Background

Taylor Alison Swift was born on December 13, 1989, in Reading, Pennsylvania. Her father, Scott Kingsley Swift, was a financial advisor, and her mother, Andrea Gardner Swift (née Finlay), was a homemaker who had previously worked as a mutual fund marketing executive. Swift has a younger brother named Austin. The singer spent the early years of her life on a Christmas tree farm.

Education

Taylor attended preschool and kindergarten at the Alvernia Montessori School, run by Franciscan nuns, before transferring to The Wyndcroft School. The family then moved to a rented house in the suburban town of Wyomissing, Pennsylvania, where she attended Wyomissing Area Junior/Senior High School.

To help Swift break into country music, her father transferred to the Nashville office of Merrill Lynch when she was 14, and the family relocated to a lakefront house in Hendersonville, Tennessee. Swift attended Hendersonville High School, but after two years transferred to the Aaron Academy, which through homeschooling could accommodate her touring schedule, and she graduated a year early.

Career

A development deal with RCA Records allowed Swift to make the acquaintance of recording-industry veterans, and in 2004, at age 14, she signed with Sony/ATV as a songwriter. At venues in the Nashville area, she performed many of the songs she had written, and it was at one such performance that she was noticed by record executive Scott Borchetta. Borchetta signed Swift to his fledgling Big Machine label, and her first single, “Tim McGraw” (inspired by and prominently referencing a song by Swift’s favorite country artist), was released in the summer of 2006.

The song was an immediate success, spending eight months on the Billboard country singles chart. Now age 16, Swift followed with a self-titled debut album, and she went on tour, opening for Rascal Flatts. Taylor Swift was certified platinum in 2007, having sold more than one million copies in the United States, and Swift continued a rigorous touring schedule, opening for artists such as George Strait, Kenny Chesney, Tim McGraw, and Faith Hill. That November Swift received the Horizon Award for best new artist from the Country Music Association (CMA), capping the year in which she emerged as country music’s most-visible young star.

On Swift’s second album, Fearless (2008), she demonstrated a refined pop sensibility, managing to court the mainstream pop audience without losing sight of her country roots. With sales of more than half a million copies in its first week, Fearless opened at number one on the Billboard 200 chart. It ultimately spent more time atop that chart than any other album released that decade. Singles such as “You Belong with Me” and “Love Story” were popular in the digital market as well, the latter accounting for more than four million paid downloads.

In 2009 Swift embarked on her first tour as a headliner, playing to sold-out venues across North America. That year also saw Swift dominate the industry award circuit. Fearless was recognized as album of the year by the Academy of Country Music in April, and she topped the best female video category for “You Belong with Me” at the MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs) in September. During her VMA acceptance speech, Swift was interrupted by rapper Kanye West, who protested that the award should have gone to Beyoncé for what he called “one of the best videos of all time.” Later in the program, when Beyoncé was accepting the award for video of the year, she invited Swift onstage to conclude her speech, a move that drew a standing ovation for both performers. At the CMA Awards that November, Swift won all four categories in which she was nominated. Her recognition as CMA entertainer of the year made her the youngest-ever winner of that award, as well as the first female solo artist to win since 1999. She began 2010 with an impressive showing at the Grammy Awards, where she collected four honors, including best country song, best country album, and the top prize of album of the year.

Later that year Swift made her feature-film debut in the romantic comedy Valentine’s Day and was named the new spokesperson for CoverGirl cosmetics. Although Swift avoided discussing her personal life in interviews, she was surprisingly frank in her music. Her third album, Speak Now (2010), was littered with allusions to romantic relationships with John Mayer, Joe Jonas of the Jonas Brothers, and Twilight series actor Taylor Lautner. Swift reclaimed the CMA entertainer of the year award in 2011, and the following year she won Grammys for best country solo performance and best country song for “Mean,” a single from Speak Now.

Swift continued her acting career with a voice role in the animated Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax (2012) before releasing her next collection of songs, Red (2012). While she remained focused on the vagaries of young love, her songwriting reflected a deepened perspective on the subject, and much of the album embraced a bold pop-rock sound. In its first week on sale in the United States, Red sold 1.2 million copies - the highest one-week total in 10 years. In addition, its lead single, the gleeful “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together,” gave Swift her first number-one hit on the Billboard pop singles chart.

In 2014 Swift released 1989, an album titled after the year of her birth and reportedly inspired by the music of that era. Although Swift had already been steadily moving away from the traditional country signifiers that marked her early work - “I Knew You Were Trouble,” the second single from Red, even flirted with electronic dance music - she called 1989 her first “official pop album.” On the strength of the upbeat “Shake It Off,” the album proved to be another blockbuster for Swift, with its first-week sales surpassing those of Red. It went on to sell more than five million copies in the United States and earned Swift her second Grammy for album of the year. In 2014 Swift also appeared in a supporting role in The Giver, a film adaptation of Lois Lowry’s dystopian novel for young readers.

Swift took part in a widely publicized civil trial in August 2017, after former radio host David Mueller sued the singer, her mother, and a promoter, claiming that she had falsely accused him of sexually groping her in 2013 during the taking of a photograph and thus destroyed his career. She countersued, maintaining that the assault had taken place. At the trial, Swift was removed from Mueller’s suit and the other two defendants were found not liable as the jury found in favour of Swift’s countersuit. Shortly thereafter Swift released the hit song “Look What You Made Me Do,” and her album Reputation became the top-selling American LP of 2017.

In support of Reputation, Swift embarked on Taylor Swift's Reputation Stadium Tour in 2018. In April 2018, Swift featured on Sugarland's "Babe" from their album Bigger. In July 2018, Swift was cast in the movie adaptation of the musical Cats.

Reputation was Swift's last album under Big Machine. In November 2018, she signed a new deal with the Universal Music Group; her subsequent releases were promoted by Republic Records. Swift said the contract included a provision for her to maintain ownership of her masters.

Swift released her seventh studio album, Lover, on August 23, 2019. Besides Jack Antonoff, Swift worked with new producers Louis Bell, Frank Dukes, and Joel Little. Lover made Swift the first female artist to have a sixth consecutive album sell more than 500,000 copies in one week in the U.S. Critics commended the album's free-spirited mood and emotional intimacy. The lead single, "Me!", peaked at number two on the Hot 100. Other singles from Lover were the U.S. top-10 singles "You Need to Calm Down" and "Lover", top-40 single "The Man", and "Cruel Summer", which became a resurgent success in 2023 and charted in the top 10. At the 2019 MTV Video Music Awards, "Me!" won Best Visual Effects, and "You Need to Calm Down" won Video of the Year and Video for Good. Swift was the first female and second artist overall to win Video of the Year for a video that they directed.

While promoting Lover, Swift became embroiled in a public dispute with talent manager Scooter Braun and Big Machine over the purchase of the masters of her back catalog. Swift said she had been trying to buy the masters, but Big Machine would only allow her to do so if she exchanged one new album for each older one under new contract, which she refused to sign. Swift began re-recording her back catalog in November 2020. The documentary Miss Americana, which chronicled parts of Swift's life and career, premiered at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival and was released on Netflix that January. Swift signed a global publishing deal with Universal Music Publishing Group in February 2020 after her 16-year-old contract with Sony/ATV expired.

Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, Swift released two surprise albums: Folklore on July 24, and Evermore on December 11, 2020. Both explore indie folk and alternative rock with a more muted production compared to her previous upbeat pop songs. Swift wrote and recorded the albums with producers Jack Antonoff and Aaron Dessner from the National. The albums garnered widespread critical acclaim. The Guardian and Vox opined that Folklore and Evermore emphasized Swift's work ethic and increased her artistic credibility. Three singles supported each of the albums, catering the U.S. mainstream radio, country radio, and triple A radio. The singles, in that order, were "Cardigan", "Betty", and "Exile" from Folklore, and "Willow", "No Body, No Crime", and "Coney Island" from Evermore. Swift became the first artist to debut a U.S. number-one album and a number-one song at the same time with Folklore's "Cardigan" and Evermore's "Willow". Folklore was 2020's best-selling album in the U.S. with 1.2 million copies. It won Album of the Year at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards, making Swift the first woman to win the award thrice. At the 2020 American Music Awards, she won three awards, including Artist of the Year for a record third consecutive time. She was 2020's highest-paid musician in the U.S., and the world's highest-paid solo musician.

Following the masters dispute, Swift released three re-recorded albums—Fearless (Taylor's Version) and Red (Taylor's Version) in 2021 and Speak Now (Taylor's Version) in 2023. All three peaked atop the Billboard 200, becoming the first ever re-recorded albums to do so. Fearless (Taylor's Version) was preceded by "Love Story (Taylor's Version)", the re-recording of Swift's 2008 single, which made her the second artist after Dolly Parton to have both the original and re-recorded versions of a song reach number one on the Hot Country Songs chart. Red (Taylor's Version) was supported by "All Too Well (10 Minute Version)", which became the longest song in history to top the Hot 100. The song was accompanied by a short film, which won a Grammy Award for Best Music Video and Swift's record third MTV Video Music Award for Video of the Year. Her fourth re-recorded album, 1989 (Taylor's Version), will be released on October 27, 2023. The album was preceded by two re-recorded songs, "Wildest Dreams (Taylor's Version)" and "This Love (Taylor's Version)".

Amidst the re-recording projects, Swift's tenth studio album, Midnights, was released on October 21, 2022. It experiments with chill-out music and received critical acclaim, with Rolling Stone critics dubbing it an instant classic. It was Swift's fifth album to open atop the Billboard 200 with first-week sales of over one million copies and broke various sales and streaming records, including the most U.S. first-week vinyl sales and the most single-day streams and most single-week streams on Spotify. Its tracks, led by the single "Anti-Hero", monopolized the entire top 10 of the Hot 100, making Swift the first artist to do so. Two other singles, "Lavender Haze" and "Karma", both peaked at number two on the Hot 100. To support Midnights and all of her albums to date, Swift embarked on the Eras Tour in March 2023. Media outlets extensively covered the tour's cultural and economic impact, and its U.S. leg broke the record for the most tickets sold in a day. Ticketmaster received public and political criticisms for mishandling ticket sales and alleged monopoly in the concert industry. A concert film of the tour is set for release to North American theatres on October 13, 2023.

Achievements

• 

  Swift has received many awards and honors, including 12 Grammy Awards, 40 American Music Awards, 29 Billboard Music Awards (the most wins by an act), 12 Country Music Association Awards, 8 Academy of Country Music Awards, 2 Brit Awards, and one Creative Arts Emmy Award. As a songwriter, she has been honored by the Nashville Songwriters Association and the Songwriters Hall of Fame, and has been listed in Rolling Stone's 2015 list of the 100 Greatest Songwriters of All Time.

Works

More photos

• music

  • Taylor Swift 2005
  • Fearless 2008
  • Speak Now 2010
  • Red 2012
  • 1989 1989
  • Reputation 2017
  • Lover 2019
  • Folklore 2020
  • Evermore 2020
  • Fearless (Taylor's Version) 2021
  • Red (Taylor's Version) 2021
  • Midnights 2022
  • Speak Now (Taylor's Version) 2023

Religion

It is highly speculated that Swift is Catholic, but not confirmed. It is reasonable to assume that she is Christian as she attended a non-denominational (though based on Protestantism) Christian high school, has given $250,000 to Christian schools around the country, has written and performed many songs referring to God, and stood up to her record label execs to get Christian band Need to Breathe to go on tour with her.

Politics

Swift identifies as a pro-choice feminist, and is one of the founding signatories of the Time's Up movement against sexual harassment. She criticized the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade (1973) and end federal abortion rights in 2022. Swift advocates for LGBT rights, and has called for the passing of the Equality Act, which prohibits discrimination based on sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity. The New York Times wrote her 2011 music video for "Mean" had a positive impact on the LGBTQ+ community. Swift performed during WorldPride NYC 2019 at the Stonewall Inn, a gay rights monument. She has donated to the LGBT organizations Tennessee Equality Project and GLAAD.

A supporter of the March for Our Lives movement and gun control reform in the U.S., Swift is a vocal critic of white supremacy, racism, and police brutality. In 2020, she 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, and endorsed Joe Biden and Kamala Harris in the U.S. presidential election. Following the George Floyd protests, she donated to the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund and the Black Lives Matter movement, called for the removal of Confederate monuments in Tennessee, and advocated for Juneteenth to become a national holiday.

Views

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." Swift later described the First Lady as "a role model." 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." Swift has spent time with the Kennedy family and has spoken of her admiration for Ethel Kennedy. Swift is also a feminist. She has spoken out against LGBT discrimination.

Quotations: “I suffer from girlnextdooritis where the guy is friends with you and that's it.”

“Your lucky enough to be different, never change.”

“I’m intimidated by the fear of being average.”

“I've wanted one thing for me whole life and I'm not going to be that girl who wants one thing her whole life then gets it and complains.”

“The lesson I've learned the most often in life is that you're always going to know more in the future than you know now.”

“There's more to life than dating the boy on the football team.”

“If you're horrible to me, I'm going to write a song about it, and you won't like it. That's how I operate.”

“No matter what happens in life, be good to people. Being good to people is a wonderful legacy to leave behind.”

“The lesson I've learned the most often in life is that you're always going to know more in the future than you know now.”

"When I was a little girl I used to read fairy tales. In fairy tales you meet Prince Charming and he's everything you ever wanted. In fairy tales the bad guy is very easy to spot. The bad guy is always wearing a black cape so you always know who he is. Then you grow up and you realize that Prince Charming is not as easy to find as you thought. You realize the bad guy is not wearing a black cape and he's not easy to spot; he's really funny, and he makes you laugh, and he has perfect hair."

Personality

Rolling Stone remarks upon her polite manner: "If this is Swift's game face, it must be tattooed on because it never drops." The magazine also takes note of her "ease with glad-handing", and The Hollywood Reporter credits her as "the Best People Person since Bill Clinton". While presenting Swift an award for her humanitarian endeavors in 2012, Michelle Obama described her as a singer 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". Swift is one of the most followed people on social media, and is known for her friendly interactions with her fans. She has delivered holiday gifts to fans by mail and in person, dubbed "Swiftmas". She considers it her "responsibility" to be conscious of her influence on young fans, and has said that her fans are "the longest and best relationship I have ever had".

Often described by the media as "America's Sweetheart", Swift insists that "I don't live by all these rigid, weird rules that make me feel all fenced in. I just like the way that I feel like, and that makes me feel very free". She refuses to take part in overly sexualized photo-shoots, although Bloomberg L.P. views her as a sex symbol. Swift was named an Icon of American Style by Vogue in 2011. In 2014 she topped People's annual best dressed list. In 2015, she was named Woman of the Year at the Elle Style Awards, and ranked first in Maxim's Hot 100 list.

Quotes from others about the person

• Rolling Stone describes Swift as "a songwriting savant with an intuitive gift for verse-chorus-bridge architecture".
  
  In The Guardian's words, "she spends so much time kissin' in the rain that it seems a miracle she hasn't developed trenchfoot".

Interests

• Theatre, travelling.
  
  Favorite Food – Cheesecake
  
  Favorite Color – Purple, white
  
  Favorite Movies – Love Actually (2003), Legally Blonde (2001)
  
  Favorite Season – Summer

• Philosophers & Thinkers

  William Lane Craig, Peter Kreeft

• Politicians

  Barack Obama

• Writers

  Mark A. Cooper, Harper Lee

• Artists

  Ralph Lauren, Rebecca Taylor

• Sport & Clubs

  Volleyball, hockey, and baseball

• Athletes

  Pittsburgh Penguins

• Music & Bands

  Dixie Chicks, Dolly Parton, Patsy Cline, Leann Rimes, Shania Twain, One Direction, Katy Perry, Tom Petty, Keith Urban, John Mayer

Connections

Father:

Scott K. Swift

Taylor Swift's father grew up in Pennsylvania and met his wife in Texas. They married in 1988 in Harris, Texas.

Mother:

Andrea Finlay Swift

She was born cir. 1958. Not much is written about Taylor Swift's mother, but she joins Taylor on every tour. Andrea Swift is the daughter of Marjorie Finlay, a professional opera singer. Taylor's happily reminisces about listening to her grandmother's elegant voice while growing up. She notes in interviews that her grandmother was one of her first musical influences, before listening to other country song birds like Patsy Cline and LeAnne Rimes.

Brother:

Austin K. Swift

He was born on March 4, 1993. As Taylor's kid brother and the youngest child in their family, Austin moved with the family to Hendersonville, TN where he is a student and a freelance photographer for Getty Images. Some of his photographs of Taylor appear in publications like People magazine and Rolling stone Magazine.

Friend:

Selena Gomez

Selena Marie Gomez is an American singer, actress, and producer.

Friend:

Ed Sheeran

Friend:

Jack Antonoff

Friend:

Gigi Hadid

References

• Taylor Swift biography: TAY - The Taylor Swift Story
• Taylor Swift (Real Bios)
• Taylor Swift: The Ultimate Taylor Swift Fan Book 2017: Taylor Swift Facts, Quiz and Quotes
• Taylor Swift: This Is Our Song
• Taylor Swift: The Whole Story
• Taylor Swift: Born to Sing .