Taylor Swift

Taylor Alison Swift is an American singer-songwriter born on December 13, 1989, in West Reading, Pennsylvania. Named after singer-songwriter James Taylor, she was raised by her parents, Scott Kingsley Swift and Andrea Gardner Swift, alongside her younger brother, Austin. She developed an interest in musical theater at age nine before shifting her focus to country music. At age 11, Swift began traveling to Nashville, Tennessee, to pursue a music career. After learning guitar and songwriting, she received an artist development deal at age 13, leading her family to relocate to Hendersonville, Tennessee.

In 2004, Swift became the youngest person signed to Sony/ATV Tree Music Publishing. After performing a showcase at the Bluebird Cafe, she signed with Big Machine Records in 2005. Her self-titled debut album was released in October 2006, featuring the singles "Tim McGraw", "Teardrops on My Guitar", and her first Hot Country Songs number-one single, "Our Song". She followed this with her second album, Fearless, in 2008, which spent 11 weeks atop the Billboard 200 chart and was supported by the crossover singles "Love Story" and "You Belong with Me".

Swift wrote her third studio album, Speak Now (2010), entirely on her own. It debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 with over one million copies sold in its first week. She incorporated rock elements into Speak Now and expanded into electronic styles on her fourth album, Red (2012). Red featured the singles "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together", her first Billboard Hot 100 number-one song, and "I Knew You Were Trouble". Swift supported these projects with headlining concert tours, including the Speak Now World Tour and the Red Tour.

Swift subsequently shifted her music style from country to pop on her 2014 album 1989, followed by the trap-imbued Reputation in 2017. During the 2010s, she achieved additional Hot 100 number-one singles, including "Shake It Off", "Blank Space", "Bad Blood", and "Look What You Made Me Do". Moving to Republic Records in 2018, she released the pop album Lover (2019) before exploring indie folk on Folklore and Evermore in 2020. Her subsequent albums include Midnights (2022), The Tortured Poets Department (2024), and the soft rock album The Life of a Showgirl (2025). Additionally, she re-recorded four of her first six albums following a dispute with Big Machine Records.

Swift's career includes several major live performances and films, notably the Eras Tour (2023–2024) and its accompanying concert film, Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour (2023), both of which became the highest-grossing concert tour and concert film of all time. Beyond music releases, she has acted in films such as Valentine's Day, The Lorax, and The Giver, and hosted Saturday Night Live. She has also written and recorded soundtrack songs, including "Safe & Sound" for The Hunger Games.

Over her career, Swift has earned numerous awards and industry recognitions. She has won 14 Grammy Awards, including a record four Album of the Year wins, a Primetime Emmy Award, and multiple honors from the American Music Awards, Billboard Music Awards, and MTV Video Music Awards. She is the only six-time recipient of the IFPI Global Recording Artist of the Year award, was named Time Person of the Year in 2023, and became the youngest female inductee into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2026.