Taylor Swift

Taylor Swift Facts:

Taylor Alison Swift was born on December 13, 1989, in Reading, Pennsylvania and was named after the singer-songwriter James Taylor.

Swift spent her early years on a Christmas tree farm, which her stockbroker father had purchased from one of his clients.

After watching a documentary about Faith Hill, Swift felt sure she needed to go to Nashville, Tennessee, to pursue a music career. She travelled with her mother at age eleven to visit Nashville record labels and submitted a demo tape of Dolly Parton and Dixie Chicks karaoke covers.

In 2003, Swift and her parents started working with New York-based music manager Dan Dymtrow. With his help, Swift modelled for Abercrombie & Fitch as part of their Rising Stars campaign and had an original song included on a Maybelline compilation CD.

At age 14, Swift became the youngest artist signed by the Sony/ATV Music publishing house and, at age 15, she signed her first record deal.

Her self-titled debut album peaked at number five on the Billboard 200 albums chart in the United States, spending 157 weeks there, the longest stay on the chart by any release in the US that decade.

Her 2006 eponymous debut album was the longest-charting album of the 2000s in the US. Its third single, “Our Song”, made her the youngest person to write and perform a number-one song on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart.

Her second album Fearless, was released in 2008. Buoyed by the pop crossover success of the singles “Love Story” and “You Belong with Me”, it became the US’s best-selling album of 2009 and was certified diamond in the US. The album won four Grammy Awards, and Swift became the youngest Album of the Year winner.

In 2009, Swift became the youngest person to ever win entertainer of the year at the Country Music Association Awards.

Swift made her acting debut in a 2009 episode of CSI, playing rebellious teenager Haley Jones.

In 2015, American singer Ray Stevens released his album Here We Go Again which included the single “Taylor Swift is Stalking Me”.

Her sixth album, Reputation (2017), made her the only act to have four consecutive albums each selling one million copies in their first week in the US.

Swift is one of the most-followed people on social media.

In 2015, Swift became the youngest woman to be included on Forbes’ list of the 100 most powerful women, ranked at number 64.

Swift placed at number eight on Billboard’s list of greatest artists of all time, the highest for an act that debuted in the 21st century and was named Woman of the Decade by the magazine and Artist of the Decade by the American Music Awards.

Her 2018 53-date Reputation Stadium Tour grossed $345.7 million.

In 2018, Swift collaborated with 300 women in Hollywood to set up the Time’s Up initiative to protect women from harassment and discrimination.

Swift’s ‘All Too Well (10 Minute Version) is the longest song in history to reach No. 1. The longtime record holder was Don McLean, whose eight-minute track ‘American Pie’ held the top position for four weeks in 1972.

Swift has sold more than 50 million albums, including 37.3 million in the US, and was one of the top five music artists with the highest worldwide digital sales.

During the 2008 presidential campaign, Swift promoted the Every Woman Counts campaign, aimed at engaging women in the political process.

Following the release of Red (Taylor’s Version), Swift broke Shania Twain’s record for the most weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Top Country Albums Chart.

With 178,600 pre-adds on Apple Music within one day, her seventh studio album Lover is the most pre-saved album by a female artist. The album surpassed three million album-equivalent units worldwide within its first week of release.

She was nominated for six awards at the 2024 Grammys, including for Song of the Year for ‘Anti-Hero.’ This marked Swift’s seventh nomination for Song of the Year — the most of any artist.

Swift is the only artist in history to claim all top 10 entries on the Billboard Hot 100 in a single week. All entries were from Swift’s album Midnights. At the top of the list, the week that Swift broke the record was ‘Anti-Hero,’ the album’s lead single.

Forbes reported in 2019 that Swift brought in a whopping $825 million between 2010 and 2019. Business Insider reported in 2020 that Swift owns at least $84 million in real estate across four states.

Her Reputation tour was the highest-grossing tour in the US as of 2018, grossing $266.1 million.

At the 2021 Grammy Awards, Swift became the first woman to win album of the year three times. The only other artists who have won album of the year three times are Stevie Wonder, Frank Sinatra, and Paul Simon.

Forbes reported that she became a billionaire in October 2023, in part due to her Eras tour, and in February 2024, her net worth was estimated to be $1.1 billion.