The MTV Video Music Award for Best Direction is an award given to the artist, the artist's manager, and the director of the music video. From 1984 to 2006, the full name of the award was Best Direction in a Video , and in 2007, it was briefly renamed Best Director . The category acquired its current name with the 2008 awards.
164-639: American artist Taylor Swift is the biggest winner in this category with four wins from six nominations. The most nominated director is David Fincher with eight nominations. Remarkably, seven of Fincher's nominations were achieved in a three-year span (1989–1991), as he was nominated a record three times in both 1989 and 1990. Fincher's recent nomination (and win) occurred over twenty years later in 2013 for his work on Justin Timberlake 's " Suit & Tie ." Closely following him are Dave Meyers with seven nominations and Francis Lawrence with six. Hype Williams
328-599: A Christmas tree farm in Pennsylvania that her father had purchased from one of his clients, and she spent her summers at her family's vacation home in Stone Harbor, New Jersey , where she occasionally performed acoustic songs at a local coffee shop. She is a Christian and attended preschool and kindergarten at a Montessori school run by the Bernardine Sisters of St. Francis before transferring to
492-470: A bridge . Dessner realized they were creating a counterpart to Folklore only after the duo wrote more than seven songs. He composed " Tolerate It " on a piano in 8 time signature and sent it to Swift, conjuring a scene in her mind upon hearing the track; she sent it back with finished lyrics. Dessner stated he "cried when [he] first heard" its lyrics. Swift traveled to Long Pond Studio to film Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions . Once filming
656-428: A chamber folk love song propelled by picked guitars, glockenspiel , orchestrations, programmed drums, and a "breathless chorus". " Champagne Problems " is a mournful ballad with spacious, oom-pah piano chords entwining with a guitar arpeggio and choir vocals. It depicts a struggling girlfriend whose mental issues disrupt her romantic relationship, leading her to turn down her lover's proposal. "Gold Rush"
820-459: A daydream , and depicts her distaste at her own incapacitation in the face of beauty, comparing it to gold rushes . The fourth track, " ' Tis the Damn Season", is a Christmas song . It sees a female narrator arrive for her holidays at hometown Tupelo , where she encounters her former lover and ends up in bed with him despite knowing the rekindled flame will not lead anywhere. It
984-565: A normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from professional publications, the album received an average score of 85, based on 29 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim". Describing Swift as an unrivaled songwriter, Brodie Lancaster of The Sydney Morning Herald found Evermore traveling deeper into the singer's fictitious narratives, and praised the depth and variety of its characters. NME critic Hannah Mylrea opined that Swift pushes her indie reinvention further in Evermore , terming it
1148-701: A stalker in Gelsenkirchen , Germany, and three children were killed in a stabbing attack at a Swift-themed workshop in Southport , England, leading to civil unrest in the UK . In August, all three of the Eras Tour concerts in Vienna were canceled following the arrest of two suspects for allegedly planning an Islamic State -inspired terrorist attack in the city . The plan was uncovered by US Intelligence and
1312-474: A wintry theme, a yuletide version of the cottagecore , woodland aesthetic of Folklore . Time stated that Folklore is a muted, autumnal palette of sounds and feelings, whereas Evermore is its winter companion with lingering sadness and regret. While Folklore adapts a grayscale monochrome , Evermore employs colors. The Times of India opined that Evermore embraces "1960s-era Laurel Canyon ". The cover artwork of Evermore shows Swift in
1476-447: A yuletide evolution of the former's sound. Maura Johnston , writing for Entertainment Weekly , asserted that Swift "levels up" on Evermore by taking musical risks, and dubbed the sister albums a career-high for the singer. Spin critic Bobby Olivier thought the "career-redefining" album finds Swift at her prime, joining "the pantheon of songwriters who consistently deliver despite unimaginable expectations". He regarded Evermore
1640-399: A "bait-and-switch maneuver, planting roots in loamy country soil, then pivoting to pop". Clash wrote that she has the versatility to "no longer [...] be defined by any genre or sound label". According to Ann Powers , Swift's sound is genre-agnostic, blending and "reconfiguring" elements of country, R&B, indie pop , and hip hop. Swift possesses a mezzo-soprano vocal range and
1804-404: A "freewheeling younger sibling" while Folklore is the "introspective, romantic older sister"; Mylrea thought Evermore is looser and more experimental, expanding on its predecessor's sonic palette. In congruence, American Songwriter designated Folklore as the "archetypal older sister—a careful, yet hopeless romantic" whereas Evermore is the "bold, scrappy younger one", with the latter being
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#17327657912541968-400: A "full-on winter album" populated by "subtle growers" shrouded in a sedative atmosphere. Jon Pareles of The New York Times commended its diligent sound and poised lyrics, and noted more character studies in it than Folklore . In less favorable reviews, Kitty Empire of The Observer praised the album's emotion and themes, but felt Swift is "still a little muted on Evermore as she
2132-459: A "pulsing keyboard arrangement". "Closure", the fourteenth track, is Swift's kiss-off to the song's unnamed subject, a reply to their "self-serving" request, insincere kindness, and pretentious amity. It is an industrial folk song characterized by an unusual 4 time signature , and a "skittering" production of brass , piano, to-and-fro strings, electronic creaks, "clattering percussion", and synth drums. The standard edition of
2296-408: A barren field, facing away from the camera, looking over the bare trees in the distance. She is seen standing at the edge of a forested area, while on the cover of Folklore , she was seen inside a forest. Her hair is styled in a French braid and she wears a single-breasted, brown and orange checked flannel coat, taken from a collection by English designer Stella McCartney . Stylist called
2460-511: A computer repairman and local musician who also assisted Swift with writing an original song. In 2003, Swift and her parents started working with the talent manager Dan Dymtrow. With his help, Swift modeled for Abercrombie & Fitch and had an original song included on a Maybelline compilation CD. After performing original songs at an RCA Records showcase, 13-year-old Swift was given an artist development deal and began to travel regularly to Nashville with her mother. To help Swift break into
2624-890: A corresponding melody. On her first three studio albums, love, heartbreak, and insecurities, from an adolescent perspective, were dominant themes. She delved into the tumult of toxic relationships on Red , and embraced nostalgia and post-romance positivity on 1989 . Reputation was inspired by the downsides of Swift's fame, and Lover detailed her realization of the "full spectrum of love". Other themes in Swift's music include family dynamics, friendship, alienation, self-awareness , and tackling vitriol, especially sexism . She often references or draws inspiration from historical events and figures. Swift's confessional lyrics received positive reviews from critics, who highlighted their vivid details and emotional engagement, which they found uncommon in pop music, although some perceived her as
2788-519: A defining sound of her recalibrated pop artistry and image, inspired by the music of Phil Collins , Annie Lennox , Peter Gabriel , and Madonna . 1989 , the first album in this direction, incorporates electronic arrangements consisting of dense synthesizers and drum machines . Swift expanded on the electronic production on her next albums; Reputation consists of hip hop, R&B, and EDM influences; and Lover features eclectic elements from country, pop-punk, and folk rock . When Swift embraced
2952-468: A documentary about Faith Hill , she became determined to pursue a country-music career in Nashville, Tennessee . At 11, Swift traveled to Nashville with her mother to visit record labels and submit demo tapes of Dolly Parton and Dixie Chicks karaoke covers. She was rejected by all the labels, which led her to focus on songwriting. She started learning the guitar at 12 with the help of Ronnie Cremer,
3116-579: A forest. In another post across her social media, she announced her ninth studio album, titled Evermore , releasing at midnight. She revealed the track-list, and a music video for its opening track, " Willow ", which would premiere on YouTube alongside the album release. Referring to lockdown regulations in light of the COVID-19 pandemic , Swift wrote: "You've all been so caring, supportive and thoughtful on my birthdays and so this time I thought I would give you something! I also know this holiday season will be
3280-469: A fragile, juvenile artist, a label she has consistently challenged. Critics also praised her melodic compositions; Rolling Stone described Swift as "a songwriting savant with an intuitive gift for verse-chorus-bridge architecture ". NPR dubbed Swift "a master of the vernacular in her lyrics", remarking that her songs offer emotional engagement because "the wit and clarity of her arrangements turn them from standard fare to heartfelt disclosures". Despite
3444-401: A generally soft and breathy timbre that Rolling Stone deemed versatile. Reviews of Swift's early country albums criticized her vocals as weak and strained compared to those of other female country singers. Despite the criticism, most reviewers appreciated that Swift refrained from correcting her pitch with Auto-Tune and how she prioritized "intimacy over power and nuance" to communicate
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#17327657912543608-551: A genre-spanning record that incorporated eclectic styles of pop and rock such as Britrock , dubstep , and dance-pop . The album opened at number one on the Billboard 200 with 1.21 million sales and was Swift's first number-one album in the UK. Its lead single, " We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together ", was her first number one on the Billboard Hot 100, and its third single, " I Knew You Were Trouble ", reached
3772-535: A global publishing deal with Universal Music Publishing Group after her 16-year contract with Sony/ATV expired. Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Swift surprise-released two "sister albums" that she recorded and produced with Antonoff and Aaron Dessner : Folklore in July and Evermore in December. Joe Alwyn co-wrote and co-produced a few songs under the pseudonym William Bowery. Both albums incorporated
3936-407: A lonely one for most of us and if there are any of you out there who turn to music to cope with missing loved ones the way I do, this is for you". Prior to the "Willow" music video premiere, Swift said she likens Evermore to fall and winter, in contrast to its predecessor's spring and summer. Like its predecessor, Evermore is also a product of remote collaboration and virtual communication, and
4100-542: A million copies of Evermore sold in its first-week worldwide, marking Swift's eighth consecutive studio album to achieve it. All of the album's 15 tracks entered the top 75 of the Billboard Global 200 chart. Aided by Evermore and Folklore , Swift was 2020's top streamed artist on Amazon Music across all genres. The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) named her
4264-492: A moonman in this category for their work directing/co-directing their videos: George Michael , Beck , Erykah Badu , Adam Yauch of the Beastie Boys , Kendrick Lamar and Lil Nas X . An additional nine performers have been nominated for their work co-directing/directing videos: Busta Rhymes , Missy Elliott , Christina Aguilera , Jared Leto (as Bartholomew Cubbins), Ryan Lewis , Bruno Mars , Billie Eilish , Tyler,
4428-448: A muted indie folk and alternative rock production; each was supported by three singles catering to US pop, country, and triple A radio formats. The singles were " Cardigan ", " Betty ", and " Exile " from Folklore , and " Willow ", " No Body, No Crime ", and " Coney Island " from Evermore . Folklore was the bestselling album of 2020 in the US and, together with "Cardigan", made Swift
4592-588: A near- rap delivery which emphasizes rhythm and cadence over melody. She uses her lower register vocals extensively in "Cardigan" and both her lower and upper registers in Evermore ; the musicologist Alyssa Barca described her timbre in the upper register as "breathy and bright" and the lower register as "full and dark". Reviews in The New York Times , Variety and The Atlantic were more appreciative of Swift's vocals in her later albums. She ranked 102nd on Rolling Stone 's 2023 list of
4756-528: A non-recoupable portion of the proceeds among its artists. Swift's first album with Republic Records, Lover , was released in August 2019. She produced the album with Antonoff, Louis Bell , Frank Dukes , and Joel Little . Lover peaked atop the charts of such territories as Australia, Canada, Ireland, Mexico, Norway, Sweden, the UK, and the US. The album spawned five singles: " Me! ", " You Need to Calm Down ", " Lover ", " The Man ", and " Cruel Summer ";
4920-569: A pop identity, rockist critics regarded her move as an erosion of her country music songwriting authenticity, but others regarded it as necessary for Swift's artistic evolution and defended her as a pioneer of poptimism . Her 2020 albums Folklore and Evermore explore alternative and indie styles of rock and folk , and both incorporate a subtle, stripped-back soundscape with orchestration , synthesizers, and drum pads. The latter experiments with varied song structures, asymmetric time signatures , and diverse instruments. Critics deemed
5084-468: A rebellious teenager in an CSI: Crime Scene Investigation episode and hosted and performed as the musical guest on Saturday Night Live ; she was the first host ever to write their own opening monologue. Swift's third studio album, Speak Now , was released in October 2010. Written solely by Swift, the album debuted the Billboard 200 with over one million US copies sold first week and became
MTV Video Music Award for Best Direction - Misplaced Pages Continue
5248-871: A sequel and a companion record to Folklore . Evermore is an indie folk, folk-pop , alternative rock , and chamber rock record with country influences. It has its predecessor's minimal and lo-fi styles, but looser and more experimental in nature. The album is characterized by its acoustic core and wintry mood, consisting of sparse arrangements, slow-burning melodies, burbling, fingerpicked acoustic guitars, swaying electric guitars, soft, smooth, and somber pianos, warm and woozy synthesizers, mandolin , twangy banjos, throbbing drum machines , lush strings, electronic thrums, subtle layers of Mellotrons , flute, French horn, and cellos. Swift's mellifluous vocals are backed by gauzy harmonies and "misty atmospherics". Rolling Stone wrote that Evermore deepens Swift's goth-folk vision. Hits described
5412-480: A slight vocal twang , in addition to pop melodies and rock influences; Speak Now draws on rock styles such as pop rock , pop-punk , and 1980s arena rock . Critics argued that country was an indicator of Swift's narrative songwriting rather than musical direction and accused her of causing mainstream country music to stray from its roots. After the critical debate around Red 's eclectic pop, rock, and electronic styles, Swift chose 1980s synth-pop as
5576-613: A stronger work than Folklore . Annie Zaleski of The A.V. Club also chose Evermore over Folklore , and noted that the former continues the latter's " universe-building " with stronger writing and greater sonic cohesion. The Guardian 's Alexis Petridis said Evermore furthers Swift's departure to alternative rock from mainstream pop, comparing it to her country-to-pop shift in Red (2012); he added that it proves her ability to switch genres easily. Calling it heartfelt and ruminative, Neil McCormick of The Daily Telegraph lauded
5740-540: A woman on the Billboard 200. The album debuted atop the Alternative Albums chart as well, dethroning Folklore from number one; Evermore topped the chart for 15 weeks. All of the album's 15 tracks entered the Billboard Hot 100 simultaneously. Evermore became Swift's third album to chart all of its standard tracks together, after Lover (2019) and Folklore . Swift became the woman with
5904-637: Is a "sister album" to Folklore , which was launched less than five months prior; both of them are surprise albums announced 16 hours prior to their midnight releases. Evermore marked the second time Swift abandoned her long, traditional album rollout. The CDs were released on December 18, 2020. The bonus tracks of Evermore deluxe edition, "Right Where You Left Me" and "It's Time to Go", which were formerly physical-exclusive, were released to streaming services on January 7, 2021. Cassette tapes and vinyl LPs of Evermore were released on February 21, and May 28, 2021, respectively. Billboard reported that
6068-417: Is a country and folk-pop song, portraying the fate of a love "frozen in time", over twangy guitars. In contrast, "It's Time to Go" is about the narrator's knowledge of when to exit a relationship, such as a friendship, featuring tales of divorce and losing a dream career to an unfit individual; the song contains references to Swift's dispute over her masters . The visual aesthetic of Evermore takes upon
6232-408: Is a nimble chamber pop song with drums, horns, violins, swiveling shifts in tempo, and a "dreamy" chorus. Its frenzy verses are couplets delivered in a pulsating rhythm over persistent beats, with a red herring in its intro and outro made of "layered vocals". Expressing jealousy and insecurity towards an attractive subject, "Gold Rush" limns the narrator's infatuation for the subject using
6396-607: Is a pop-infused indie rock song with a rousing post-chorus hook, explosive guitars, strings, crisp beats of live drums and drum machine. Swift retreads Reputation (2017) in the song, summarizing her life's worst moments and emotional healing. "Marjorie" details Swift's grief over her grandmother Marjorie Finlay, a former opera singer, who died when Swift was 13 years old. Its lyrics consist of Finlay's advice to her granddaughter, as well as Swift's memories and regrets. It includes soft tracks of Finlay singing over "buzzing" synths, pizzicato strings, drone, pulse , cello, and
6560-559: Is an Americana song from the perspective of the male subject in " ' Tis the Damn Season", who stays in Tupelo while his high-school lover, Dorothea, moves to Los Angeles for a Hollywood career. He narrates his stories of her, such as a skipped prom and feelings of separation, and yearns for Dorothea's return to the simple rural life, over a honky-tonk piano , tambourine and guitars. It has been compared to "Betty" due to their similar perspectives. The ninth track, "Coney Island",
6724-556: Is an alternative rock, waltz and indie-folk duet with Berninger. The song depicts suburban nostalgia and recollects a couple's memories in Coney Island ; Swift's melodious vocals contrast Berninger's mumbled baritone . "Ivy" is a folk song with "elastic vocals" and a "jaunty chorus", documenting a married woman's infidelity, over a ticking arrangement of banjo, picked guitar , trumpet, and Vernon's gentle harmonies. It conveys her temptation for her secret lover and
MTV Video Music Award for Best Direction - Misplaced Pages Continue
6888-406: Is an intimate album heavily rooted in elaborate first-person storytelling from third-person perspectives , character studies, and narrative mythmaking . It ventures deeper inside the imaginary world Swift built with Folklore , blending facts and fiction. Both albums share a common escapist concept, but in contrast to Folklore ' s more introspective and romantic nature, Evermore
7052-553: Is bolder, uninhibited, playful, and impressionistic , delving extensively into Swift's ideas of adult love and pain. The songs generally ruminate themes of forbidden love, romantic neglect, forgiveness, marriage, and infidelity, revolving around a set of distinctive characters, such as embattled couples, scorned friends, and complicated women. Evermore also analyses conflicted emotions and possibilities, aside " noirish twists" in plots. Like its sister album, Evermore lyrically incorporates nature, landscapes and objects in
7216-406: Is built around an electric guitar riff, and the narrator is revealed to be a character named Dorothea, later in the album. "Tolerate It" recounts a young woman in an age-gap relationship , and depicts her internal agony and resentment towards her aloof, unappreciative partner. It is a slow-building ballad guided by a "muffled" piano and tense synth-beats . Its plot was inspired by Rebecca ,
7380-422: Is the director with the most nominations and no wins at five. The performers whose videos have won the most awards are Madonna and Taylor Swift , whose videos have garnered three direction moonmen respectively. However, Eminem 's videos have received the most nominations with seven. Swift is also the only performer to have won four moonmen in this category for her work directing. Five other performers have won
7544-686: Is the ninth studio album by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift . It was a surprise album released on December 11, 2020, via Republic Records , less than five months after her previous studio album Folklore . Evermore was a spontaneous product of Swift's extended collaboration with her Folklore collaborator Aaron Dessner , mainly recorded at his Long Pond Studio in the Hudson Valley . Swift described Evermore as an offshoot of "the folklorian woods"—an escapist , cottagecore -inspired direction she first ideated with Folklore during
7708-612: The 2009 Country Music Association Awards , Swift won Album of the Year for Fearless and was named Entertainer of the Year, the youngest person to win the honor. Throughout 2009, Swift featured on and wrote other musicians' releases. She featured on " Half of My Heart " by John Mayer , whom she was romantically linked with in late 2009. She wrote " Best Days of Your Life " for Kellie Pickler , co-wrote and featured on Boys Like Girls ' " Two Is Better Than One , and wrote two songs—" You'll Always Find Your Way Back Home " and " Crazier "—for
7872-599: The 2014 American Music Awards , Swift received the inaugural Dick Clark Award for Excellence. On her 25th birthday in 2014, the Grammy Museum at L.A. Live opened an exhibit in her honor in Los Angeles that ran until October 4, 2015. In 2015, Swift won the Brit Award for International Female Solo Artist . "Bad Blood" won Video of the Year and Best Collaboration at the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards . At
8036-467: The 2020 Sundance Film Festival . Swift's re-recordings of her first six studio albums began with Fearless (Taylor's Version) and Red (Taylor's Version) , which were released in April and November 2021. Both peaked atop the Billboard 200, and the former was the first re-recorded album to do so. Fearless (Taylor's Version) was preceded by " Love Story (Taylor's Version) ", which made Swift
8200-585: The 50th Annual Grammy Awards . In 2008, she opened for Rascal Flatts again and briefly dated the singer Joe Jonas . Swift's second studio album, Fearless , was released in November 2008 in North America, and in March 2009 in other markets. On the Billboard 200, Fearless spent 11 weeks at number one, becoming Swift's first chart topper and the longest-running number-one female country album. It
8364-555: The 58th Grammy Awards (2016), 1989 won Album of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Album , making Swift the first woman to win Album of the Year twice. Swift dated the DJ Calvin Harris from March 2015 to June 2016. They co-wrote the song " This Is What You Came For ", featuring vocals from Rihanna ; Swift was initially credited under the pseudonym Nils Sjöberg. She recorded " I Don't Wanna Live Forever " with Zayn Malik for
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#17327657912548528-682: The ARIA Singles Chart , accompanied by 11 fellow tracks. It marked her seventh Australian number-one song. Evermore spent four consecutive weeks at number-one in Australia, tying with Folklore as her second longest-running chart-topper, behind 1989 (11 weeks). In the United Kingdom, Evermore topped the UK Albums Chart for two weeks. It made Swift the fastest female artist to accumulate six number-one albums in
8692-698: The Billboard Hot 100. According to Billboard , Swift was the top-earning solo artist in the US and the top-earning musician worldwide of 2021. She won six American Music Awards including Artist of the Year in 2022 . At the MTV Video Music Awards, Swift won her third and fourth trophies for Video of the Year with All Too Well: The Short Film , her self-directed short film that accompanies "All Too Well (10 Minute Version)", in 2022 and "Anti-Hero" in 2023 . During this period, Swift won three Grammy Awards: Best Music Video for All Too Well: The Short Film and Best Pop Vocal Album and Album of
8856-421: The COVID-19 pandemic ; she regards them as sister albums. Evermore blends alternative rock , indie folk and chamber pop styles, carried by fingerpicked guitars, somber pianos, lavish strings, and sparse percussion. Impressionist storytelling and mythopoeia dominate its lyrical technique. The subject matter has been described as an anthology of tales about love, marriage, infidelity, and grief, exploring
9020-579: The Evermore photo was taken at the home of Swift's friend in Lewisboro, New York . Following Evermore 's release, replicas of the flannel coat Swift wore on the cover artwork quickly sold out on Farfetch . The album cover was the third most-searched album cover of 2021 on the internet, after Kanye West 's Donda (2021) and Olivia Rodrigo 's Sour (2021). Evermore was released on December 11, 2020, two days before Swift's 31st birthday, to digital music and streaming platforms only. It
9184-609: The Grammy Award for Album of the Year , MTV Video Music Award for Video of the Year and the IFPI Global Recording Artist of the Year at least four times each. She is an advocate of artists' rights and women's empowerment. Taylor Alison Swift was born on December 13, 1989, in West Reading, Pennsylvania . She is named after the singer-songwriter James Taylor . Her father, Scott Kingsley Swift,
9348-624: The Hot Country Songs . Due to eight tracks from Folklore remaining on the chart alongside the 14 from Evermore , Swift occupied 22 of the chart's 50 positions—the second most simultaneous entries in the chart's history, behind Linkin Park (23). On the Hot Alternative Songs, Swift claimed 16 spots, besting Machine Gun Kelly 's record. Despite its availability for the last two weeks of 2020 only, Evermore became one of
9512-636: The Official Singles Chart , "Willow" landed at number three and gave Swift her eleventh top-five hit, while tracks "Champagne Problems" and "No Body, No Crime" arrived at numbers 15 and 19, respectively, increasing her UK top-20 hits total to 21. Evermore was the best-selling Americana album of 2021 in the UK. In New Zealand, the album launched atop the Top 40 Albums chart , while its tracks "Willow", "Champagne Problems", "No Body, No Crime" and "Gold Rush" charted at numbers three, 24, 29 and 34 on
9676-574: The Speak Now World Tour from February 2011 to March 2012 and the live album Speak Now World Tour – Live . At the 54th Annual Grammy Awards in 2012, Swift performed "Mean", which won Best Country Song and Best Country Solo Performance . She was named Songwriter/Artist of the Year by the Nashville Songwriters Association (2010 and 2011), Woman of the Year by Billboard (2011), and Entertainer of
9840-679: The Wyndcroft School . When her family moved to Wyomissing , she attended Wyomissing Area Junior/Senior High School . As a child, she performed in Berks Youth Theatre Academy productions and traveled regularly to New York City for vocal and acting lessons. Her early love for country music was influenced by Shania Twain , Patsy Cline , LeAnn Rimes , and the Dixie Chicks , and she spent weekends performing at local festivals and events. After watching
10004-431: The hip-hop -imbued Reputation (2017). The albums contained the Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles " We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together ", " Shake It Off ", " Blank Space ", " Bad Blood " and " Look What You Made Me Do ". Shifting to Republic Records in 2018, Swift released the electropop album Lover (2019) and the autobiographical documentary Miss Americana (2020), explored indie folk styles in
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#173276579125410168-496: The soundtrack of Hannah Montana: The Movie , in which she had a cameo appearance. She wrote and recorded " Today Was a Fairytale " for the soundtrack of Valentine's Day (2010), in which she had her acting debut. "Today Was a Fairytale" was her first number-one single on the Canadian Hot 100 . While shooting Valentine's Day in October 2009, Swift dated co-star Taylor Lautner . On television, she made her debut as
10332-660: The soundtrack of Where the Crawdads Sing (2022), she wrote and recorded " Carolina ", which received nominations for Best Original Song at the Golden Globes and Best Song Written for Visual Media at the Grammy Awards. In 2023, Swift was the most streamed artist on Spotify, Apple Music, and Amazon Music; and the first act to place number one on the year-end Billboard top artists list in three different decades (2009, 2015 and 2023). She had five out of
10496-501: The world's richest female musician . She has been listed amongst history's greatest artists by publications such as Rolling Stone , Billboard and Forbes , as well as the only individual from the arts to have been named the Time Person of the Year (2023). Her accolades include 14 Grammy Awards , a Primetime Emmy Award , 40 American Music Awards , 40 Billboard Music Awards , and 30 MTV Video Music Awards , having won
10660-454: The 10 best-selling albums of 2023 in the US, a record since Luminate began tracking US music sales in 1991. Besides music, Swift had a supporting role in the period comedy film Amsterdam (2022) and began writing an original script for her directorial feature film debut with Searchlight Pictures . In March 2023, Swift embarked on the Eras Tour , a retrospective tour covering all her studio albums. Media outlets extensively covered
10824-420: The 1939 novel by English author Daphne du Maurier . "No Body, No Crime" opens with police sirens. It is a "twangy", cinematic, country, pop rock, and country rock song, featuring Haim's harmonies . It tells a " macabre revenge tale" of a woman named Este murdered by her husband in favor of his mistress . The narrator is a friend of Este and takes revenge by murdering the unfaithful man. "Happiness",
10988-465: The 200 Greatest Singers of All Time: "A decade ago, including her on this list would have been a controversial move, but recent releases like Folklore , Evermore , and Midnights officially settled the argument." Laura Snapes of The Guardian said that Swift's "vocal directness" enables her to express wide-ranging feelings, highlighting some trademarks such as "yo-yoing vocal yelp" and "climactic, processed cri de coeur ". Amanda Petrusich praised how
11152-465: The 2020 albums Folklore and Evermore , and subdued pop genres on Midnights (2022) and The Tortured Poets Department (2024). She began re-recording her Big Machine albums as Taylor's Version since 2021, due to an ownership dispute with the label . Through the 2020s, she garnered the US number one songs " Cardigan ", " Willow ", " All Too Well ", " Anti-Hero ", " Cruel Summer ", " Is It Over Now? ", and " Fortnight ". Her sixth concert tour,
11316-640: The American Music Awards, Swift won three awards including Artist of the Year for a third record time ( 2020 ) and Favorite Pop/Rock Female Artist and Favorite Pop/Rock Album ( 2021 ). Swift played Bombalurina in the film adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber 's musical Cats (2019), for which she co-wrote and recorded the Golden Globe-nominated original song " Beautiful Ghosts ". The documentary Miss Americana , which chronicled parts of Swift's life and career, premiered at
11480-822: The CD single to country radio stations. She spent much of 2006 promoting Taylor Swift with a radio tour and television appearances; she opened for Rascal Flatts on select dates during their 2006 tour, as a replacement for Eric Church . Borchetta said that although record industry peers initially disapproved of his signing a 15-year-old singer-songwriter, Swift tapped into a previously unknown market—teenage girls who listen to country music. Following " Tim McGraw ", four more singles were released throughout 2007 and 2008: " Teardrops on My Guitar ", " Our Song ", " Picture to Burn ", and " Should've Said No ". All appeared on Billboard ' s Hot Country Songs , with "Our Song" and "Should've Said No" reaching number one. "Our Song" made Swift
11644-475: The Creator (as Wolf Haley) and Travis Scott . Taylor Swift Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter. Known for her biographical songwriting, artistic reinventions, and cultural impact , Swift is a leading figure in popular music and the subject of widespread public interest . Swift signed to Big Machine Records in 2005 starting as a country singer with
11808-444: The Eras Tour (2023–2024), and its accompanying concert film are respectively the highest-grossing tour and concert film of all time. Her fans are known as Swifties . Swift is one of the world's best-selling music artists , with over 200 million units sold and a record seven albums that moved one million copies first-week . She is the highest-grossing female touring act , the first billionaire with music as primary income, and
11972-404: The UK, owned by Marcus Mumford , the lead singer of English folk rock band Mumford & Sons ; Mumford provided backing vocals on the song. In "Ivy", Dessner added sleigh bells to invoke winter-oriented emotions, coinciding with the song's wintry imagery. He intentionally added "a wintry nostalgia" to most of the music in Evermore , leaning towards the idea Swift told him. Dessner said mixing
12136-558: The US Billboard 200 , on which it spent 157 weeks—the longest stay on the chart by any release in the US in the 2000s decade. Swift became the first female country music artist to write or co-write every track on a platinum-certified debut album. Big Machine Records was still in its infancy during the June 2006 release of the lead single , " Tim McGraw ", which Swift and her mother helped promote by packaging and sending copies of
12300-544: The US, Midnights was her fifth to open atop the Billboard 200 with first-week sales of over one million copies, and its tracks, led by the single " Anti-Hero ", made Swift the first artist to monopolize the top 10 of the Hot 100. Globally, the album broke the record for the most single-day streams and most single-week streams on Spotify and peaked atop the charts of at least 14 countries. The album's two further singles, " Lavender Haze " and " Karma ", both peaked at number two on
12464-559: The US. Its singles " ...Ready for It? ", " End Game ", and " Delicate " were released to pop radio. Reputation was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album. Swift featured on the country duo Sugarland 's " Babe " (2018). At the 2018 American Music Awards , Swift won four awards, which made her accumulate 23 trophies in total and become the AMAs' most awarded female musician, surpassing Whitney Houston . The same year, she embarked on her Reputation Stadium Tour , which became
12628-629: The United States. Republic Records reported over a million copies of Evermore sold in its first week globally. It was Swift's eighth consecutive Billboard 200 number-one debut, spending four weeks atop the chart, and achieved various chart feats in Australia, the UK and the US; in the latter, the tracks " Willow ", " No Body, No Crime ", and " Coney Island " impacted pop , country , and alternative radio stations, respectively. "Willow" became Swift's seventh Billboard Hot 100 number-one song and her second in 2020 after " Cardigan ", making her
12792-465: The Warren Brothers and formed a lasting working relationship with Liz Rose . They began meeting for two-hour writing sessions every Tuesday afternoon after school. Rose called the sessions "some of the easiest I've ever done. Basically, I was just her editor. She'd write about what happened in school that day. She had such a clear vision of what she was trying to say. And she'd come in with
12956-475: The Year and Favorite Country Album. Billboard named her the 2009 Artist of the Year . She won Video of the Year and Female Video of the Year for "Love Story" at the 2009 CMT Music Awards , where she made a parody video of the song with rapper T-Pain called "Thug Story". At the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards , Fearless was named Album of the Year and Best Country Album , and "White Horse" won Best Country Song and Best Female Country Vocal Performance . At
13120-738: The Year by the Academy of Country Music (2011 and 2012) and the Country Music Association in 2011. At the American Music Awards of 2011 , Swift won Artist of the Year and Favorite Country Album. Rolling Stone named Speak Now on its list of "50 Best Female Albums of All Time" (2012). Red , Swift's fourth studio album, was released in October 2012. On Red , Swift worked with Chapman and new producers including Max Martin , Shellback , Dan Wilson , Jeff Bhasker , Dann Huff , and Butch Walker , resulting in
13284-460: The Year for Midnights . Swift became the first artist to win Album of the Year four times in Grammy history. Swift's next two re-recorded albums, Speak Now (Taylor's Version) and 1989 (Taylor's Version) , were released in July and October 2023. The former made Swift the woman with the most number-one albums (12) in Billboard 200 history, surpassing Barbra Streisand , and the latter
13448-401: The Year for "You Need to Calm Down", becoming the first female and second artist overall to win the category for a self-directed video. While promoting Lover in 2019, Swift became embroiled in a public dispute with the talent manager Scooter Braun after he purchased Big Machine Records, including the masters of her albums that the label had released. Swift said she had been trying to buy
13612-454: The album "observational fiction". Pitchfork noted that Swift remains a versatile, expressive vocalist, and a "wordy" lyricist to "magnify sad, small moments." Music theory professor Alyssa Barna said Swift adopts a static, colorless timbre for both vocals and instrumentation in the album. Spin remarked the "exceedingly complex human emotions" she unravels in Evermore with "precision and devastation". Evermore opens with "Willow",
13776-496: The album ends with the title track—a piano ballad that progresses into a dramatic bridge after a tempo shift, where Swift is joined midway by Vernon's signature falsetto in a call and response . Swift navigates depression, desolation and negative notions in her verses, in contrast to Vernon's optimistic and supportive verses that attempt to help her, resulting in a realization that pain is temporary. The deluxe edition of Evermore includes two bonus tracks: "Right Where You Left Me"
13940-502: The album is more progressive and audacious than Folklore , although posing as a sequel at first. He explained that Evermore explores the complications of adult love more extensively than its predecessor, and flaunts Swift's boldest and richest songwriting. Variety critic Chris Willman praised the album's subliminal production and Swift's agile vocals, and underlined its impressionist storytelling style that clicks only after multiple listens. Stereogum ' s Tom Breihan named Evermore
14104-471: The album opened atop the Billboard 200 with 1.28 million copies sold. Its singles " Shake It Off ", " Blank Space ", and " Bad Blood " reached number one in Australia, Canada, and the US, with the first two making Swift the first woman to replace herself at the Hot 100 top spot . Other singles include " Style ", " Wildest Dreams ", " Out of the Woods ", and " New Romantics ". The 1989 World Tour (2015)
14268-551: The album was a critical and commercial success, becoming the best-selling album of 2020 and winning Album of the Year at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards . On November 25, 2020, a concert documentary titled Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions , shot at Dessner's Long Pond Studio in Hudson Valley , was released to Disney+ . It detailed the making of Folklore with performances of its songs. After releasing Folklore , Swift continued to work remotely with Dessner, who would send her instrumental tracks, to which she would write
14432-454: The album's 17 songs was a " Herculean task" and that the sound engineer Jon Low thought it would not be finished on time. The standard edition of Evermore is one hour long, consisting of 15 tracks, while the deluxe adds two bonus songs. Haim, the National and Bon Iver provide guest vocals on "No Body, No Crime", "Coney Island", and "Evermore", respectively. Critics have dubbed Evermore
14596-621: The album's emotional songcraft and unhurried tempo, noting its songs are not for stadiums. Patrick Ryan of USA Today gave plaudits to its mystical instrumentation and escapist lyrics, stressing that Evermore is not a vestige of Folklore , but rather a sister reinforcing Swift's strengths. In her Rolling Stone review, Claire Shaffer saw Swift embracing new genres and ambitious storytelling, and welcomed her new artistic direction. The Independent writer Helen Brown deemed its songs haunting and contemplative, and complimented its "tasteful" compositions. Jason Lipshutz of Billboard stated that
14760-508: The album's sonic palette as "watery" and "hypnotic". The Daily Telegraph said that there is no sense of tempo or urgency in its songs, departing from the stadium-suited tempos of Swift's earlier works. Esquire noted Evermore 's focus on "sonic details and nuances rather than big hooks ." According to critic Tom Hull , while Swift remains attentive to "production details", Evermore follows Folklore in abandoning "pop glitz" in favor of "straightforward songcraft" due in part to
14924-572: The album's tracks were sent to different radio formats —a plan that was adapted for Folklore as well. "Willow" impacted US adult contemporary and pop radio stations on December 14 and 15, 2020, respectively; "No Body, No Crime" was sent to US country radio on January 11, 2021. "Coney Island" was promoted to US adult album alternative radio on January 18, 2021. Evermore was met with widespread critical acclaim upon release, with emphasis on its kinship with Folklore and Swift's expansion of her musical boundaries. At Metacritic , which assigns
15088-428: The albums Taylor Swift (2006) and Fearless (2008). Her singles " Teardrops on My Guitar ", " Love Story ", and " You Belong with Me " found crossover success on country and pop radio formats. She experimented with rock on Speak Now (2010) and electronic on Red (2012), later re-calibrating her image from country to pop with the synth-pop album 1989 (2014); the ensuing media scrutiny inspired
15252-538: The authors William Shakespeare , Nathaniel Hawthorne , F. Scott Fitzgerald , and the poets William Wordsworth , Robert Frost , and Emily Dickinson ; the last of whom was a distant cousin of Swift. In The New Yorker in 2011, Swift said she identifies as a songwriter first: "I write songs, and my voice is just a way to get those lyrics across". Her personal experiences were a common inspiration for her early songs, which helped her navigate life. Her "diaristic" technique began with identifying an emotion, followed by
15416-586: The best-selling CD and vinyl album of 2021. In July 2021, it became the best-selling album of the year, with 374,000 copies sold; Evermore was the seventh most consumed album with 818,000 total units. Evermore topped the 2021 Billboard Year-End Top Album Sales and Top Alternative Albums charts. It further placed fourth on the year-end Billboard 200 chart. Swift ranked as the number-one Billboard 200 Artist, Billboard 200 Female Artist, Top Album Sales Artist, Top Alternative Artist, and Top Alternative Albums Artist. Selling 529,000 pure copies, Evermore
15580-506: The best-selling solo artist and female artist of 2020, and second overall. Evermore debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 chart, topping it for four weeks. It opened with 329,000 units, consisting of 220.49 million on-demand streams and 154,000 digital albums, and earned the biggest sales week for an album since her own Folklore . It is Swift's second number-one album in 2020 and eighth consecutive number-one debut, making her
15744-503: The chart. In 2009, Swift toured as an opening act for Keith Urban and embarked on her first headlining tour, the Fearless Tour . "You Belong with Me" won Best Female Video at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards . Her acceptance speech was interrupted by the rapper Kanye West , an incident that became the subject of controversy and widespread media coverage. That year, Swift won five American Music Awards, including Artist of
15908-849: The clarity and tone of Swift's live vocals accentuate her lyrics. Swift's fascination with songwriting began in her childhood. She credited her mother with igniting confidence and early songwriting interests by helping her prepare for class presentations. She enjoyed Disney film soundtracks and would make up lyrics once she had run out of words singing them. Her lyrical influences include female country songwriters such as Patsy Cline , Loretta Lynn , Tammy Wynette , and Dolly Parton ; 1990s songwriters such as Melissa Etheridge , Sarah McLachlan , and Alanis Morissette ; Joni Mitchell ; and Fall Out Boy . She listed Paul McCartney , Bruce Springsteen , Emmylou Harris , and Kris Kristofferson as career role models, citing their both evolving and consistent songwriting outputs. Her literary influences include
16072-423: The complexities of human emotion. American bands Bon Iver , Haim , and the National appear as guest performers on the album. Earning widespread acclaim from critics, Evermore was praised for its character studies , experimental production, and Swift's nuanced vocals. Reviews regarded the album a sequel or a counterpart to Folklore , and various publications listed it in their 2020 year-end rankings. Evermore
16236-439: The composition of "Happiness" since 2019, thinking it would be a Big Red Machine song; Swift, however, admired its instrumentals and ended up finishing its lyrics, which was also the case with "Right Where You Left Me". The last few weeks of recording Evermore overlapped with the recording of Fearless (Taylor's Version) —Swift's first re-recorded album; she recorded "Happiness" and " You Belong with Me (Taylor's Version) " on
16400-482: The country (2012–2020), surpassing Madonna (1997–2008), and the first female artist to score six chart-toppers in the 21st century. The album is her second number-one album in 2020 after Folklore , establishing her as the first act to score multiple chart-topping albums in a calendar year, since David Bowie in 2016. Evermore also topped the UK's Vinyl Albums chart, and the Americana Albums chart. On
16564-515: The country music scene, her father transferred to Merrill Lynch's Nashville office when she was 14 years old, and the family relocated to Hendersonville, Tennessee . Swift attended Hendersonville High School before transferring to Aaron Academy after two years, which better accommodated her touring schedule through homeschooling. She graduated one year early. In Nashville, Swift worked with experienced Music Row songwriters such as Troy Verges , Brett Beavers , Brett James , Mac McAnally , and
16728-517: The delayed release of the album's physical formats is owed to its surprise release and the time-consuming manufacturing process of physical albums, specifically the vinyl copies. Limited number of autographed CDs were sold at select independent record stores . On December 14, 2020, Swift appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live! to promote the album. On a December 2020 episode of Howard Stern 's Sirius XM radio show, English singer-songwriter Paul McCartney revealed that Swift originally decided to postpone
16892-473: The demo, the Dessner brothers felt that the song was very related to the National, and envisioned Matt Berninger (the band's lead vocalist) singing it, and Bryan Devendorf (the drummer) drumming it. Aaron Dessner informed Berninger, who was "excited" about the idea. The band assembled, Devendorf played the drums, while his brother Scott Devendorf played the bass and pocket piano; Bryce Dessner helped produce
17056-401: The development of Evermore was a more experimental process, during which the duo did not subject themselves to any limitations. In an Apple Music interview to Zane Lowe , Swift stated Evermore gave her a feeling of "quiet conclusion and sort of this weird serenity" after putting out Folklore , and correlated it with the themes of those albums, saying one of Folklore 's main tropes
17220-483: The fastest-selling digital album by a female artist. Speak Now was supported by six singles: " Mine ", " Back to December ", " Mean ", " The Story of Us ", " Sparks Fly ", and " Ours ". "Mine" peaked at number three and was the highest-charting single on the Billboard Hot 100, the first three singles reached the top 10 in Canada, and the last two reached number one on Hot Country Songs. Swift promoted Speak Now with
17384-578: The fifth and sixth consecutive years. At the 2014 Country Music Association Awards , Swift was honored with the Pinnacle Award, making her the second recipient in history after Garth Brooks . The Red Tour ran from March 2013 to June 2014 and became the highest-grossing country tour upon completion. Swift continued writing songs for films and featuring on other artists' releases. On the soundtrack album to The Hunger Games (2012), Swift wrote and recorded "Eyes Open" and " Safe & Sound ";
17548-497: The first artist to debut a US number-one album and a number-one song in the same week; she achieved the feat again with Evermore and "Willow". According to Billboard , Swift was the highest-paid musician in the US and highest-paid solo musician worldwide of 2020. Folklore made Swift the first woman to win the Grammy Award for Album of the Year three times, winning the category at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards (2021). At
17712-563: The first artist to monopolize the top 14 of the Billboard Hot 100 and the top 10 of Australia's ARIA Singles Chart ; and went on to spend 15 weeks atop the Billboard 200—Swift's longest-running number-one album on the chart. The lead single, " Fortnight ," featuring Post Malone , became Swift's 12th number one song on the Hot 100. After the pandemic, Swift's music releases, touring, and related activities culminated in an unprecedented height of popularity. From 2023 onward, Swift found ubiquitous success, albeit more dominant than before, with
17876-439: The first ever act to simultaneously debut atop both Billboard 200 and Hot 100 charts two times. Evermore was 2021's best-selling alternative music album and Americana album in the US and the UK, respectively. To put it plainly, we just couldn't stop writing songs. To try and put it more poetically, it feels like we were standing on the edge of the folklorian woods and had a choice: to turn and go back or to travel further into
18040-430: The first two singles peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100, and the lattermost single became a resurgent success in 2023, reaching number one. Lover was 2019's best selling album in the US and best selling album by a solo artist worldwide. The album and its singles earned three nominations at the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards in 2020. At the 2019 MTV Video Music Awards , Swift won three awards including Video of
18204-412: The forest of this music. We chose to wander deeper in ... I've never done this before. In the past I've always treated albums as one-off eras and moved onto planning the next one after an album was released. There was something different with Folklore . In making it, I felt less like I was departing and more like I was returning. I loved the escapism I found in these imaginary/not imaginary tales. I loved
18368-417: The frontman of American indie folk band Bon Iver ; the songs ended up on Evermore instead. To celebrate Folklore , Dessner casually composed an instrumental track "Westerly", named after the location of Swift's Rhode Island home . An hour later, Swift wrote "Willow" to the track and sent it back to him. She wrote the title track "Evermore" with Alwyn (alias William Bowery) and sent it to Vernon, who added
18532-463: The hairstyle "messy-yet- chic ". Adam Reed, UK editorial ambassador for French beauty company L'Oréal , admired Swift's braid and described it as "simple, supernatural and timeless". According to Consequence , the cover artwork is "gorgeous in its simplicity", and has Swift facing a field, insinuating "she's inviting the listener to see the field through her eyes." Like the Folklore album cover,
18696-408: The harmonica on " Betty " from Folklore; JT Bates played the drums, and also did the same on "Dorothea". Aaron Dessner and his twin brother, Bryce Dessner , sent Swift some of the instrumentals they made for their band, American indie rock band the National . One of those was what would become " Coney Island ". Swift and Alwyn wrote its lyrics, and recorded it with her vocals. After listening to
18860-498: The highest-grossing North American concert tour in history and grossed $ 345.7 million worldwide. In November 2018, Swift signed a new deal with Universal Music Group , which promoted her subsequent albums under Republic Records ' imprint. The contract included a provision for Swift to maintain ownership of her masters . In addition, in the event that Universal sold any part of its stake in Spotify, it agreed to distribute
19024-425: The impact of her fame and musically incorporated electropop with urban styles of hip hop and R&B . Released in November 2017, Reputation opened atop the Billboard 200 with 1.21 million US sales and topped the charts in the UK, Australia, and Canada. The album's lead single, " Look What You Made Me Do ", was Swift's first UK number-one single and topped charts in Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, and
19188-584: The indie styles a mature representation of Swift's artistry as a singer-songwriter. Midnights and The Tortured Poets Department both incorporate a minimalist , subdued synth-pop sound, making use of analog synthesizers , sustained bass notes , and simple drum machine patterns. With continuous musical reinventions, Swift was described by Time and the BBC as a musical "chameleon". Jody Rosen commented that by originating her career in Nashville, Swift made
19352-532: The largest sales week of 2021. It marked the 53rd chart-topping week of Swift's career, extending her record as the female act with the most weeks at number one in Billboard 200 history and the third-most overall, behind the Beatles and Elvis Presley . The album sold 102,000 vinyl copies the same week, breaking the former record by Jack White 's Lazaretto (40,000) for the biggest sales week for vinyl LPs since MRC Data's inauguration in 1991. Evermore became
19516-487: The latter of which was co-written with the Civil Wars and T-Bone Burnett . "Safe & Sound" won the Grammy Award for Best Song Written for Visual Media . She wrote and produced " Sweeter than Fiction " with Jack Antonoff for the soundtrack to One Chance (2013). Swift featured on B.o.B 's " Both of Us " (2012) and provided vocals for Tim McGraw's " Highway Don't Care " (2013), also featuring Keith Urban. She
19680-409: The lyrics. She stated the rave reception of Folklore further encouraged her to experiment further with its musical style. Soon after, Swift's sessions with Dessner resulted in a project that was a natural extension of Folklore , which eventually assumed its individual identity as Evermore . Dessner dubbed Evermore a "weird avalanche " effecting from Folklore . In comparison to its predecessor,
19844-468: The masters, but Big Machine would only allow her to do so if she exchanged one new album for each older one under a new contract, which she refused to sign. In November 2020, Swift began re-recording her back catalog, which enabled her to own the new masters and the licensing of her songs for commercial use , substituting for the Big Machine-owned masters. In February 2020, Swift signed
20008-437: The melancholic seventh track, is an ambient ballad driven by "hazy" synthesizers, hi-hats, violin, bass, organs , piano and drone. The song channels a stream of consciousness , in which the narrator empathizes with the subject after their divorce, contemplates the split, and apologizes for "losing track of the facts", and affirms happiness will be found again. It contains references to The Great Gatsby . "Dorothea"
20172-487: The messages of her songs with her audience —a style that has been described as conversational. According to Powers, Swift's defining vocal feature was her attention to detail to convey an exact feeling—"the line that slides down like a contented sigh or up like a raised eyebrow". On Red and 1989 , Swift's vocals are electronically processed to accompany the pop production. Her voice on Reputation and Midnights incorporates hip-hop and R&B influences that result in
20336-416: The most Hot 100 hits with 128, regaining the record from Nicki Minaj . With the number-one debut of "Willow", she also became first act to simultaneously place an album and a single atop both Billboard 200 and Hot 100 charts at two occasions, following Folklore and "Cardigan". All tracks appeared on Hot Rock & Alternative Songs chart as well, except "No Body, No Crime" which debuted at number two on
20500-488: The most incredible hooks." Swift became the youngest artist signed by Sony/ATV Tree Music Publishing , but left then BMG-owned RCA Records (later bought by Sony Music ) at the age of 14 due to the label's lack of care and them "cut[ting] other people's stuff". She was also concerned that development deals can shelve artists and recalled: "I genuinely felt that I was running out of time. I wanted to capture these years of my life on an album while they still represented what I
20664-418: The pandemic shifting Swift's focus from arenas to homely settings. Stereogum described it as "a soft, meditative, consciously quiet" album of "restorative old-school singer-songwriter music". In Slate 's opinion, Evermore has a more spacious ambience with lots of break, unlike the " maximalist -minimalism" of Folklore , which had "layers upon layers of restrained instrumental lines". Evermore
20828-434: The patterns, picked his favorite parts, looped them, developed them into an instrumental, and sent it to Swift, who wrote "Marjorie" to it, a song about her maternal grandmother and opera singer, Marjorie Finlay . She also sent a folder of Finlay's opera records to Dessner, who sampled some of it on the song. "Right Where You Left Me" and " Happiness " were written days before Evermore was finished. Dessner had been working on
20992-404: The platform, which prompted Apple Inc. to announce that it would pay artists during the free trial period. Swift then agreed to keep 1989 and her catalog on Apple Music. Big Machine Records returned Swift's catalog to Spotify among other free streaming platforms in June 2017. Swift was named Billboard ' s Woman of the Year in 2014, becoming the first artist to win the award twice. At
21156-426: The positive reception, The New Yorker stated she was generally portrayed "more as a skilled technician than as a Dylanesque visionary". Tabloid media often speculated and linked the subjects of her songs with her ex-lovers, a practice reviewers and Swift herself criticized as sexist. Aside from clues in album liner notes , Swift avoided talking about the subjects of her songs. Evermore Evermore
21320-539: The realistic consequences that may hinder their affair, using a metaphor of ivy vines growing over a stone house to represent her deep-rooted attachment. Swift sings about two " gold-digging " con artists in the eleventh track, "Cowboy Like Me"; they unexpectedly fall in love with each other while frequenting resorts and deceiving the rich. It is an alternative, country, folk rock, and blues tune, with hushed guitars, harmonica riff, mandolin, piano, lap steel , and Mumford's backing vocals. " Long Story Short "
21484-668: The release of Evermore by one week to respect the original December 11 release date of his eighteenth studio album, McCartney III ; upon learning this, McCartney decided to release his album on December 18 instead so that Swift could move forward with her Evermore rollout as initially planned. Three six-song compilations consisting of tracks from both Evermore and Folklore , titled The Dropped Your Hand While Dancing Chapter , The Forever Is The Sweetest Con Chapter , and The Ladies Lunching Chapter (all stylized in all lowercase ), were released to streaming platforms on January 21, January 27, and February 4, 2021, respectively. "Willow"
21648-408: The same day. Vernon was more involved in Evermore than Folklore . He played the drums on "Cowboy like Me" and "Closure", guitar and banjo on "Ivy", and contributed backing vocals in "Marjorie". For "Closure", he processed Swift's vocals through his Messina vocal modifier, which distorted her soft timbre into a robotic growl. "Cowboy like Me" was recorded at Scarlet Pimpernel Studios, located in
21812-484: The second artist after Dolly Parton to have both the original and re-recorded versions of a song reach number one on Hot Country Songs. Red (Taylor's Version) was supported by " All Too Well (10 Minute Version) ", which became the longest song in history to top the Hot 100. Swift's tenth studio album, Midnights , was released in October 2022. The album incorporates a restrained electropop and synth-pop sound with elements of hip hop, R&B, and electronica . In
21976-612: The sky , such as crescent moon , sunrise, comets , amber skies, precipice , willow , clover and ivy . Swift's trademark turns of phrase and wordplay are also abundant. Variety observed that "warmth amid iciness" is a "recurring lyrical motif". American Songwriter opined that Evermore has Swift mostly writing "the 'unhappily ever after' anthology of marriages gone bad". Slate also called it an anthology, emphasizing "her leap away from autobiography into songs that are either pure fictions or else lyrically symbolic in ways that don't act as romans à clef ". Stereogum labeled
22140-631: The song amicably over the phone. The controversy made Swift a subject of an online " cancel " movement. In late 2016, after briefly dating Tom Hiddleston , Swift began a six-year relationship with Joe Alwyn and retreated herself from the public spotlight. In August 2017, Swift successfully countersued David Mueller, a former radio jockey for KYGO-FM , who sued her for damages from loss of employment. Four years earlier, she informed Mueller's bosses that he had sexually assaulted her by groping her at an event. The public controversies influenced Swift's sixth studio album, Reputation , which explored
22304-472: The song. " Marjorie " was an instrumental precursor to "Peace", the fifteenth track on Folklore . The latter's drone is present in the former's bridge. The backing rhythm of "Marjorie" was composed with an Allovers Hi-hat Generator, a software developed by producer Ryan Olson, which had been used in many Big Red Machine songs. The instrument takes any sound and splits them into samples, and regenerates them in randomized musical patterns. Dessner went through
22468-519: The soundtrack to Fifty Shades Darker (2017) and won a Country Music Association Award for Song of the Year with " Better Man ", which she wrote for the band Little Big Town . In April 2016, Kanye West released the single " Famous ", in which he references Swift in the line, "I made that bitch famous." Swift criticized West and said she never consented to the lyric, but West claimed that he had received her approval and his then-wife Kim Kardashian released video clips of Swift and West discussing
22632-654: The successes of the re-recordings, the Eras Tour, its concert film, Midnights, and The Tortured Poets Department , significantly increasing her net worth; Music Business Worldwide remarked this as a "new stratosphere of global career success" for Swift. In 2023, she began dating the American football player Travis Kelce , and in 2024, won Artist of the Year at the 2024 iHeartRadio Music Awards . The same year, AI-generated fake pornographic images portraying Swift were posted to Twitter and spread to other social media platforms, spurring criticism and demands for legal reform. In July, Swift and Kelce received death threats from
22796-478: The third woman with eight number-ones, behind Barbra Streisand (11) and Madonna (9). Alongside Folklore at number three, Swift became the first woman in the chart's history to simultaneously have two albums in the top-three. The gap between the number-one debuts of Folklore and Evermore was 140 days, breaking the Guinness World Record for the shortest gap between two chart-topping albums by
22960-473: The time Swift unveiled the album, many publications had already issued their year-end rankings of best albums of 2020. Evermore ranked on lists published after December 11, including number-one placements from NJ.com , USA Today , and Variety , which it shared with Folklore . Evermore finished at number 20 on Metacritic's aggregated list of 2020 year-end rankings. Available only via digital music and streaming platforms, Republic Records reported over
23124-506: The top 10 best-selling albums of 2020. It placed eighth on Rolling Stone 's best-sellers list, and tenth on MRC Data 's best selling albums of 2020 with 283,000 sales; its sister record, Folklore, was the top seller of 2020. In April 2021, Evermore surpassed a million units in the US. In June, it scored its fourth week atop the Billboard 200 with 202,000 units, following its vinyl release. 192,000 of that sum were pure sales, surpassing her own Fearless (Taylor's Version) for
23288-420: The top 50 region of the Canadian Hot 100 simultaneously, except "Closure" (number 57); "Willow" became her seventh Canadian number-one hit, with "Champagne Problems" at number six, "No Body, No Crime" at 11, " ' Tis the Damn Season" at 13, "Gold Rush" at 14, and "Tolerate It" at 18. In 2021, Evermore was the country's seventh best-selling album. In Australia, Swift achieved a "Chart Double" by occupying
23452-493: The top five on charts worldwide. Other singles from Red were " Begin Again ", " 22 ", " Everything Has Changed ", " The Last Time ", and " Red ". Red and its single "Begin Again" received three nominations at the 56th Annual Grammy Awards (2014). Swift received American Music Awards for Best Female Country Artist in 2012 , Artist of the Year in 2013 , and the Nashville Songwriters Association's Songwriter/Artist Award for
23616-510: The top spots of both albums and singles charts simultaneously. Evermore entered at number one on the ARIA Albums Chart , garnering her seventh chart-topper. Collecting her second number-one album of the year 19 weeks after Folklore , Swift broke the record for the shortest gap between two successive number-ones, surpassing the 25 weeks between Ariana Grande 's Sweetener (2018) and Thank U, Next (2019). "Willow" debuted atop
23780-430: The tour's cultural and economic impact , and its US leg broke the record for the most tickets sold in a day . Ticketmaster received public and political criticisms for mishandling the tour's ticket sales. The Eras Tour became the highest-grossing tour in history . Its concert film , released to theaters worldwide on October 13, 2023, grossed over $ 250 million to become the highest-grossing concert film and
23944-523: The ways you welcomed the dreamscapes and tragedies and epic tales of love lost and found into your lives. So I just kept writing them. Swift introducing Evermore , Instagram During the COVID-19 lockdowns , on July 23, 2020, American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift announced her eighth studio album and first surprise album , Folklore , and released it the next day. Produced by herself, first-time collaborator Aaron Dessner , long-time collaborator Jack Antonoff , and then-boyfriend Joe Alwyn ,
24108-564: The youngest person to single-handedly write and sing a Hot Country Songs number-one single, and "Teardrops on My Guitar" was Swift's breakthrough single on mainstream radio and charts. Swift released two EPs, The Taylor Swift Holiday Collection in October 2007 and Beautiful Eyes in July 2008. She promoted her debut album extensively as the opening act for other country musicians' tours in 2006 and 2007, including those by George Strait , Brad Paisley , and Tim McGraw and Faith Hill. Swift won multiple accolades for Taylor Swift . She
24272-415: Was " conflict resolution "—"trying to figure out how to get through something with someone", whereas Evermore deals with "endings of all sorts, sizes and shapes", and the pain and various phases of those closures. On December 10, 2020, three days prior to her 31st birthday, Swift posted nine photos on Instagram, which together formed an image depicting the singer's back, with her hair in a braid and facing
24436-520: Was a stockbroker for Merrill Lynch , and her mother, Andrea Gardner Swift ( née Finlay ), worked as a mutual fund marketing executive. Swift's younger brother, Austin , is an actor. Their maternal grandmother, Marjorie Finlay ( née Moehlenkamp ), was an opera singer, whose singing in church became one of Swift's earliest memories of music that shaped her career. Swift is of Scottish, English, and German descent, with distant Italian and Irish ancestry. Swift spent her early years on
24600-762: Was a voice actress in The Lorax (2012), made a cameo in the sitcom New Girl (2013), and had a supporting role in the dystopian film The Giver (2014). From 2010 to 2013, Swift was romantically involved with the actor Jake Gyllenhaal , the political heir Conor Kennedy , and the singer Harry Styles . In March 2014, Swift began living in New York City, which she credited as a creative influence on her fifth studio album, 1989 . She described 1989 as her first "official pop album" and produced it with Jack Antonoff, Max Martin, Shellback, Imogen Heap , Ryan Tedder , and Ali Payami . Released in October 2014,
24764-467: Was complete, Swift stayed at Long Pond overnight, to record with Dessner and Antonoff. The next morning, she approached Dessner in his kitchen with " ' Tis the Damn Season ", which she wrote during the night. Dessner cited the song as one of his favorite works ever, and that it could have just remained as an instrumental, but instead, Swift's "incredible storytelling ability and musical ability took it and made something much great". " No Body, No Crime "
24928-412: Was fourth on the best-selling albums list of 2021, alongside three other Swift albums— Red (Taylor's Version) , Fearless (Taylor's Version) , and Folklore —in the top 10. In Canada, Evermore appeared at the top spot of Billboard Canadian Albums chart as Swift's eighth Canadian number-one album, and her second in 2020. The album spent three weeks atop the chart. All of the tracks debuted inside
25092-696: Was going through." At an industry showcase at Nashville's Bluebird Cafe in 2005, Swift caught the attention of Scott Borchetta , a DreamWorks Records executive who was preparing to form an independent record label, Big Machine Records . She had first met Borchetta in 2004. She was one of Big Machine's first signings, and her father purchased a three-percent stake in the company for an estimated $ 120,000. She began working on her eponymous debut album with Nathan Chapman . Swift wrote or co-wrote all album tracks, and co-writers included Rose, Robert Ellis Orrall , Brian Maher, and Angelo Petraglia . Released in October 2006, Taylor Swift peaked at number five on
25256-490: Was her sixth album to sell one million copies in a single week in the US, claiming her career's largest album sales week. 1989 (Taylor's Version) 's single " Is It Over Now? " peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100. Swift featured on Big Red Machine 's " Renegade " and "Birch" (2021), Haim 's " Gasoline " (2021), Ed Sheeran 's " The Joker and the Queen " (2022), and the National 's " The Alcott " (2023). For
25420-493: Was inspired by Swift's "obsession with true crime podcasts /documentaries". She wrote the song on a rubber-bridge guitar and mailed Dessner a voice memo, after which he started producing it. Swift had specific ideas on how she wanted the song, including a guest feature from American pop rock band Haim , who recorded their vocals at Ariel Rechtshaid 's Los Angeles home and forwarded it to Swift. The song's harmonica and guitar riffs were played by Josh Kaufman, who also played
25584-471: Was nominated for Album of the Year at the 64th Annual Grammy Awards , a second consecutive nomination for Swift in the category after winning it with Folklore the previous year . Dessner and Long Pond have achieved mainstream notability since Evermore 's release. The album reached number one in Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Croatia, Greece, New Zealand, Portugal, the United Kingdom, and
25748-471: Was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Cinematic and Box Office Achievement. Swift's eleventh studio album, The Tortured Poets Department , was released on April 19, 2024. Topping charts globally, the album broke a string of records: it marked the first album ever to amass 1 billion Spotify streams in a week; sold 2.6 million units in its first week in the US; made Swift
25912-579: Was on Folklore by pastel music that smears Vaseline on her otherwise keen lens." Chris Richards of The Washington Post found the album overlong, felt some lyrics were sub-par for Swift's prowess, and rejected the notion of categorizing her 2020 works as indie. Mikael Wood of the Los Angeles Times felt that the album is Folklore ' s leftovers, and "simply repeats its trick", but named "Tolerate It", "Gold Rush", "Champagne Problems", "No Body, No Crime" and "Dorothea" as highlights. By
26076-590: Was one of the recipients of the Nashville Songwriters Association 's Songwriter/Artist of the Year in 2007, becoming the youngest person given the title. She also won the Country Music Association 's Horizon Award for Best New Artist, the Academy of Country Music Awards ' Top New Female Vocalist, and the American Music Awards ' Favorite Country Female Artist honor. She was also nominated for Best New Artist at
26240-494: Was recorded in total secrecy. Dessner produced or co-produced all of the tracks except "Gold Rush", which Swift and Antonoff produced. All of the tracks, except "Cowboy Like Me", were recorded at Long Pond Studio, where Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions was shot. After the release of Folklore , Swift wrote two songs, "Closure" and " Dorothea ", for Big Red Machine , which is a supergroup by Dessner and Justin Vernon ,
26404-517: Was released as the lead single of Evermore , alongside the album itself, on December 11, 2020. The song was accompanied with a music video directed by Swift. The single debuted at number-one in Australia, Canada and the United States. In the US, it scored her seventh number-one song, second number-one in 2020 (after " Cardigan "), and the third number-one debut of her career. "Willow" topped Hot Alternative Songs , Adult Top 40 and Digital Song Sales charts as well. According to Billboard , three of
26568-586: Was the highest-grossing tour of the year with $ 250 million in total revenue. After publishing an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal stressing the importance of albums as a creative medium for artists, in November 2014, Swift removed her catalog from ad-supported, free music streaming platforms such as Spotify . In a June 2015 open letter, Swift criticized Apple Music for not offering royalties to artists during its free three-month trial period and threatened to withdraw her music from
26732-526: Was the bestselling album of 2009 in the US. Its lead single, " Love Story ", was her first number one in Australia and the first country song to top Billboard 's Pop Songs chart, and its third single, " You Belong with Me ", was the first country song to top Billboard 's all-genre Radio Songs chart. Three other singles were released in 2008–2010: " White Horse ", " Fifteen ", and " Fearless ". All five singles were Hot Country Songs top 10 entries, with "Love Story" and "You Belong with Me" topping
26896-518: Was thwarted by Austrian police forces. Swift's early musical influences were 1990s female country musicians such as Shania Twain, Faith Hill, LeAnn Rimes, and the Dixie Chicks, and Keith Urban's country crossover sounds incorporating rock, pop, and blues. She self-identified as a country musician and achieved prominence as a country pop singer with her first four studio albums, from Taylor Swift to Red . The albums feature country signifiers such as banjo, six-string banjo, mandolin , fiddle , and
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