Taylor Swift

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Taylor Swift

Taylor Swift News: The Eras Tour Returns to the U.S. on October 18

Taylor Swift’s highly acclaimed Eras Tour is set to resume in North America on October 18, marking the return of the pop megastar after an extensive 14-month engagement across 16 countries. The tour will kick off its final leg in Miami, where Swift will perform for three consecutive nights.

Following her Miami performances, the 34-year-old artist is scheduled to grace the stages in New Orleans, Indianapolis, and Toronto, culminating in a record-setting finale in Vancouver on December 8. She will be joined by the talented newcomer Gracie Abrams, who previously opened for Swift during the European segment of the tour.

In August 2023, Swift announced additional concert dates just weeks before what was originally believed to be her final North American performance in Mexico City. In a playful message on X (formerly Twitter), she declared, “Turns out it’s NOT the end of an era.” For those interested, details on securing last-minute tickets are available.

Who Is Taylor Swift?

Taylor Swift, a musician who gained recognition as a country singer by the age of 16, has since established herself as one of the most significant figures in pop music history. Early hits such as “Love Story” and “You Belong With Me” resonated with both country and pop audiences, contributing to the multiplatinum success of her albums, including the award-winning Fearless. With 14 Grammy Awards to her name, Swift is notably the first artist to win Album of the Year four times. Recently named Time’s 2023 Person of the Year, she continues to perform on her record-breaking Eras Tour and is currently in a relationship with professional football player Travis Kelce. Her latest album, The Tortured Poets Department, was released in April 2024.

Where Is Taylor Swift From?

Taylor Alison Swift was born on December 13, 1989, in Reading, Pennsylvania. She spent her formative years with her parents, Scott and Andrea, and her brother, Austin, on the family’s Christmas tree farm in nearby Wyomissing. Reflecting on her childhood, Swift described it as “the most magical,” allowing her to explore her imagination freely. She developed a passion for riding horses and competing, but her deeper interest in music began to flourish as she followed in the footsteps of her grandmother, Marjorie Finlay, a professional opera singer.

By the age of 10, Swift was performing at various local events, including fairs and competitions. At age 11, she sang “The Star-Spangled Banner” at a Philadelphia 76ers basketball game and began writing her own songs at 12, paralleling the poetic style of her distant cousin, Emily Dickinson. Influenced by early music icons such as Shania Twain and The Chicks, Swift frequently visited Nashville, Tennessee, the heart of country music, to co-write songs and pursue a recording contract. Recognizing her dedication, her family relocated to Hendersonville when she was 13 to support her burgeoning career. Swift initially attended Hendersonville High School before completing her education through a homeschooling program at Aaron Academy, a private Christian school, as her music career gained momentum.

Music Career Overview

Taylor Swift, one of the preeminent pop stars of today, has journeyed from performing in local venues across Tennessee to commanding stadiums filled with her devoted fans—known as Swifties—on international tours. A pivotal moment in her career occurred at The Bluebird Café in Nashville, where her captivating performance led to a contract with Scott Borchetta’s Big Machine Records at the young age of 14. Swift initially emerged as a country artist, with her debut single, “Tim McGraw,” named after one of the genre’s luminaries. Released in 2006, the song—written during her first-year math class—quickly ascended the Billboard country charts, marking Swift’s entry into the spotlight. The following year, she was invited to join country music icons Tim McGraw and Faith Hill on their Soul2Soul tour, where McGraw later remarked, “Faith and I both knew that there was no stopping her. She’s a special talent.”

Swift’s talent did not go unnoticed for long. In 2007, she was honored with the Horizon Award from the Country Music Association (CMA) and the Academy of Country Music (ACM) Award for Top New Female Vocalist. The following year, she earned a Grammy nomination for Best New Artist and, in 2010, made history as the youngest artist to win the Grammy for Album of the Year for her critically acclaimed album, Fearless.

As her career progressed, Swift began to explore new musical territories. With the release of her fifth studio album, 1989, she redefined herself as a pop artist. This album, released in 2014, captivated audiences and became one of her most successful works, spending 11 weeks atop the Billboard 200 and selling over 1.2 million copies in its first week.

Despite her genre transition, Swift’s songwriting remains deeply personal, often drawing from her own experiences, including her romantic relationships. In a 2009 interview with Rolling Stone, she expressed her fascination with relationships and the drama they entail, while also emphasizing her non-dramatic personality. Her loyal fanbase often engages in extensive analysis of her lyrics and music videos, searching for clues about the subjects of her songs.

Since March 2023, Swift has been captivating audiences on her highly publicized Eras Tour, marking her sixth international tour. This tour follows her initial headlining concert series after the release of her sophomore album, Fearless. The presale for the Eras Tour generated unprecedented demand, leading to Ticketmaster canceling the general sale and sparking a congressional hearing on the matter. As of July 2022, Swift was already one of the highest-grossing touring musicians, and she has since surpassed $1 billion in earnings from the Eras Tour, eclipsing Elton John’s record-setting farewell tour.

In addition to her touring success, 2023 has been a remarkable year for Swift, featuring the release of 1989 (Taylor’s Version), the groundbreaking concert film Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour, two additional No. 1 hits on the Billboard Hot 100, and her historic tie with Drake for the most Billboard Music Awards. She also dethroned Bad Bunny as the most-streamed artist of the year on Spotify and Apple Music, achieving billionaire status. In recognition of her accomplishments, Time named Swift its 2023 Person of the Year, making her the fifth woman to receive this prestigious honor.

Early in 2024, Swift made history once again by becoming the first artist to win the Grammy for Album of the Year four times, further solidifying her legacy in the music industry.

How Many Grammys Does Taylor Swift Have?

Taylor Swift has won 14 Grammy Awards out of 52 nominations, solidifying her status as one of the most decorated artists in Grammy history.

Early Nominations and Wins

Swift received her first nomination in 2008 for Best New Artist. Although the award went to Amy Winehouse, Swift quickly established herself as a force in the music industry. The following year, she collected four Grammys, including Album of the Year and Best Country Album for her album Fearless. Additionally, her songs “White Horse” and “Best Female Country Vocal Performance” also earned her awards in 2009.

Album of the Year Achievements

Notably, Swift has won the Album of the Year award four times, a record that includes her albums Fearless, 1989, folklore, and Midnights. In 2024, she became the only artist to achieve this milestone. Midnights also won Best Pop Vocal Album that year. However, despite her numerous accolades, Swift has yet to win the prestigious Song of the Year award, despite receiving a record seven nominations in that category. In the Best Country Song category, she has won twice from five nominations, with “Mean” winning the trophy a year after “White Horse.”

Other Accolades

Beyond her Grammy wins, Swift has garnered numerous awards, including nine CMA Awards and eight ACM Awards, both of which recognized her as Entertainer of the Year on two occasions. She has also claimed 30 MTV Video Music Awards, tying with Beyoncé for the most wins in that category. In 2012, Billboard named her Woman of the Year, adding to her impressive tally of 39 awards from the publication. As of now, she shares the record for the most Billboard Music Awards with Drake.

In December 2023, Swift received her first Golden Globe Award nomination for Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour, although it did not win in its category at the January 2024 ceremony.

Hit Songs

Since releasing her debut single “Tim McGraw” in 2006, Swift has made a significant impact on the Billboard charts. As of October 9, 2024, she has had 264 songs on the mainstream Hot 100, including 12 No. 1 hits and a record 59 songs in the top 10—more than any other female artist, trailing only Drake among all artists. Additionally, she has nine No. 1 Hot Country Songs, featuring hits like “Our Song” and “Should’ve Said No.”

Fearless marked Swift’s first top 10 entry when it debuted at No. 9 in November 2008. Her first Billboard Hot 100 chart-topper came four years later with the Grammy-nominated “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together.” Other notable No. 1 songs include:

  • “Shake It Off”
  • “Blank Space”
  • “Bad Blood”
  • “Look What You Made Me Do”
  • “Cardigan”
  • “Willow”
  • “All Too Well (Taylor’s Version)”
  • “Anti-Hero”
  • “Cruel Summer”
  • “Is It Over Now? (Taylor’s Version) [From The Vault]”
  • “Fortnight”

At 10 minutes and 13 seconds, “All Too Well (Taylor’s Version)” holds the record for the longest No. 1 hit in history. Meanwhile, “Shake It Off” is her only diamond-certified song, with sales equivalent to 10 million copies.

Albums

As of now, Swift has released 19 albums, which comprise 11 original studio albums, four re-recorded albums, and four live albums. Every album since her sophomore effort, Fearless, has reached No. 1 on the Billboard 200 for at least one week. In December 2023, she became the first living artist to have five albums simultaneously in the top 10 of the Billboard 200.

Her discography includes:

  1. Taylor Swift
  2. Fearless
  3. Speak Now
  4. Red
  5. 1989
  6. reputation
  7. Lover
  8. folklore
  9. evermore
  10. Midnights
  11. The Tortured Poets Department

Her latest re-recorded album, 1989 (Taylor’s Version), debuted in October 2023.

What Is Taylor Swift’s Net Worth?

By age 26, Swift was the highest-paid musician and the top-earning celebrity across all industries in 2016, with earnings of $170 million. This successful year was part of a broader trend that contributed to her substantial net worth. By late October 2023, she reached billionaire status, according to Bloomberg. As of October 8, 2024, Forbes estimates her net worth at $1.6 billion, making her the wealthiest female musician, surpassing Rihanna. Swift is also noted as the first person to achieve billionaire status primarily from songwriting and performing.

In 2023, she earned an estimated $131 million from Spotify alone, ranking as the platform’s most-streamed artist of the year. Her wealth surged in the past year and a half, largely fueled by the success of her Eras Tour, which has grossed over $1 billion, making Swift the first musician to achieve this feat. According to Pollstar, the tour averaged over $17.3 million in ticket sales per night, with Forbes estimating her take-home from the tour at $190 million and counting.

As of July 2022, Swift ranked No. 17 on Pollstar’s list of highest-grossing touring artists since 1980, having sold nearly $925 million in tickets from her first five tours and other appearances. The only female artists ranked higher are Madonna, Celine Dion, and Beyoncé.

Swift’s net worth is also bolstered by her real estate holdings, valued at $84 million. She has lucrative endorsement deals with brands such as Capitol One, Stella McCartney, Diet Coke, and Apple, among others.

In addition to her financial success, Swift has shown a commitment to philanthropy. In 2013, she funded the $4 million Taylor Swift Education Center at the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville, which features classrooms, a learning lab, and a dedicated space for children’s exhibits. In an interview with CMT Hot 20 Countdown, she expressed her belief in the importance of music education, noting that discovering songwriting and playing guitar transformed her life.

Who Has Taylor Swift Dated?

Taylor Swift has had a notable dating history, often sparking public interest and inspiring some of her most famous songs. As of now, Swift is dating NFL player Travis Kelce. Their relationship began after Kelce attempted to give Swift his phone number on a friendship bracelet during her Eras Tour stop in Kansas City. They went public with their romance in the fall of 2023. Kelce has expressed his excitement and surprise at dating someone with Swift’s level of fame, saying, “I’ve never dealt with it, but at the same time, I’m not running away from any of it.” Swift, in turn, attended 12 of Kelce’s NFL games during the 2023 season, and the two were spotted together both at events and in intimate moments, such as their public kiss during one of her Buenos Aires concerts in November 2023. Their relationship continues to draw attention as Swift regularly appears at Kelce’s games.

Throughout her career, Swift has been romantically linked to several high-profile celebrities. In 2008, she dated Joe Jonas, which reportedly inspired her song “Forever & Always.” The following year, she briefly dated actor Taylor Lautner, then singer John Mayer, whose relationship inspired the track “Dear John.” Swift was later linked to actors Cory Monteith and Jake Gyllenhaal in 2010 and Conor Kennedy in 2012. In 2013, she dated One Direction’s Harry Styles, and in 2015, she began a relationship with DJ Calvin Harris, which ended in 2016. Following that, Swift had a short relationship with actor Tom Hiddleston.

Her longest relationship was with British actor Joe Alwyn, whom she dated from 2017 to 2023. Alwyn not only influenced her songwriting but also collaborated with Swift on several albums under the pseudonym William Bowery. After their breakup, Swift briefly dated Matty Healy of The 1975.

Scooter Braun Controversy and Rerecording Project

In addition to her personal life, Swift has been at the center of a major industry controversy involving her master recordings. After signing with Republic Records in 2018, Swift gained control of her future master recordings. However, her previous label, Big Machine Records, sold her catalog of music (up to the reputation album) to a company owned by Scooter Braun in 2019, a move Swift publicly denounced, citing Braun’s history of bullying tactics. Swift declared her intent to rerecord her early music to reclaim ownership. So far, she has reissued four of the six albums from her earlier catalog, starting with Love Story (Taylor’s Version) in 2021, giving her control over her legacy and music once again.

Taylor Swift has faced several legal disputes in recent years, all of which ended in her favor. In August 2017, she testified against David Mueller, a former radio DJ who she accused of groping her in 2013. Mueller denied the allegations and claimed that the accusation cost him his job, prompting him to file a lawsuit in 2015 against Swift, her mother, and a radio station employee. Swift countersued for assault and battery, and the jury ultimately ruled in her favor, awarding her a symbolic $1 in damages.

Swift expressed her gratitude for the outcome, stating, “I acknowledge the privilege that I benefit from in life, in society, and in my ability to shoulder the enormous cost of defending myself in a trial like this. My hope is to help those whose voices should also be heard,” announcing plans to donate to organizations that support sexual assault victims.

In a separate legal matter, Swift faced a lawsuit in 2017 from two songwriters who alleged that she copied the chorus of their song “Playas Gon’ Play” in her hit “Shake It Off.” While a judge dismissed the case in early 2018 due to a lack of originality in the disputed lyrics, an appeals court revived the suit in 2019. The case was dismissed in December 2022 at the request of both parties, with reports suggesting a settlement, though details were not disclosed.

Swift was also involved in another copyright dispute when a Mississippi woman claimed that elements from her poetry book appeared in Swift’s companion book for the Lover (2019) album. The plaintiff dropped the case in July 2023.

Feud with Kanye West

One of Swift’s most publicized feuds has been with rapper Kanye West. Their conflict began in 2009 when Swift won the MTV Video Music Award for Best Female Video. As she accepted the award, West interrupted her speech, famously stating, “Yo, Taylor, I’m really happy for you, I’mma let you finish, but Beyoncé had one of the best videos of all time!” West’s actions drew widespread criticism, and later in the show, Beyoncé invited Swift back on stage to finish her speech.

The feud resurfaced in 2016 when West released his song “Famous,” which contained a controversial lyric about Swift. West claimed that Swift approved the line during a phone call, but her team denied this. Later, Kim Kardashian, West’s then-wife, released edited clips of the call, revealing that Swift’s PR team had misrepresented the conversation. Swift responded to the feud through songs like “Look What You Made Me Do” and “This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things” on her reputation (2017) album. The feud briefly reignited in 2020 when an unedited version of the phone call leaked online.

Documentaries and Movies

Swift expanded her presence beyond music with the release of Miss Americana in January 2020, a Netflix documentary that explored her career and personal struggles, including her sexual assault trial. The film had a limited theatrical release alongside its debut on Netflix.

In October 2023, Swift premiered Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour, a concert film that was released in 3,850 theaters across North America and 90 other countries, making it the widest concert movie release ever. The film grossed over $261 million worldwide, becoming the highest-grossing concert film of all time. An extended version, Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour (Taylor’s Version), is available on Disney+ and other streaming platforms.

Swift has also appeared in several films, including Valentine’s Day (2010), The Lorax (2012), The Giver (2014), and Cats (2019). She contributed to the soundtrack of Cats, co-writing the song “Beautiful Ghosts” with Andrew Lloyd Webber. Most recently, Swift made a cameo in the 2022 film Amsterdam.