Everyone knows who Taylor Swift is: a pop singer with 11 recorded albums, 14 grammys, 6 concert tours, and a fanbase growing by the millions. She has broken records time and time again, from becoming the youngest artist in history to have released a number one hit on the “hot country songs” chart to being the only person to win the Grammy Award for “album of the year” four times. She has changed the music industry and inspired so many other artists such as Olivia Rodrigo, Sabrina Carpenter, and Gracie Abrams to do the same. She is an artist who unites people around the world under one thing — music.
Now with her Eras Tour being the highest-grossing concert tour at $1.04 billion, we are left to wonder how Taylor Swift achieved such remarkable success. What made Taylor Swift into the person she is today? Where did she start? What were the struggles she faced? Why do people love her and her music so much?
Swift was born in West Reading, Pennsylvania on December 13th, 1989. She grew up in Wyomissing, Pennsylvania until she was 13 years old. Her family then moved to Hendersonville, Tennessee to help Swift start her music career. Swift performed at various local events, such as singing the Star Spangled Banner at basketball games. At the age of 12, she had begun learning to play the guitar and writing her own songs. When she turned 15, Swift signed a record deal with Big Machine Records and released her first six albums, marking the beginning of her journey towards stardom.
Considering Swift’s Southern background, it makes sense that her career began with country music. Her first three albums were Taylor Swift, Fearless, and Speak Now. Swift’s passion for music and songwriting allowed her debut album, Taylor Swift, to spend more time (84 weeks) on the U.S. billboard 200 charts than any other album in the 2000s decade. Swift’s second album, Fearless, won the Grammy for Album of the Year in 2010, making her the second youngest person to win the prestigious award. Her third album, Speak Now, spent an unprecedented six weeks at number one on the Billboard 200.
Swift began her slow and steady shift from country music to pop music with her fourth album, Red, which spent seven weeks at number one on the Billboard 200. She first introduced elements of pop music in her album Red. Swift then released her first fully pop album, 1989. 1989 stayed in the Top 10 on the Billboard for an entire year, sold 1.3 million copies in its first week, and won the Grammy for Album of the Year, making Swift the first woman ever to win Album of the Year twice. This inspired Swift to begin her 1989 tour, which consisted of 85 shows and made $250.7 million in total.
As Taylor Swift’s career progressed, she began to receive enormous amounts of hate from millions of people around the world. Netizens criticized her for her disputes with other celebrities, the way she was portrayed in public, and many other factors that Swift had no control over. Additionally, many celebrities such as Kanye West and David Mueller attacked Swift through the media and in person.
In the midst of this hate, Swift was told to pretend everything was okay. “Throughout my whole career, label executives would just say, ‘A nice girl doesn’t force their opinions on people; a nice girl smiles and waves and says thank you,” Swift mentions in her documentary Miss Americana in January 2020.
Her attempts at enduring overwhelming backlash ended in November of 2016, when Swift vanished from the public eye for more than half a year. In August of 2017, Swift resurfaced to sue Mueller for harassing her in 2013.
Rather than letting the negativity stop her from continuing to pursue her music career, she expressed her feelings through her sixth album Reputation, released in November 2017. Reputation consisted of 15 songs, most of which were composed of EDM sounds and beats, causing Reputation to be considered Swift’s first electro pop album. Reputation was an immediate success, with over 1,200,000 copies sold during its first week of release. While the album didn’t receive any Grammys, it did win various other awards such as Billboard music awards for the Top Selling Album and the American Music Award for Favorite pop/rock album.
Although Swift was ready to release new music after her six month Reputation tour, her struggles were far from over. Her contract with Big Machine Records, the label she recorded her first six albums with, expired in November 2018. She signed a record deal with Republic Records and attempted to purchase her music from Big Machine Records. However, the songs were already sold to Scooter Braun, the CEO of HYBE-America, even though Swift had written all of the music and wanted ownership over her own songs. This prevented Swift from using any songs from her six previous albums in her documentary Miss Americana and the Heartbreak Prince, and prevented her from performing them at the 2019 American Music Awards. “All I could think about was the incessant, manipulative bullying I’ve received at his hands for years,” Swift said in a tumblr post after learning that Braun owned all of her previous music.
This unfortunate incident did not prevent her from releasing her seventh studio album, Lover, underneath her new record label Republic Records. As the title of the album implies, Lover consisted mostly of feelings of love for family, friends, and partners, while also addressing current events issues such as gay rights and the importance of voting. Lover sold over 800,000 copies in its first week of release and received an overall positive reaction. Fans appreciated the upbeat vibe of the album and the start of Swift’s methods of discussing life changing issues through her music. Swift was supposed to have a concert tour named Lover Fest starting on April 5th, 2020, but it was unfortunately canceled due to Covid-19 regulations.
The Covid-19 pandemic turned the world upside down and completely changed the way we lived. Many plans were canceled or delayed to keep ourselves safe from this deadly virus, causing many people to feel isolated. Luckily, artists like Taylor Swift saw the pandemic as an opportunity to write and release as much music as possible to help comfort people who were struggling through these fearful times. Approximately four months after the first coronavirus‐related activity restrictions were announced, Swift released her eighth studio album, Folklore without previous promotions. Folklore allowed Swift to get extremely creative with new characters she created representing each of her songs in the album, to connect with her listeners and their real-life situations. Because of Swift’s usage of new methods, Folklore debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 chart and went on to win the Grammy for Album of the Year in 2021 – Swift’s third Album of the Year award.
In December of 2020, just five months after Folklore was released, Swift released her ninth album, Evermore. Evermore was similar to Folklore in several ways. They were both released in the same year, both were surprise albums, and both were extremely successful and helped many fans around the globe that may have been struggling with their mental health during the Covid-19 pandemic. Evermore contained similar musical themes to Folklore as well. Due to these similarities, Folklore and Evermore are referred to as sister albums.
All seemed to be well for Swift and her music. After the sister albums were released, the only thing left to do was write more music for her loyal fans. However, all of Swift’s previous music was still owned by Scooter Braun. Swift knew she unfortunately wasn’t going to be getting any of her old music back, but it was suggested by three – time Grammy winner Kelly Clarkson that Swift rerecord her albums taken by Big Machine Records, reclaiming her songs and not allowing others to control her own writing. To date, Swift has rerecorded four out of six of those albums: Fearless, Speak Now, Red, and 1989. Swift is currently in the process of rerecording Reputation and her debut album as well.
In October 2022, Swift released her tenth studio album, Midnights. Midnights consisted of different pop music styles like synth-wave pop and electropop, signifying that Swift was still willing to experiment with new styles of music and broaden her musical horizons with every album. Unsurprisingly, the album skyrocketed to No 1. on the Billboard 200, with 549.26 million streams in its first week of release. Midnights also won the Grammy for Album of the Year in 2024, making Swift the winner of the most Grammy awards for Album of the Year ever, surpassing singers like Frank Sinatra, Stevie Wonder, and Paul Simon who each have three.
In April of 2024, Swift released The Tortured Poets Department, her eleventh studio album, capturing feelings of love and friendship, but in a melancholy tone. This unique perspective caused the album to sell over 2.6 million copies in its first week, and receive an overall positive reaction from fans around the world.
After Midnights was released, Swift began her unforgettable Eras tour in March 2023. After three years of not being able to perform live due to the pandemic, the Eras tour was a way to make up for all of the concerts she missed because of COVID-19 regulations. The Eras tour focuses not on just one album like her previous concerts have, but all of her “eras” in her music history, which tells the story of her musical journey while also interacting with her millions and millions of fans from across the globe. As someone who attended the Eras tour, I believe it’s safe to say that this tour has gone above and beyond the expectations of a music concert. The effects, the setlist, and her vibrant, energized personality left me shocked at how someone can work so hard to make this a memorable experience for the millions of people attending her concert. It was one of the most exciting nights of my life.
While Swift has come a long way from where she started, her musical journey is very far from over. She still has another leg of her world-famous Eras tour to complete, and is currently in the midst of rerecording albums and producing brand new ones for her loyal fans to enjoy. Just like any other artist, there are people that adore Swift and her music, and people that do not. However, one thing everyone can agree on is that she has an undying passion for writing and recording music, which is the main quality that makes her one of the most successful musicians of all time and how she got to where she is today. “I would love to tell you that this is the best moment of my life,” Swift said holding the Grammy statue for Album of the Year in 2024, “but I feel this happy when I finish a song, or when I crack the code to a bridge that I love, or when I’m shot listing a music video or when I’m rehearsing with my dancers or my band or getting ready to go to Tokyo to play a show.”
Now with her Eras Tour being the highest-grossing concert tour at $1.04 billion, we are left to wonder how Taylor Swift achieved such remarkable success. What made Taylor Swift into the person she is today? Where did she start? What were the struggles she faced? Why do people love her and her music so much?