Taking Over the World
Taylor Swift never goes out of style.
According to Forbes.com Taylor Swift has been named one of best-selling music artists of all time having won 10 Grammys with a networth of over 360 million dollars. Those who listen to music might have a song of hers on their personal playlist. It could be a soft melody from her ‘Folklore’ or ‘Red’ album or maybe something more upbeat like a song from her ‘1989’ album, perhaps the listener doesn’t like either of those and want to listen to songs from her country days such as her ‘Taylor Swift’ album. Music listeners are destined to hear a Swift song, even if it’s not from their own playlist as she has been on Billboard Hot 100 for 14 weeks. Currently she is in 3 place with the song ‘Anti-Hero’ from her newest album ‘Midnights.’
Starting in Pennsylvania then moving to Tennessee to pursue her dream of becoming a musician Swift’s rise to stardom started in 2006 where according to Britannica she released her first single ‘Tim McGraw’ which charted on Billboard Hot 100 in the top 40 where it stayed for 20 weeks. According to adelphi.edu Swift has been nominated for over 500 awards and has won 324.
“I love her style of music, and since she puts out so much, there’s always something to listen to,” sophomore Riley Huyser said.
Swift has had five concert tours and will be going on another this year, her ‘Eras Tour’ which according to variety.com broke the record of most tickets sold by an artist in a single day with 2.4 million tickets sold. This caused mass chaos, due to the continuous problems with the ticket site.
“It was extremely difficult. My mother had to wait on Ticket Master’s website for seven and a half hours before she could purchase tickets. There was an hour delay and the site kept crashing,” sophomore Aisha Diallo said.
During her concerts and performances Swift enjoys leaving easter eggs as clues to new albums or songs.
According to a statement to The Washington Post, “It’s really about turning new music into an event for my fans and trying to entertain them in playful, mischievous, clever ways,” Swift said.
According to Forbes.com a major reason behind her fame is the way she shows love and appreciation to her fans. Freshman Addison fung has been a Swiftie since she was very young first discovering her from the radio.
“I like how down to earth she is. She doesn’t seem fake ever, she always seems so authentic,” Fung said.
For some of her fans, it’s about more than just her personality. To senior Calvin Wager, who has been listening to her since he was two, she is someone he can relate to through her lyrics.
“My favorite thing about Taylor is she writes songs which makes [people] feel a part of her music,” Wager said. “My favorite song is ‘You Belong With Me’ because I’ve always tried to ask someone out but it’s not always easy for me.”
Swift has released 10 studio albums and over 100 songs in the 17 years she has been making music. According to Spotify, Swift has 78.9 million monthly listeners from her fans (Swifties) as of 2022. Swift has a vast variety of music which allows for any listener to find a song in their style.
“I love her new and old music because she has all different kinds of genres, and I think she does it so well, anyone who listens to her knows it doesn’t matter which genre because it will always be great,” Wager said.
Rolling Stone has named Swift as one of the greatest songwriters of all time and many of her fans, including Diallo, agree.
“My favorite song by Taylor Swift would definitely have to be ‘My Tears Ricochet’ because she wrote it by herself and I think it shows great lyricism,” Diallo said.
The love Swift’s fans have for her is not one sided.
According to an interview with Good Morning America Swift said, “the fans are amazing. I can not believe how dedicated they are, how thoughtful. I can’t believe how much they care. It makes it more fun for me to create music, to create music videos, knowing they’ll care about little clues or easter eggs or hints. You have no idea how fun it is to make stuff for people [who] care about it [so] much.”
