| Taylor Swift | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Taylor Alison Swift |
| Born | December 13, 1989 Reading, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Genres | Country, country pop, pop, pop rock |
| Instruments | Vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, banjo guitar, ukulele, piano |
| Years active | 2006–present |
| Labels | Big Machine |
| Website | taylorswift.com |
Swift's second album, Fearless, was released in 2008. Buoyed by the pop crossover success of the singles "Love Story" and "You Belong with Me", Fearless became the best-selling album of 2009 and was supported by an extensive concert tour. The record won four Grammy Awards, with Swift becoming the youngest ever Album of the Year winner. Swift's third album, 2010's Speak Now, sold over one million copies in its first week of US release and was supported by the Speak Now World Tour. The album's third single, "Mean", won two Grammy Awards. Swift's fourth album, Red, was released in 2012. Its opening US sales of 1.2 million were the highest recorded in a decade, with Swift becoming the only female artist to have two million-plus opening weeks. The singles "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" and "I Knew You Were Trouble" were worldwide hits. The Red Tour is visiting worldwide venues in 2013 and 2014.
Swift is known for her narrative songs about her experiences as a teenager and young adult. As a songwriter, she has been honored by the Nashville Songwriters Association and the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Swift's other achievements include seven Grammy Awards, twelve Billboard Music Awards, fifteen American Music Awards, eleven Country Music Association Awards, six Academy of Country Music Awards and two Golden Globe Award nominations. She has sold over 26 million albums and 75 million digital single downloads worldwide. Forbes estimates that she is worth over $220 million. In addition to her music career, Swift has appeared as an actress in the ensemble comedy Valentine's Day (2010) and the animated film The Lorax (2012). As a philanthropist, Swift supports arts education, children's literacy, natural disaster relief, LGBT anti-discrimination efforts, and charities for sick children.
Early life
Taylor Alison Swift was born on December 13, 1989 in Reading, Pennsylvania.[1] Her father, Scott Kingsley Swift, is a Merrill Lynch financial adviser.[2][3] Scott was raised in Pennsylvania and is the descendant of three generations of bank presidents.[1][4] Her mother, Andrea (née Finlay), is a homemaker who previously worked as a mutual fund marketing executive.[5] Andrea spent the first ten years of her life in Singapore, before settling in Texas; her father was an oil rig engineer who worked throughout Southeast Asia.[4] Swift has a younger brother, Austin, who attends the University of Notre Dame.[6] She and her brother were raised in the Presbyterian faith and attended bible school.[7][8] She spent the early years of her life on an eleven-acre Christmas tree farm in Cumru Township, Pennsylvania.[9] She attended preschool and kindergarten at the Alvernia Montessori School, run by Franciscan nuns,[10] and was later educated at the Wyndcroft School, a co-ed private school.[11] When Swift was nine years old, the family moved to a rented house in the suburban town of Wyomissing, Pennsylvania,[12] where she attended West Reading Elementary Center and Wyomissing Area Junior/Senior High School.[13] Swift summered at her parents' waterfront vacation home in Stone Harbor, New Jersey and has described it as the place "where most of my childhood memories were formed."[14]Swift's family owned several Quarter horses and a Shetland pony and her first hobby was English horse riding.[15] Her mother first put her in a saddle when she was nine months old and she later competed in horse shows.[16] At the age of nine, Swift became interested in musical theatre. She performed in many Berks Youth Theatre Academy productions and traveled regularly to Broadway for vocal and acting lessons.[17][18] Swift then turned her attention to country music; Shania Twain's songs made her "want to just run around the block four times and daydream about everything."[19] She spent her weekends performing at local festivals, fairs, coffeehouses, karaoke contests, garden clubs, Boy Scout meetings and sporting events.[4][5][20] At the age of eleven, after many failed attempts,[21] Swift won a local talent competition by singing a rendition of LeAnn Rimes's "Big Deal", and was given the opportunity to appear as the opening act for Charlie Daniels at a Strausstown amphitheater.[17] This growing ambition began to isolate Swift from her middle school peers.[1]
After watching a Behind the Music episode about Faith Hill, Swift felt sure that she needed to go to Nashville, Tennessee to pursue a music career.[22] At the age of eleven, she traveled with her mother to Nashville for spring break to leave a demo of Dolly Parton and Dixie Chicks karaoke covers with record labels along Music Row.[23] She received label rejections and realized that "everyone in that town wanted to do what I wanted to do. So, I kept thinking to myself, I need to figure out a way to be different."[24] At the age of twelve, Swift was shown by a computer repairman how to play three chords on a guitar, inspiring her to write her first song, "Lucky You".[25] She had previously won a national poetry contest with a poem titled "Monster in My Closet" but now began to focus on songwriting.[26] In 2003, Swift and her parents started working with New York-based music manager Dan Dymtrow. With Dymtrow's help, Swift modelled for Abercrombie and Fitch as part of their "Rising Stars" campaign, had an original song included in a Maybelline Cosmetics compilation CD and took meetings with major record labels.[27] After performing original songs at an RCA Records showcase, the eighth-grader was given an artist development deal and began making frequent trips to Nashville with her mother.[28]
When Swift was fourteen, her father transferred to the Nashville office of Merrill Lynch and the family relocated to a lakefront house in Hendersonville, Tennessee.[1] "My parents took all the pressure off by saying, ‘We’re just moving because we love the area, so don’t worry.’ They knew nothing about the industry and had no involvement in entertainment, but I was obsessed with it and so they did their research and read up about it to help me in every way they could. They’re amazing people."[29] In Tennessee, she attended Hendersonville High School for her freshman and sophomore years.[30] Later, to accommodate her touring schedule, Swift transferred to the Aaron Academy, a private Christian school which offered homeschooling services. She earned her high school diploma in 2008, having completed her final two years of course work in twelve months.[31][32]
Music career
2004–08: Career beginnings and Taylor Swift
Swift moved to Nashville at the age of fourteen. As part of her artist development deal with RCA Records, she had writing sessions with experienced Music Row songwriters such as Troy Verges, Brett Beavers, Brett James, Mac McAnally and The Warren Brothers.[33][34] She eventually formed a lasting working relationship with Liz Rose. Swift saw Rose performing at an RCA songwriter event and suggested that they write together.[35] They began meeting for two-hour writing sessions every Tuesday afternoon after school.[36] Rose has said that the sessions were "some of the easiest I've ever done. Basically, I was just her editor. She'd write about what happened in school that day. She had such a clear vision of what she was trying to say. And she'd come in with the most incredible hooks."[37] Swift also began recording demos with producer Nathan Chapman.[35] After performing at a BMI Songwriter's Circle showcase at The Bitter End, New York,[34] Swift became the youngest songwriter ever hired by the Sony/ATV Tree publishing house.[38] Swift left RCA Records when she was fifteen; the company wanted her to record the work of other songwriters and wait until she was eighteen to release an album, but she felt ready to launch her career with her own material.[21][39] She also parted ways with manager Dan Dymtrow, who later took legal action against Swift and her parents.[27] "'I genuinely felt that I was running out of time," Swift later recalled. "I wanted to capture these years of my life on an album while they still represented what I was going through."[40] At an industry showcase at Nashville's Bluebird Cafe in 2005, Swift caught the attention of Scott Borchetta, a DreamWorks Records executive who was preparing to form his own independent record label, Big Machine Records. She became one of the label's first signings, with her father purchasing a three per cent stake in the fledgling company at an estimated cost of $120,000.[41][42] As an introduction to the country music business, Borchetta arranged for Swift to intern as an artist escort at the CMA Music Festival.[43]
Swift toured extensively in support of Taylor Swift. In addition to her own material, Swift played covers of songs by Beyoncé, Rihanna, John Waite, Lynyrd Skynyrd and Eminem.[61][62][63] She conducted meet-and-greet sessions with fans before and after her concerts; these lasted for up to four hours.[64] As well as festival and theater dates, Swift performed as an opening act for several country artists' concert tours. In late 2006, she opened for Rascal Flatts on the final nine dates of their Me & My Gang Tour, after the previous supporting act Eric Church was fired.[51] Swift later sent Church her first gold record with a note: "Thanks for playing 'too long' and 'too loud' on the Flatts tour. I sincerely appreciate it. Taylor."[65] In 2007, she served as the opening act on twenty dates for George Strait's tour,[66] several dates on Kenny Chesney's Flip-Flop Summer Tour,[67] selected dates on Brad Paisley's Bonfires & Amplifiers Tour[68] and several dates for Tim McGraw and Faith Hill's joint Soul2Soul II Tour.[69] Swift again opened for Rascal Flatts on their Still Feels Good Tour in 2008.[70] Swift and Alan Jackson were jointly named the Nashville Songwriters Association's Songwriter/Artist of the Year in 2007, with Swift becoming the youngest person ever to be honored with the title.[71] She also won the Country Music Association's Horizon Award for Best New Artist,[72] the Academy of Country Music Awards's Top New Female Vocalist award[73] and the American Music Awards's Favorite Country Female Artist honor.[74] She was also nominated for a 2008 Grammy Award in the category of Best New Artist, but lost to Amy Winehouse.[75]
2008–10: Fearless, VMA controversy and Grammy backlash
Swift's second studio album, Fearless, was released in November 2008. Swift wrote seven of the album's songs alone, including two singles, and co-wrote the remaining six with songwriters Liz Rose, John Rich, Colbie Caillat and Hillary Lindsey.[76] She co-produced the album with Nathan Chapman.[76] Musically, it has been said that the record is characterized by "loud, lean guitars and rousing choruses," with the occasional "bit of fiddle and banjo tucked into the mix."[77] The New York Times described Swift as "one of pop's finest songwriters, country's foremost pragmatist and more in touch with her inner life than most adults."[78] The Village Voice felt she displayed "preternatural wisdom and inclusiveness," "masterfully avoiding the typical diarist's pitfalls of trite banality and pseudo-profound bullshit."[79] Rolling Stone described her as "a songwriting savant with an intuitive gift for verse-chorus-bridge architecture" whose "squirmingly intimate and true" songs seemed to be "literally ripped from a suburban girl's diary."[77] Music critic Robert Christgau characterized Swift as "an uncommonly-to-impossibly strong and gifted teenage girl."[80] Swift promoted Fearless heavily upon its release. An episode of The Ellen DeGeneres Show was dedicated to the album launch and Swift appeared on many other chat shows.[54][81] She communicated with fans using social media platforms such as Twitter and personal video blogs.[54] The lead single from the album, "Love Story", was released in September 2008 and became the second best-selling country single of all time, peaking at number four on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.[82] Four more singles were released throughout 2008 and 2009: "White Horse", "You Belong with Me", "Fifteen" and "Fearless". "You Belong with Me" was the album's highest-charting single, peaking at number two on the Billboard Hot 100.[83] The album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 Album Chart with sales of 592,304 and has since sold over 8.6 million copies worldwide.[84] It was the top-selling album of 2009 and brought Swift much crossover success.[85]
Swift won four Grammy Awards in 2010, from a total of eight nominations.[110] Fearless was named Album of the Year and Best Country Album, while "White Horse" was named Best Country Song and Best Female Country Vocal Performance.[111] She was the youngest ever artist to win Album of the Year.[112] During the ceremony, Swift sang "Rhiannon" and "You Belong with Me" with Stevie Nicks. Her vocal performance received negative reviews and sparked a widespread media backlash.[109][113] Her vocals were described variously as "badly off-key," "strikingly bad" and "incredibly wretched."[114][115] While The New York Times found it "refreshing to see someone so gifted make the occasional flub" and described Swift as "the most important new pop star of the past few years,"[112] music analyst Bob Lefsetz predicted that her career would end "overnight." He publicly appealed to Swift's father to hire a "crisis publicity agent" to manage the story because "Taylor's too young and dumb to understand the mistake she made."[116][117] Stevie Nicks, writing in Time, defended the singer: "Taylor reminds me of myself in her determination and her childlike nature. It's an innocence that's so special and so rare. This girl writes the songs that make the whole world sing, like Neil Diamond or Elton John ... The female rock-'n'-roll-country-pop songwriter is back, and her name is Taylor Swift. And it's women like her who are going to save the music business."[118] Fearless won many other accolades and has become the most awarded album in country music history.[119] Swift became the youngest ever artist and one of only six women to be named Entertainer of the Year by the Country Music Association.[120] Fearless also won the Association's Album of the Year award.[120] Swift was the youngest ever artist to win the Academy of Country Music's Album of the Year honor.[121] The American Music Awards honored Swift with Artist of the Year and Favorite Country Album plaudits.[122] She was awarded the Hal David Starlight Award by the Songwriters Hall of Fame[123] and was named Songwriter/Artist of the Year by the Nashville Songwriters Association.[124] Billboard named her 2009's Artist of the Year.[125] Swift was included in Time's annual list of the 100 Most Influential People in 2010.[126]
2010–12: Speak Now and world tour
Swift released her third studio album, Speak Now, in October 2010. She wrote all fourteen songs alone and co-produced the record with longtime collaborator Nathan Chapman.[127] Musically, it has been said that the album "expands beyond country-pop to border both alternative rock and dirty bubblegum pop."[128] The New York Times described the album as savage, musically diverse and "excellent too, possibly her best."[127] The Village Voice remarked that the album demanded "a true appreciation of Swift's talent, which is not confessional, but dramatic: Like a procession of country songwriters before her, she creates characters and situations—some from life—and finds potent ways to describe them."[129] Music critic Robert Christgau found the album's songs "overlong and overworked" but remarked that "they evince an effort that bears a remarkable resemblance to care—that is, to caring in the best, broadest, and most emotional sense."[80] Rolling Stone described Swift as one of the best songwriters in "pop, rock or country": "Swift might be a clever Nashville pro who knows all the hitmaking tricks, but she's also a high-strung, hyper-romantic gal with a melodramatic streak the size of the Atchafalaya Swamp."[130] Swift carried out an extensive promotional campaign prior to Speak Now's release.[131] She appeared on various talk shows and morning shows, and gave free mini-concerts in unusual locations, including an open-decker bus on Hollywood Boulevard and a departure lounge at JFK airport.[132] She took part in a "guitar pull" alongside Kris Kristofferson, Emmylou Harris, Vince Gill and Lionel Richie at LA's Club Nokia; the musicians shared the stage and took turns introducing and playing acoustic versions of their songs to raise money for the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.[133][134] The album's lead single, "Mine", was released in August 2010 and five further singles were released throughout 2010 and 2011: "Back to December", "Mean", "The Story of Us", "Sparks Fly" and "Ours".[135] Speak Now was a major commercial success, debuting at number one on the US Billboard 200 chart. Its opening sales of 1,047,000 copies made it the sixteenth album in US history to sell one million copies in a single week.[136] As of February 2012, Speak Now has sold over 5.7 million copies worldwide.[137][138]
While Swift was completing her fourth album in the summer of 2012, James Taylor invited her to appear as a special guest during his Tanglewood set; they performed "Fire and Rain", "Love Story" and "Ours" together.[159] Taylor, who first met Swift when she was eighteen, has said that, "we just hit it off. I loved her songs, and her presence on stage was so great."[160][161] During this period, Swift also contributed two original songs to The Hunger Games soundtrack album. "Safe & Sound" was co-written and recorded with The Civil Wars and T-Bone Burnett.[162] John Paul White has said working with Swift was "a revelation ... It truly was a collaboration."[163] It was released as the album's lead single and, as of January 2013, has sold over 1.4 million copies in the United States.[164] It won Best Song Written For Visual Media at the 2013 Grammy Awards and was nominated for Best Original Song at the 70th Golden Globe Awards.[165] Swift's second contribution to the album, "Eyes Open", was written solely by the singer and produced by Nathan Chapman.[166] In addition, Swift contributed vocals to "Both of Us", a Dr. Luke-produced single from B.o.B's second album Strange Clouds.[167]
2012–present: Red and media scrutiny
Swift's fourth studio album, Red, was released in October 2012.[168] She wrote nine of the album's sixteen songs alone. The remaining seven were co-written with Max Martin, Liz Rose, Dan Wilson, Ed Sheeran and Gary Lightbody. Nathan Chapman served as the album's lead producer but Jeff Bhasker, Butch Walker, Jacknife Lee, Dann Huff and Shellback also produced individual tracks. Chapman has said he encouraged Swift "to branch out and to test herself in other situations."[169] Musically, while there is experimentation with heartland rock, dubstep and dance-pop, it is "sprinkled among more recognisably Swiftian fare."[170][171] Jon Caramanica of The New York Times found Red "less detailed and more rushed than her usual fare"[172] but placed it at number two on his end-of-year list, characterizing it as the album on which Swift "stops pretending she’s anything but a pop megastar, one with grown-up concerns, like how two bodies speak to each other and how taste in records can be a stand-in for moral turpitude."[173] The Times praised her "sublime" lyrics, particularly those on the "brooding" "All Too Well".[174] Rolling Stone enjoyed "watching Swift find her pony-footing on Great Songwriter Mountain. She often succeeds in joining the Joni/Carole King tradition of stark-relief emotional mapping ... Her self-discovery project is one of the best stories in pop."[175]As part of the Red promotional campaign, representatives from 72 worldwide radio stations were flown to Nashville during release week for individual interviews with Swift.[176] She also appeared on many television chat shows and performed at award ceremonies in the US, the UK, Germany, France, Spain and Australia.[177] The album's lead single, "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together", became Swift's first number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart.[178] Six further singles have been released: "Begin Again" (for country radio), "I Knew You Were Trouble", "22", "Everything Has Changed", "The Last Time" (all for pop and international radio) and "Red" (for country radio). Red debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 with first-week sales of 1.21 million copies; this marked the highest opening sales in a decade and made Swift the first female to have two million-selling album openings.[179] As of May 2013, Red had sold over 6 million copies worldwide.[180] In her career, as of November 2012, she had sold in excess of 26 million albums and 75 million song downloads.[181]
The North American leg of Swift's Red Tour ran from March to September 2013. She played 66 dates across North America, including thirteen stadium shows.[182] The Red Tour visited stadiums across New Zealand and Australia in December 2013, and will visit England and Germany in February 2014.[183] In Australia during the Red Tour Swift became the first female artist to sell out Sydney's Allianz Stadium.[184]
In the Red era, Swift's romantic life became the subject of intense media scrutiny. Gawker remarked that Swift had dated "every man in the universe."[197] The Westboro Baptist Church protested Swift's concerts, labelling her "the whorish face of doomed America," while Abercrombie and Fitch marketed a slogan t-shirt with a "slut-shaming" Swift reference.[198] The New York Times asserted that her "dating history has begun to stir what feels like the beginning of a backlash" and questioned whether Swift was in the midst of a "quarter-life crisis."[199] The Village Voice suggested that Swift's embrace of "traditional femininity" was the cause of the backlash: "She's young, she can be contentiously dramatic, she puts herself in the center of her stories, and obviously she's dated a lot of famous people in a relatively short amount of time. But none of that is exceptionally rare."[200] At the Golden Globes award ceremony, comediennes Tina Fey and Amy Poehler poked fun at Swift's serial dating reputation, with Fey warning her to "stay away" from young men in the audience: "She needs some 'me' time to learn about herself." Swift was later asked about the incident in a Vanity Fair profile: “I was just sort of like, Oh well, you know, I can laugh at myself. But what it ended up adding to was this whole kind of everyone jumping on the bandwagon of ‘Taylor dates too much’—which, you know, if you want some big revelation, since 2010 I have dated exactly two people.” Elsewhere in the article, whilst discussing what the journalist describes as "the Golden Globes, and mean girls in general," Swift approvingly quoted Madeline Albright's remark that ‘There’s a special place in hell for women who don’t help other women.’[201]
Swift began writing songs for her fifth studio album in July 2013. While she hopes to re-team with some past collaborators,[202] she also has "a really long list of the people I admire and I would really love to go and contact."[203] In November 2013, Billboard reported that Swift has been "doing much of her work with Max Martin again."[204] Also that month, Swift told Billboard that, "There are probably seven or eight [songs] that I know I want on the record. It's already evolved into a new sound, and that's all I wanted."[205]
Artistry
Influences
One of Swift's earliest musical memories is listening to her maternal grandmother, Marjorie Finlay (née Moehlenkamp), sing at church.[11][206] In her youth, Finlay was a television host in Puerto Rico and performed in operas in Singapore and Thailand.[4][207] As a very young child, Swift enjoyed Disney movie soundtracks: "My parents noticed that, once I had run out of words, I would just make up my own."[23][208] Later, her parents exposed her to artists including James Taylor, Simon & Garfunkel and Def Leppard.[209][210] Swift has said she owes her confidence to her mother, who helped her prepare for class presentations as a child.[211] She also attributes her "fascination with writing and storytelling" to her mother.[212] Swift enjoyed both reading and writing poetry and was particularly drawn to the works of Shel Silverstein and Dr. Seuss.[4][213] She remains interested "in any writing from a child's perspective" and has cited To Kill a Mockingbird as one of her favorite books.[49]
Swift has been influenced by many artists outside the country genre. As a pre-teen, she enjoyed bubblegum pop acts including Hanson and Britney Spears; she still has "unwavering devotion" for Spears.[233] In her high school years, Swift listened to emo bands such as Dashboard Confessional,[234] Fall Out Boy,[235] The All-American Rejects[236] and Jimmy Eat World.[237] She was also a fan of contemporary female singer-songwriters including Michelle Branch,[237] Pink,[238] Alanis Morissette,[239] Ashlee Simpson,[240] Kelly Clarkson,[241] Fefe Dobson[237] and Avril Lavigne.[241] Swift closely followed the musical supervision on the television dramas The O.C. and Grey's Anatomy, downloading "every" song featured.[232] She was a fan of hip hop music, particularly the rhyming patterns used by artists such as Eminem: "Pride [in a lifestyle] is something that both country and hip-hop share."[4] Swift also drew inspiration from the catalogues of veteran artists. She describes Stevie Nicks as a "hero" who "has inspired me in so many ways."[164][242] Tom Petty, she has said, "is on a pedestal for me."[15] She is "obsessed" with Sixties acts like The Shirelles, Doris Troy and The Beach Boys.[143][243] Influence also came from older female pop rock singers including Pat Benatar,[241][244] Melissa Etheridge,[244] Sarah McLachlan,[239] Shawn Colvin[245] and Linda Ronstadt.[246][247]
Swift lists Paul McCartney, Bruce Springsteen, Emmylou Harris, Kris Kristofferson and Carly Simon as her career role models: "They've taken chances, but they've also been the same artist for their entire careers."[245][248][249] McCartney, both as a Beatle and a solo artist, makes Swift feel "as if I've been let into his heart and his mind": "Any musician could only dream of a legacy like that."[250] She admires Springsteen because he is "so musically relevant after such a long period of time."[251] She aspires to be like Harris as she grows older: "It’s not about fame for her, it’s about music."[252] Swift says of Kristofferson: "He shines in songwriting ... He's just one of those people who has been in this business for years but you can tell it hasn't chewed him up and spat him out."[253] She admires Simon's "songwriting and honesty": "She's known as an emotional person but a strong person."[254]
Peer recognition
Swift has also received songwriting praise from contemporaries. John Mayer was a supporter of Swift's early career; the duo recorded a duet and performed in concert together on two occasions: "You could put her in a time machine in any era and she would have a hit record."[272] She has also received praise from Drake,[273] Alicia Keys,[274] Tegan and Sara,[275][276] Grimes,[277] Kesha,[278] Katy Perry,[279] Kelly Clarkson[280] and Lady Gaga.[281] Ryan Adams has said that "every tune of hers is like the one you wait a whole lifetime to write."[282] Kathleen Hanna is "totally into Taylor Swift. I think she has super-clever lyrics, and I love that she writes her own music."[283] Shirley Manson remarked that she is "exceedingly talented at songwriting ... She drew her own door and walked right through it. We should applaud her balls for bucking the system. That's what artists are supposed to do."[284] Lena Dunham, the creator and star of HBO's television series Girls, has described Swift as her "artistic kindred spirit."[285]
Lyrical themes and style
Thematically, The Guardian has noted that Swift was "fantastically good at regarding teenage life with a kind of wistful, sepia-toned nostalgia" over the course of her first two albums.[286] New York Magazine has remarked that few singer-songwriters have written "great records so explicitly about their teens ... Her nearest antecedent might be sixties-era Brian Wilson, the one true adolescent auteur before she came along."[287] Comparisons have also been drawn with Janis Ian.[248] Fairytale imagery featured on Swift's second album, Fearless. She explored the disconnect "between fairy tales and the reality of love."[288][289] Her third and fourth albums addressed more adult relationships.[249] In addition to romance and love, Swift's songs have discussed parent-child relationships ("The Best Day", "Never Grow Up", "Ronan"), friendships ("Fifteen", "Breathe", "22"),[290][291] alienation ("The Outside", "A Place In This World", "Tied Together with a Smile", "Mean") and career ambitions ("Change", "Long Live", "The Lucky One").[292][293] Her defining quality as a songwriter, it has been said, is "a determination to register and hang onto fleeting feelings and impressions, a pre-emptive nostalgia for a present (and sometimes even a future) that she knows will some day be in the past."[294] Swift frequently includes "a tossed-off phrase to suggest large and serious things that won't fit in the song, things that enhance or subvert the surface narrative."[295] The New Yorker has said that her songs, "though they are not subversive, have a certain sophistication ... Sentimental songs are laced with intimations of future disillusionment."[296]Structurally, Slate notes that Swift has "effortless, preternatural mastery of pop conventions: Very few songwriters can build better bridges than she does."[297] Rolling Stone has described her as "a songwriting savant with an intuitive gift for verse-chorus-bridge architecture."[298] The Village Voice has noted that Swift uses third-verse POV reversals frequently.[295] She has a tendency to use the same images repeatedly. In the words of The Guardian, "she spends so much time kissin' in the rain that it seems a miracle she hasn't developed trenchfoot."[286] However, "to Swift's credit, she explores new lyrical motifs over the course of [her fourth] album."[171] American Songwriter describes Swift as "a great songwriter, who writes with an unmatched and almost unnatural acuity ... Even her earliest material is characterized by thoughtful – perhaps meticulous – word choice and deliberate melodic construction, with nary a lazy rhyme or aimless tune to be found."[299][300] While reviews of Swift's work are "almost uniformly positive," The New Yorker has said she is generally portrayed "more as a skilled technician than as a Dylanesque visionary."[248]
"For a female to write about her feelings, and then be portrayed as
some clingy, insane, desperate girlfriend in need of making you marry
her and have kids with her, I think that's taking something that
potentially should be celebrated — a woman writing about her feelings in
a confessional way — that's taking it and turning it and twisting it
into something that is frankly a little sexist."
— Swift in response to criticism of her songwriting[301]
Musical and vocal style
Swift's music contains elements of country, country pop, pop and pop rock.[311][311][312] She self-identifies as a country artist.[313] Rolling Stone asserts that, "she might get played on the country station, but she's one of the few genuine rock stars we've got these days."[314] Swift's own definition of country music "is really pretty simple. It's when someone sings about their life and what they know, from an authentic place ... One guy will write about how he grew up on a farm and fell in love and raised kids on that same farm. Some people sing about how, when they get sad, they go to the bar and drink whiskey. I write songs about how I can't seem to figure out relationships and how I'm fascinated by love."[313] She has said there will be "a huge temptation" to make an alt-country record as her career progresses.[46] The New York Times notes that, "There isn't much in Ms. Swift's music to indicate country – a few banjo strums, a pair of cowboy boots worn onstage, a bedazzled guitar – but there's something in her winsome, vulnerable delivery that's unique to Nashville."[315] The New Yorker believes she is "considered part of Nashville's country-pop tradition only because she writes narrative songs with melodic clarity and dramatic shape—Nashville's stock-in-trade."[316] The Guardian has said that Swift "cranks melodies out with the pitiless efficiency of a Scandinavian pop factory."[286]Swift's voice has been described as "sweet but soft."[317] In studio recordings, the Los Angeles Times identifies Swift's "defining" vocal gesture as "the line that slides down like a contented sigh or up like a raised eyebrow, giving her beloved girl-time hits their air of easy intimacy."[128] Rolling Stone, in a Speak Now review, remarked: "Swift's voice is unaffected enough to mask how masterful she has become as a singer; she lowers her voice for the payoff lines in the classic mode of a shy girl trying to talk tough."[318] In another review of Speak Now, The Village Voice noted that her phrasing was previously "bland and muddled, but that's changed. She can still sound strained and thin, and often strays into a pitch that drives some people crazy; but she's learned how to make words sound like what they mean."[129]
In a live setting, Swift, according to The Hollywood Reporter, "does her best, but certainly doesn't have the pipes to go toe-to-toe with the likes of Christina Aguilera or Carrie Underwood."[317] Her live vocals have been described as "flat," "thin, and sometimes as wobbly as a newborn colt."[319][320] However, Swift has received praise for refusing to correct her pitch with Auto-Tune.[321][322][323] In an interview with The New Yorker, Swift characterized herself primarily as a songwriter: "I write songs, and my voice is just a way to get those lyrics across."[1][324] Scott Borchetta of Big Machine Records has conceded that Swift is "not the best technical singer" but describes her as the "best communicator that we've got."[325] Swift's vocal presence is something that concerns her and she has "put a lot of work" into improving it.[326] It was reported in 2010 that she continues to take vocal lessons.[327][328] She has said that she only feels nervous performing "if I'm not sure what the audience thinks of me, like at award shows."[329]
Public image
In the early years of her career, Swift's signature look consisted of sundresses and cowboy boots.[341][342] This fashion style is still copied by many of the young fans who attend her concerts.[341][343] At formal events, Swift became known for "sparkly, beaded dresses."[341] Her naturally curly hairstyle is replicated by fans, and Swift has remarked: "I remember straightening my hair because I wanted to be like everybody else, and now the fact that anybody would emulate what I do? It's just funny."[343] She was asked by Vogue to cut bangs for a cover shoot in late 2011, and now straightens her hair.[344] Swift favors retro style and it has been said that she has the look of "a nineteen-thirties movie siren ... red lipstick, thick mascara."[345][346] She was named an Icon of American Style by Vogue in 2011.[347] She has named Françoise Hardy, Jane Birkin, Brigitte Bardot, and Audrey Hepburn as her own style inspirations.[348]
Product endorsements
While promoting her self-titled debut record, Swift appeared as a spokesmodel for l.e.i. jeans and as the face of Verizon Wireless' Mobile Music campaign.[349][350] In the Fearless era, she launched a l.e.i. sundress range at Wal-Mart,[351] and designed American Greetings cards and Jakks Pacific dolls.[352][353] She became a spokesperson for the NHL's Nashville Predators and Sony Cyber-shot digital cameras.[354][355] She performed in a commercial for the Band Hero video game, with Rivers Cuomo, Pete Wentz and Travis Barker appearing as her backing band.[356] In the Speak Now era, Swift became a CoverGirl spokesmodel,[357] launched two Elizabeth Arden fragrances, Wonderstruck and Wonderstruck Enchanted, and released a special edition of her album through Target.[358]While promoting her fourth album Red, Swift offered exclusive album promotions through Target,[359] Papa John's[176] and Walgreens.[360] She became a spokesmodel for Diet Coke and Keds sneakers,[361] released her third Elizabeth Arden fragrance titled Taylor by Taylor Swift, and continued her partnerships with Sony Electronics and American Greetings. She also maintains an unofficial brand tie-in with Ralph Lauren.[362]
Acting career
Swift made her feature film acting debut in the 2010 ensemble comedy Valentine's Day, playing the ditzy Valley girlfriend of a high school jock.[369] The Los Angeles Times felt the performance suggested "serious comedic potential"[370] while the San Francisco Chronicle found her "very funny."[371] Time remarked that Swift portrayed her character "rather charmingly";[372] The Boston Globe described her as "adorably dorky."[373] Salon asserted that she was "one of the few actors not wasted in "Valentine's Day". Her overgrown-pixie look and odd, widely set eyes lend her a little bit of Marilyn and a little bit of Lucille Ball: She's Taylor-made for comic greatness."[374] However, Variety found her "entirely undirected ... she needs to find a skilled director to tamp her down and channel her obviously abundant energy."[375] The Daily News described her performance as "painfully clunky" while Slant Magazine found her "unwatchable."[376][377] In 2012, Swift voiced the character of Audrey, a tree lover, in the animated film The Lorax. In 2013, Swift made a brief cameo on the sitcom New Girl. In 2014, she will co-star in the film adaptation of The Giver alongside Jeff Bridges and Meryl Streep.[378]
Philanthropy
Swift's philanthropic efforts have been recognised by the Do Something Awards,[379] The Giving Back Fund[380] and the Tennessee Disaster Services.[381] In 2012, Michelle Obama presented Swift with The Big Help Award for her "dedication to helping others" and "inspiring others through action."[382] Also that year, Kerry Kennedy of the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights presented Swift with the Ripple of Hope Award because of her "dedication to advocacy at such a young age ... Taylor is just the kind of woman we want our daughters to be."[383][384]Swift is a supporter of arts education. In 2010, she donated $75,000 to Nashville's Hendersonville High School to help refurbish the school auditorium's sound and lighting systems.[385] In 2012, she pledged $4 million to fund the building of a new education center at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville.[386] The 7,500-square-foot building is scheduled to open in 2014 and will facilitate new programs and workshops for teenagers and senior citizens.[387][388] The space will include three classrooms and an exhibit space, and will house interactive activities such as a musical petting zoo and a "wet" classroom space to make concert posters and other art projects.[389] Museum officials have decided to name it The Taylor Swift Education Center and the singer will be involved in an advisory capacity.[390] Also in 2012, Swift partnered with textbook rental company Chegg to donate $60,000 to the music departments of six US colleges.[391][392]
Swift promotes children's literacy. In 2009, she donated $250,000 to various schools around the country that she had either attended or had other associations with. The money was used to buy books, fund educational programs and help pay teachers' salaries.[393] In 2010, she took part in a live webcast, Read Now! with Taylor Swift, broadcast exclusively in US schools to celebrate Scholastic's Read Every Day campaign.[394][395] In 2011, Swift donated 6,000 Scholastic books to Reading Public Library, Pennsylvania[396] and, in 2012, she donated 14,000 books to Nashville Public Library, Tennessee.[397] Most of the books were placed in circulation; the rest were given to children from low-income families, preschools and daycare centers.[397] In 2012, she co-chaired the National Education Association's Read Across America campaign and recorded a PSA encouraging children to read.[398] Also in 2012, Swift promoted the "power of reading" in a second live Scholastic webcast, broadcast directly to US classrooms.[399] In 2013, through the Reach Out and Read initiative, she donated 2,000 Scholastic books to the Reading Hospital Child Health Center's early literacy program.[400]
Throughout her career, Swift has donated money to help victims of natural disasters. In 2008, she donated the proceeds from her merchandise sales at the Country Music Festival to the Red Cross's disaster relief fund.[401] Later that year, she donated $100,000 to the Red Cross to help the victims of the Iowa flood of 2008.[402] In 2009, Swift supported the Victorian Bushfire Appeal by joining the lineup at Sydney's Sound Relief concert,[403] reportedly making the biggest contribution of any artist to the Australian Red Cross.[404] In 2010, she took part in the Hope for Haiti telethon; she performed and answered phone calls from viewers wishing to donate money.[405] She also recorded a song for the Hope for Haiti Now album.[406] In response to the May 2010 Tennessee floods, Swift donated $500,000 during a telethon hosted by WSMV.[407] Later that year, she donated $100,000 to help rebuild a playground in Hendersonville, Tennessee which was damaged by floodwater.[408] In 2011, Swift used the final dress rehearsal for the North American leg of her Speak Now tour as a benefit concert for victims of recent tornadoes in the United States, raising more than $750,000.[409] She also donated $250,000 to Alabama football coach Nick Saban's charity, Nick's Kids, to aid in the tornado relief efforts of West Alabama.[410] In 2012, Swift supported Architecture for Humanity's Restore the Shore MTV telethon in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy.[411]
Swift opposes LGBT discrimination. Following the 2008 murder of Larry King, she recorded a Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network PSA to combat hate crimes.[412] On the first anniversary of King's death, Swift told Seventeen that her parents taught her "never to judge others based on whom they love, what color their skin is, or their religion."[413] In 2011, the music video for Swift's anti-bullying song "Mean" dealt in part with homophobia in high schools; the video was later nominated for an MTV VMA social activism award.[414][415][416] The New York Times believes she is part of "a new wave of young (and mostly straight) women who are providing the soundtrack for a generation of gay fans coming to terms with their identity in a time of turbulent and confusing cultural messages."[414]
The singer is involved with a number of charities which provide services to sick children. In 2008, she donated a pink Chevy pick-up truck to the Victory Junction Gang Camp; the truck is used to transport sick children from the airport to the camp.[417] In 2009, after performing at the BBC Children in Need annual telethon, she donated $20,000 to the cause.[418] In 2011, as the Academy of Country Music's Entertainer of the Year, Swift donated $25,000 to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Tennessee. This figure was matched by the Academy.[419] In 2012, Swift participated in the Stand Up to Cancer telethon, performing "Ronan", a song she wrote in memory of a four-year-old boy who died of neuroblastoma. The song was made available for digital download, with all proceeds donated to cancer-related charities.[420] Swift has met with many sick fans through the Make-A-Wish Foundation.[421][422][423][424] She has also made private visits to hospitals such as St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, the Walter Reed Army Medical Center, the Ronald McDonald House, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Children's Hospital & Medical Center and Vanderbilt Children's Hospital.[425][426][427][428][429][430]
Swift has encouraged young people to volunteer in their local community as part of Global Youth Service Day[431] and has promoted The @15 Fund, a social change platform underwritten by Best Buy, which gives teenagers the opportunity to direct the company's philanthropy.[432] In 2007, she launched a campaign to protect children from online predators, in partnership with the Tennessee Association of Chiefs of Police.[433] Also in 2007, she supported an Allstate campaign which promotes safe teenage driving.[434] In 2009, Swift recorded a Sound Matters PSA to make listeners aware of the importance of listening "responsibly."[435] She appeared in a Got Milk? campaign in 2010.[436] Swift has donated auctionable items to a large number of charities, including the Elton John AIDS Foundation,[437] the UNICEF Tap Project,[438] Oxfam International,[439] Habitat for Humanity,[440] MusiCares[441] and Feeding America.[442] She has also performed at a number of benefit concerts, including for the Food Bank For New York City,[443] the Reading, Writing & Rhythm Foundation,[444] Christmas for Kids,[445] Shriners Hospitals for Children,[446] and Centrepoint.[447]
Personal life
Wealth
According to Forbes's Celebrity 100 list, released annually in the month of May, Swift earned $18 million in 2009,[456] $45 million in 2010,[457] $45 million in 2011,[458] $57 million in 2012[459] and $55 million in 2013.[460]
Relationships
Swift dated singer Joe Jonas from July to October 2008,[461][462] and actor Taylor Lautner from October to December 2009.[463][464] She was romantically linked to musician John Mayer from late 2009 until early 2010.[465][466][467][468] She dated actor Jake Gyllenhaal from October to December 2010.[469][470] Following their break-up, they were seen together in January and February 2011.[471][472] Swift dated political heir Conor Kennedy from July to September 2012.[473][474] She dated One Direction singer Harry Styles from October 2012 to January 2013.[475][476]Musicians including Jonas and Mayer have written songs about Swift.[477][478]
Politics
Swift says she registered to vote on her eighteenth birthday.[479][480] During the 2008 presidential campaign, she supported the Every Woman Counts campaign, aimed at engaging women in the political process, and was one of many country stars to record a public service announcement for the Vote (For Your) Country campaign.[481] She stated: "I don't think it's my job to try and influence people which way they should vote."[4] Following President Obama's inauguration, she told Rolling Stone that she supported the president: "I've never seen this country so happy about a political decision in my entire time of being alive. I'm so glad this was my first election."[482]In 2010, former U.S. President George H. W. Bush attended the taping of a Swift television special in Kennebunkport, Maine,[483] and later described Swift as "unspoiled" and "very nice."[484] In 2012, Swift was presented with a Kids' Choice Award in recognition of her charitable work by Michelle Obama, who praised her as someone who "has rocketed to the top of the music industry but still keeps her feet on the ground, someone who has shattered every expectation of what a 22-year old can accomplish."[485] Swift later described the First Lady as "a role model."[486] In a 2012 interview, Swift remarked that, although she tries to keep herself “as educated and informed as possible,” she doesn’t “talk about politics because it might influence other people."[487] She has spoken of her interest in American history and has read books about Abraham Lincoln, John Adams, the Founding Fathers and Ellis Island.[488] Swift is a friend of the Kennedy family[489] and has spoken of her admiration for Ethel Kennedy.[490][491]
Awards and nominations
Main article: List of awards and nominations received by Taylor Swift
Swift has been the recipient of seven Grammy Awards, fifteen American Music Awards, eleven Country Music Association Awards, six Academy of Country Music Awards, and twelve Billboard Music Awards. As a songwriter, she has been honored by the Nashville Songwriters Association and the Songwriters Hall of Fame. In 2013, she became the second person (and first woman) to receive the Country Music Association's Pinnacle Award.[492] Additionally, she has received two Golden Globe Award nominations.Discography
Main articles: Taylor Swift discography and List of songs recorded by Taylor Swift
- Taylor Swift (2006)
- Fearless (2008)
- Speak Now (2010)
- Red (2012)
Concert tours
- Fearless Tour (2009–10)
- Speak Now World Tour (2011–12)
- Red Tour (2013–14)
Filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience | Herself | Cameo |
| 2009 | Hannah Montana: The Movie | Herself | Cameo |
| 2010 | Valentine's Day | Felicia | Film debut |
| 2012 | The Lorax | Audrey | Voice only |
| 2014 | The Giver | Rosemary | Post-production |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | CSI: Crime Scene Investigation | Haley Jones | Episode: "Turn, Turn, Turn" |
| 2009 | Saturday Night Live | Herself | Host/musical guest |
| 2013 | New Girl | Elaine | Episode: "Elaine's Big Day" |
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