Taylor Swift’s music is about a lot of things, but one thing that’s never up for debate is her genius at crafting songs with both lyrical weight and pop hooks. She’s crafted more than 200 hits and counting, and has an enviable record of topping charts and winning awards at prestigious shows like the AMAs and the Grammys. It’s impossible to count how many times her albums and singles have topped the Billboard 200, but she holds the distinction of having the highest number of chart-topping singles in music history.
But what’s perhaps most impressive about Taylor is how she’s managed to stay fresh over the years and continue to push her sound into new territory. Her 2014 album 1989 marked a pivotal point in her career, shedding her image as country music’s teen ingénue and signaling the beginning of her rise as an all-conquering pop force. It spent 11 weeks atop the US charts, and spawned such juggernauts as “Blank Space,” “Look What You Made Me Do,” and “Forever & Always.”
The success of 1989 led to the Fearless Tour, Taylor’s first headlining concert trek, which grossed more than $150 million. It also won her the Artist of the Year award at the AMAs and the Album of the Year statue at the Grammys. In addition, she’s won 30 MTV Video Music Awards and is tied with Beyonce for most wins of any female artist in history. She’s a two-time winner of the Country Music Association’s Entertainer of the Year, and has scored 39 Billboard Music Awards trophies (including the most by any female artist).
Following her RED tour in 2022, Taylor surprised fans by releasing the self-directed documentary folklore at midnight on November 22, 2020. It was recorded in isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic and features Jack Antonoff and Aaron Dessner of The National, as well as Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon on one track. The album debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200, making it her longest-running number 1 and earning her 5 Grammy nominations, including Song and Album of the Year.
After a publicized feud with her manager Scooter Braun and former label Big Machine, Taylor announced she would be taking full control of her masters recordings in October 2020. By November of the same year, she began re-recording her back catalog in an effort to own and maintain her music and creative legacy. The result is 2024’s THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT, a study in heightened emotions and extremes that is her most specific, candid and unsparing work to date.
