Biography

Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter. Recognised for her songwriting, musical versatility, artistic reinventions and influence on the music industry, she is a prominent cultural figure of the 21st century. Swift began songwriting professionally at age 14 and signed with Big Machine Records in 2005 to become a country musician. Under Big Machine, she released six studio albums, four of them to country radio, starting with her self-titled album (2006). Her next record, Fearless (2008), explored country pop, and its singles "Love Story" and "You Belong with Me" catapulted her to mainstream fame. Speak Now (2010) incorporated rock influences, and Red (2012) experimented with electronic elements and featured Swift's first Billboard Hot 100 number-one song, "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together". She abandoned her country image with 1989 (2014), a synth-pop album supported by chart-topping songs "Shake It Off", "Blank Space", and "Bad Blood". Media scrutiny inspired her next album, the hip-hop-flavored Reputation (2017), and its number-one single "Look What You Made Me Do". After signing a new contract with Republic Records in 2018, Swift released her seventh album, Lover (2019), and autobiographical documentary, Miss Americana (2020). She embraced indie folk and alternative rock on her 2020 albums Folklore and Evermore and explored chill-out styles on Midnights (2022). The albums broke multifarious records, led by the respective number-one singles "Cardigan", "Willow", and "Anti-Hero". After a dispute with Big Machine led Swift to re-record her back catalog, she released two re-recorded albums, Fearless (Taylor's Version) and Red (Taylor's Version), in 2021; the latter's "All Too Well (10 Minute Version)" became the longest song to top the Hot 100. Swift has directed music videos and films such as All Too Well: The Short Film (2021) and played supporting roles in others. Having sold over 200 million records, Swift is one of the best-selling musicians, the most streamed woman on Spotify, and the only act to have five albums open with over one million copies sold in the US. She has been featured in critical lists such as Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Songwriters of All Time, Billboard's Greatest of All Time Artists, the Time 100, and Forbes Celebrity 100. Among her accolades are 12 Grammy Awards, including three Album of the Year wins; a Primetime Emmy Award; 40 American Music Awards; 29 Billboard Music Awards; 12 Country Music Association Awards; three IFPI Global Recording Artist of the Year awards; and 98 Guinness World Records.