2024,[379] and the highest-grossing touring act of all time, with cumulative revenue at $3.12 billion as of December 2024.[380] Her chart records include the most number-one albums in the UK and Ireland for a female artist in the 21st century;[381][382] the first artist to occupy the top five of the Australian albums chart, doing so twice,[383][384] and the top 10 of the Australian singles chart;[385] the most entries, most simultaneous entries, and most number-one entries for a soloist on the Billboard Global 200;[386][387] and the first artist to spend 100 weeks atop the Billboard Artist 100.[388]

In the US, Swift has sold 116.7 million album units, including 54 million pure sales, as of May 2025.[389] She is the solo artist with the most weeks at number one on the Billboard 200;[390] the female artist with the most number-one albums on the Billboard 200 (14) and most number-one debuts on the Billboard Hot 100 (7, tied with Ariana Grande);[228] the artist with the most number-one songs on Pop Airplay;[391] the first artist to chart five albums in the top 10 of the Billboard 200;[392] and the first woman to have both an album (Fearless) and a song ("Shake It Off") receive Diamond certifications from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).[393] Billboard ranked her at number eight on its list "Greatest of All Time Artists" (2019),[394] number two on "Greatest Pop Stars of the 21st Century" (2024),[395] and number one on "Top 100 Women Artists of the 21st Century" and "Top Artists of the 21st Century" (both 2025).[396][397]

Swift has appeared in power listings. She topped Forbes list of the world's highest-paid musicians in 2016 and 2019.[398][399] Time included her on its annual list of the 100 most influential people in 2010, 2015, and 2019.[400] She was one of the "Silence Breakers" that the magazine spotlighted as Person of the Year in 2017 for speaking up about sexual assault.[401] In 2023, she became the first person to be recognized as Time's Person of the Year for "achievement in the arts" and the first woman to appear on a Person of the Year cover more than once.[402][329] She received an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree from New York University and served as its commencement speaker on May 18, 2022.[194]

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Cultural status

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Swift at the 2010 Time 100 Gala

Swift has been credited with making a profound impact on the music industry, popular culture, and the economy.[403][404] She dominates cultural conversations,[405][406] leading some publications to describe her as a cultural "vitality" or zeitgeist.[407][408][409] Her music, life, and public image are points of attention in global celebrity culture.[239] Initially a teen idol,[410] she has been referred to as a pop icon;[264][411] publications describe her enormous popularity and longevity as unwitnessed since the 20th century.[412][413] In 2013, New York magazine's Jody Rosen dubbed Swift the "world's biggest pop star" and opined that the trajectory of her stardom has defied established patterns. Rosen added that Swift "falls between genres, eras, demographics, paradigms, trends", leaving her contemporaries "vying for second place".[250] Critics regard Swift as a rare yet successful combination of the pop star and singer-songwriter archetypes.[414]

Swift's fans are known as Swifties.[415] Billboard noted that only a few artists have achieved her level of chart success, critical acclaim, and fan support.[416] Swift's million-selling albums are considered an anomaly in the streaming-dominated industry following the end of the album era in the 2010s.[39][417] Economist Alan Krueger described Swift as an "economic genius".[418]

Although labeled by the media in her early career as "America's Sweetheart" for her girl next door persona,[419][420] Swift has been called by detractors "calculated" and manipulative of her image, a narrative bolstered by her 2016 dispute with West.[421][422] Critics have also noted that her personal life and career have been subject to intense misogyny and "slut-shaming",[423][424] as well as rampant media scrutiny and tabloid speculation.[425] Swift has also been a victim of numerous house break-ins and stalkers, some of whom were armed.[426][427]

Swift's private jet use has drawn scrutiny for its carbon emissions.[428][429] In 2023, a spokesperson for Swift stated that she had purchased more than double the required carbon credits to offset all tour travel and personal flights.[430][431] In December 2023, Swift's lawyers sent a cease and desist letter to American programmer Jack Sweeney over tracking her private jet, alleging stalking and safety risks. Media outlets have reported that the information posted by Sweeney is a synthesis of publicly available data.[432][433] In February 2024, it was reported that Swift had sold one of her two private jets.[434]

Legacy

"You have different artists dominating different sectors of the industry: Some are huge at streaming, some are big draws on the road. But we're at this moment where there's no one better than Taylor Swift, whether that's on the radio, with streaming, ticket sales or just cultural impact."

– Jason Lipshutz, Billboard executive director, 2023[435]

Swift helped shape the 21st century country music scene,[436] having extended her success beyond the Anglosphere,[250][436] pioneered the use of the internet (Myspace) as a marketing tool,[437][438] and introduced the genre to a younger generation.[439][250] Country labels have since become interested in signing young singers who write their own music;[440] her guitar performances contributed to the "Taylor Swift factor": a phenomenon to which an upsurge in guitar sales to women, a previously ignored demographic, is attributed.[441][442]

According to Pitchfork, Swift changed the music landscape with her genre transitions, a discography that accommodates cultural shifts,[443] and Billboard notes her ability to popularize any sound in mainstream music.[444] Lyrically, in being personal and vulnerable in her songs, music journalist Nick Catucci opined Swift helped make space for later singers like Billie Eilish, Ariana Grande, and Halsey to do the same.[166] Scholars have highlighted the literary sensibility and poptimist implications of Swift.[322][445] She has been credited with legitimizing and popularizing the concept of album "eras".[446][447] Swift is a subject of academic study and scholarly media research.[239] Various educational institutions offer courses on Swift in literary, cultural, and sociopolitical contexts.[448][239]

Swift has influenced numerous music artists, and her albums have inspired a generation of singer-songwriters.[439][275][449] Journalists praise her ability to reform industry practices, noting how her actions changed streaming policies, prompted awareness of intellectual property in new musicians,[450][451] and reshaped ticketing models.[452] Various sources deem Swift's music a paradigm representing the millennial generation;[453] Vox and The Daily Telegraph likened her to Bruce Springsteen,[454][455] and The Times named her "the Bob Dylan of our age".[456] Swift earned the title Woman of the Decade (2010s) from Billboard,[457] Artist of the Decade (2010s) at the American Music Awards,[458] and Global Icon at the Brit Awards for her impact.[459] Senior artists such as Madonna,[460] Stevie Nicks,[461] Jon Bon Jovi,[462] Dolly Parton,[463] and Elton John have praised her musicianship.[464] Carole King regards Swift as her "professional granddaughter" and thanked Swift for "carrying the torch forward".[465] Springsteen called her a "tremendous" writer,[466] while Elvis Costello compared Swift's songwriting to that of Bob Dylan,[467] and Billy Joel considered Swift the Beatles' successor.[468]

Entrepreneurship

Media outlets describe Swift as a savvy businesswoman;[469][470] in 2024, she topped Billboard's annual Power 100 ranking of the top music industry executives.[471] Swift is known for her traditional album rollouts, consisting of a variety of promotional activities that Rolling Stone termed as an inescapable "multimedia bonanza".[472][473] Easter eggs and cryptic teasers became a common practice in contemporary pop music because of Swift.[474] Publications describe her discography as a music "universe" subject to analysis by fans, critics, and journalists.[475][476][477] Swift maintains an active presence on social media and a close relationship with fans, to which many journalists attribute her success.[478][404][479] Her in-house management team is called 13 Management.[480]

Swift has endorsed many brands and businesses, having launched clothing lines with L.E.I. and Stella McCartney,[481][482] designed American Greetings cards and Jakks Pacific dolls,[483][484] released a number of fragrances with Elizabeth Arden,[485] and signed multi-year deals with AT&T and Capital One.[486][487] She was a spokesperson for the National Hockey League's Nashville Predators and Sony Cyber-shot digital cameras,[488][489] and became the global ambassador for New York City in 2014 and Record Store Day in 2022.[490][491]

Social activism

Swift identifies as a pro-choice feminist,[492] and is a founding signatory of the Time's Up movement against sexual harassment.[493] Specifically, she criticized the US Supreme Court's decision to end federal abortion rights in 2022.[494] Swift also advocates for LGBT rights,[495] and has called for the passing of the Equality Act, which prohibits discrimination based on sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity.[496][497] She performed during WorldPride NYC 2019 at the Stonewall Inn, a gay rights monument, and has donated to the LGBT organizations Tennessee Equality Project and GLAAD.[498][499][500]

A supporter of the March for Our Lives movement and gun control reform in the US,[501] Swift is a vocal critic of white supremacy, racism, and police brutality.[306][492] Following the George Floyd protests, she donated to the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund and the Black Lives Matter movement,[502] called for the removal of Confederate monuments in Tennessee,[503] and advocated for Juneteenth to become a national holiday.[504] She has openly criticized president Donald Trump.[505] In 2020, Swift urged her fans to check their voter registration ahead of elections, which resulted in 65,000 people registering to vote within one day of her post,[506] and endorsed Joe Biden and Kamala Harris in the 2020 US presidential election.[507] For the 2024 election, she endorsed Harris and Tim Walz.[508][509]

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Wealth and philanthropy

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Swift became a billionaire in October 2023, becoming the world's first musician to achieve the status "solely based on her songs and performances".[510][511] As of June 2025, Forbes estimates her net worth at $1.6 billion,[512] making her the richest female musician in the world,[513] and one of the wealthiest celebrities. Forbes had previously named her the annual top-earning female musician in 2016, 2019, 2021, and 2022.[514] She was the highest-paid celebrity of 2016 with $170 million—a feat recognized by Guinness World Records as the highest annual earnings ever for a female musician,[515] which she herself surpassed with $185 million in 2019.[516] Overall, Swift was listed as the Forbes highest-paid female artist of the 2010s, earning $825 million.[517] She has also developed a real estate portfolio worth $150 million as of 2023, with residential properties in Nashville, New York City, Los Angeles (Samuel Goldwyn Estate), and Rhode Island (High Watch).[518]

Swift ranked first on DoSomething's 2015 "Gone Good" list,[519] having received the Star of Compassion from the Tennessee Disaster Services and the Big Help Award from the Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards for her "dedication to helping others" and "inspiring others through action".[520][521] Especially early in her career, Swift donated to various relief funds following natural disasters. In 2009, she donated $100,000 to the Red Cross to help the victims of the Iowa flood of 2008.[522] The same year, she performed at Sydney's Sound Relief concert, which raised money for those impacted by bushfires and flooding.[523] In 2011, Swift used a dress rehearsal of her Speak Now tour as a benefit concert for victims of recent tornadoes in the US, raising more than $750,000.[524] In response to the May 2010 Tennessee floods, she donated $500,000.[525] In 2009, Swift sang at BBC's Children in Need concert and raised £13,000 for the cause.[526] In 2016, she donated $1 million to Louisiana flood relief efforts and $100,000 to the Dolly Parton Fire Fund.[527][528] Swift donated to food banks after Hurricane Harvey struck Houston in 2017.[529] Swift donated $1 million for Tennessee tornado relief in 2020 and again in 2023,[530][531] as well as $5 million toward the reliefs efforts after Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton in 2024.[532]

Swift has also donated to cancer research. As recipient of the Academy of Country Music's Entertainer of the Year in 2011, Swift donated $25,000 to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Tennessee.[533] In 2012, she participated in the Stand Up to Cancer telethon, performing the charity single "Ronan", which she wrote in memory of a four-year-old boy who died of neuroblastoma.[534] She has also donated $100,000 to the V Foundation for Cancer Research[535] and $50,000 to the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.[536] She has made donations to her fans several times for their medical or academic expenses.[537] During the COVID-19 pandemic, Swift donated to the World Health Organization and Feeding America[538] and supported independent record stores.[539][540] Swift performed "Soon You'll Get Better" on the One World: Together At Home television special, a benefit concert curated by Lady Gaga for Global Citizen to raise funds for the World Health Organization's COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund.[541]

She is a supporter of the arts. A benefactor of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame,[542] Swift has donated $75,000 to Nashville's Hendersonville High School to help refurbish the school auditorium,[543] $4 million to build a new education center at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville,[544] and $100,000 to the Nashville Symphony.[545] In 2012, Swift partnered with Chegg for Good to donate $10,000 to the music departments of six US colleges.[546]

She has also provided one-off donations. In 2007, she partnered with the Tennessee Association of Chiefs of Police to launch a campaign to protect children from online predators.[547] She has donated items to several charities for auction, including the UNICEF Tap Project and MusiCares.[548] Swift has also encouraged young people to volunteer in their local communities as part of Global Youth Service Day.[549] Also a promoter of children's literacy, she has donated money and books to schools around the country.[550][551] In 2018 and 2021, Swift donated to the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network in honor of Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month.[552] Swift donated to fellow singer-songwriter Kesha to help with her legal battles against Dr. Luke and to actress Mariska Hargitay's Joyful Heart Foundation.[552][553]

During the Eras Tour, Swift donated to food banks in Florida, Arizona, and Las Vegas;[554] she also employed local businesses throughout the tour and gave $197 million in bonus payments to her entire crew.[555][556][557] In February 2024, she donated $100,000 to the family of a woman who died in a shooting at the Kansas City Chiefs' Super Bowl parade.[558][559] In December 2024, a week before Christmas, Swift donated $250,000 to Operation Breakthrough. The funds were directed to workforce development, childcare, and early learning programs.[560]

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Discography

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Filmography

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Tours

See also

Footnotes

References

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