Taylor Alison Swift is an American singer-songwriter, musician and entrepreneur whose songs, style and persona have influenced the music industry and popular culture. She is one of the most successful female artists in history, having sold more than 100 million albums worldwide. Swift has also starred in several films, written two books and launched her own cosmetics line. She is a philanthropist, donating money and books to schools and the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame.
Born in Reading, Pennsylvania, Swift grew up on a Christmas tree farm with her parents and younger brother. Her mother taught her to play piano, while her father worked as a logger and her aunt was a nurse. As a child, Swift took up country music and read children’s books like Shel Silverstein and Dr. Seuss, which she cites as inspirations for her love of rhymes. She began writing songs at age 10, and by 12, she had signed a publishing deal with Big Machine Records. In the early years of her career, Swift’s music leaned toward pop, but she kept a foot in country with releases such as Fearless (2008) and Speak Now (2011). In 2012, she branched out musically and stylistically with the release of Red. Its gleeful “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” gave her her first number-one pop single.
The album itself embraced a more sophisticated pop sound, while its lyrical themes delved into the complexity of heartbreak and insecurity. Swift followed up with another album of explorations in 2021, Folklore, which topped both the Billboard 200 and Pop Album charts. She released a documentary on the album, the self-directed Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions, in November of that year.
With her 2019 release Reputation, Swift shifted gears again, exploring the intricacies of fame and the toll it takes on relationships. The album’s lead single, “Look What You Made Me Do,” is a biting account of a standoff with an inconsiderate jerk that makes a bad party feel like the Fall of Troy. Swift’s delivery is eerily intimate, with quiet strings and piano and religious imagery that evokes a private tragedy we may never know about.
In 2022, Swift surprised fans with the release of her double album Midnights and its companion album, Evermore. Recorded in isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic, the albums were ruminative and relatively lo-fi, earning her Songwriter of the Year at the Apple Music Awards. In 2023, Swift began a multi-year tour of new and old material. Throughout her career, Swift has been generous in her donations to schools and the arts, citing her own upbringing as the inspiration for such giving. She is a patron of the Nashville Symphony and donates music equipment to school music departments and literacy programs. She has also been a benefactor of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame and the Country Music Foundation. She is a board member of the Foundation for a Sustainable Future and supports children’s health through her advocacy work with the Make-A-Wish foundation.
