129-524: " Wildest Dreams " is a song by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift . It is the fifth single from her fifth studio album, 1989 (2014). Swift wrote the song with its producers Max Martin and Shellback . "Wildest Dreams" has an atmospheric, balladic production incorporating programmed drums , Mellotron –generated and live strings , and synthesizers ; the rhythm interpolates Swift's heartbeat. Critics described it as synth-pop , dream pop , and electropop . The lyrics feature Swift pleading with
258-487: A 2019 dispute between Swift and the talent manager Scooter Braun , who acquired Big Machine Records, over the masters of Swift's albums that the label had released. By re-recording the albums, Swift had full ownership of the new masters, which enabled her to encourage licensing of her re-recorded songs for commercial use in hopes of substituting the Big Machine-owned masters. She denoted the re-recordings with
387-599: 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
516-413: A classical Hollywood actress (Swift) and her male co-star ( Scott Eastwood ) who shoot a film in 1950s Africa. Kahn compared the affair to the romance between Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton . The pair gets involved romantically off-screen, as the video features shots of wildlife such as giraffes, zebras, and lions in a broad savanna . The affair turns sour after a fight on set. As the romance ends,
645-701: 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
774-452: A "Taylor's Version" subtitle. The re-recording of "Wildest Dreams" is titled "Wildest Dreams (Taylor's Version)". Its snippets were featured in the March–May trailers for the 2021 animated film Spirit Untamed by DreamWorks Animation . On September 17, 2021, Swift released "Wildest Dreams (Taylor's Version)" onto digital and streaming platforms . The release followed the viral success of
903-399: 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
1032-588: A "fairly rudimentary strumalong", and Rachel Aroesti found it "comical" that it failed to match the original. Caramanica said that the lyrical alterations brought "no real effect". Credits are adapted from liner notes of 1989 . Sales figures based on certification alone. Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. Swift departed from Big Machine and signed a new contract with Republic Records in 2018. She began re-recording her first six studio albums in November 2020. The decision followed
1161-864: A "smart, pleasing twist". Joseph Kahn directed the music video for "Wildest Dreams", the third time he directed a music video for a 1989 single after "Blank Space" and "Bad Blood". Filming primarily took place in Botswana and South Africa . Inspired by The Secret Conversations (2013), a memoir of the actress Ava Gardner , Swift conceived the premise for the video as an illicit love affair between two actors in an isolated place within Africa, because they could only interact with each other without other means of communication. Kahn took inspiration from romantic films set in Africa, such as The African Queen (1951), Out of Africa (1985), and The English Patient (1996). The video's narrative focuses on an affair between
1290-579: A Nashville-based vocal engineer who had produced her re-recorded album Fearless (Taylor's Version) . Although Martin did not return as producer, the musicians were those from Swift's backing band during the 1989 sessions. Aroesti remarked that the re-recorded version was almost identical to the original but was "sometimes bassier". Robin Murray of Clash said that it contained "subtle stylist[ic] shifts", and Stereogum ' s Tom Breihan found it more "muted". Mary Siroky of Consequence appreciated that
1419-511: 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
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#17327797193871548-890: 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
1677-519: 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
1806-468: 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,
1935-469: 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
2064-401: 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
2193-551: 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
2322-590: 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
2451-479: A lover to remember her even after their relationship ends. Big Machine Records in partnership with Republic Records released "Wildest Dreams" to radio on August 31, 2015. When the song was first released, some critics found the production and Swift's vocals alluring but others found the track derivative, comparing it to the music of Lana Del Rey . Retrospectively, critics have described "Wildest Dreams" as one of Swift's most memorable songs. The single peaked within
2580-448: 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
2709-643: 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
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#17327797193872838-528: 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 ";
2967-569: 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
3096-468: 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
3225-480: 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
3354-421: A stark contrast to the acoustic arrangements of her country–styled albums. Swift and Max Martin served as executive producers of 1989 . On the album's standard edition, Martin and his frequent collaborator Shellback produced 7 out of 13 songs, including "Wildest Dreams". Swift wrote "Wildest Dreams" with Martin and Shellback, who both produced and programmed the song and played the keyboards . Martin played
3483-650: 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 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
3612-612: 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
3741-599: 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
3870-467: 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
3999-529: 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
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4128-555: 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
4257-625: The Billboard Hot 100 for the week ending September 23, 2021. In both Ireland and the United Kingdom, "Wildest Dreams (Taylor's Version)" surpassed the peak positions of the original version (15–39 and 25–40). After 1989 (Taylor's Version) was released, "Wildest Dreams (Taylor's Version)" peaked at number 19 on the Billboard Global 200 and re-entered and peaked at number 19 on the Hot 100 chart dated November 11, 2023. The song reached
4386-698: 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
4515-609: 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,
4644-574: 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
4773-679: 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
4902-496: 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
5031-660: 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
5160-475: The synth-pop album 1989 (2014); the ensuing media scrutiny inspired 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
5289-464: The verses and "skips up an octave " in the bridge . Jem Aswad of Billboard said that she "[flits] between a fluttery soprano and deadpan alto ". Music critics characterized the genre as synth-pop, dream pop , and electropop , with elements of chillwave . Although the synths and drums were a stark contrast to Swift's earlier music, the musicologist James E. Perone said that the composition retained some elements from her previous country songs:
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5418-501: 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
5547-424: The "heavy use" of the pentatonic scale in the melody and the move between major and minor chords in the chorus. In the lyrics, Swift's character tells a lover to remember her after their relationship ends while still being in love with him. The first verse is about lust: "He's so tall, and handsome as hell/ He's so bad, but he does it so well/ I can see the end as it begins." She expresses her desire to live on in
5676-454: 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
5805-465: 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
5934-501: The 2017 ASCAP Awards . Other reviews opined that the track was influenced by Lana Del Rey to an extent that it erased Swift's authenticity. Aswad said that it was "hard to tell if the song is homage or parody", and Wickman and Mikael Wood of the Los Angeles Times opined that Swift's songwriting lost its distinctive quality. Shane Kimberline from MusicOMH and Lindsay Zoladz from Vulture deemed "Wildest Dreams" one of
6063-640: 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
6192-822: 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
6321-444: 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
6450-685: The Philadelphia concert of the Reputation Stadium Tour on July 14, she sang "Wildest Dreams" a cappella after a stage device malfunctioned. On the Eras Tour (2023–2024), a tour that Swift described as a tribute to all of her albums, she performed the song as part of the 1989 act as the screen projected scenes of a couple in bed. The singer-songwriter Ryan Adams released his track-by-track cover album of 1989 on September 21, 2015. Adams said that Swift's 1989 helped him cope with emotional hardships and that he wanted to sing
6579-558: 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
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#17327797193876708-495: 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
6837-559: 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
6966-760: The United States by November 2017. "Wildest Dreams" reached the top 10 on the singles charts of Canada (4), South Africa (5), Venezuela (6), Iceland (8), New Zealand (8), Slovakia (8), and Scotland (9). It received platinum or higher certifications in Brazil (diamond), Portugal (double platinum), and the United Kingdom (double platinum). It received platinum certifications in Austria, Canada, Denmark, Italy, and Spain. The track also received gold certifications in New Zealand, Germany, and Norway. In Australia,
7095-465: 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
7224-475: 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
7353-738: 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
7482-460: 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
7611-401: 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
7740-528: 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)
7869-550: The album with the most Adult Pop Songs number ones. On Billboard 's Dance/Mix Show Airplay chart, supported by the R3hab remix, "Wildest Dreams" was Swift's first number one and made her the first female artist to have five top-10 songs in a calendar year. "Wildest Dreams" was certified four-times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and had sold two million digital copies in
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#17327797193877998-711: The album's weakest tracks and took issue with the Del Rey resemblance in Swift's vocals and lyrics. Slant Magazine ' s Annie Galvin said Swift's vocals complemented the narrative lyrics but described the song as a "misguided imitation" of Del Rey with a predictable storyline. In The Atlantic , Kevin O'Keeffe argued that the Del Rey comparisons were "unfair", and Emma Green praised the storytelling lyrics and contended that they were "unabashed, all-consuming, earnest nostalgia, anticipating", which she deemed distinct from Del Rey's "performative, cool-girl nostalgia". Retrospectively, Rob Sheffield of Rolling Stone wrote in 2019 that
8127-538: 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
8256-557: The autobiographical documentary Miss Americana (2020), explored indie folk styles in 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,
8385-413: The best 20 songs by Swift, saying that she "totally nails" the Del Rey resemblance. Jane Song from Paste lauded the "dark Lana Del Rey-esque pop" production and opined that the lyrics about memory made the song have "more staying power than you'd expect". Petridis ranked it 18th out of 44 singles Swift had released by April 2019, and he said that the song employed a Del Rey-inspired songwriting trope with
8514-503: 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
8643-849: 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
8772-515: 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
8901-636: The cover "undeniably lovely", Jeremy Winograd of Slant Magazine deemed it a tasteful incorporation of 1980s rock, and Marc Burrows of Drowned in Sound preferred Adams's cover to Swift's version. Sarah Murphy in Exclaim! labeled the cover "an equally impressive feat" that could resonate with Swift's fans who lamented her departure from country music. In The Guardian , Michael Cragg said that there were no substantial additions in Adams's cover, which he described as
9030-483: 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
9159-578: 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 ";
9288-437: The fifth single from 1989 , following four Hot 100 top-10 singles: " Shake It Off ", " Blank Space ", " Style ", and " Bad Blood ". In the United States, Big Machine and Republic Records released "Wildest Dreams" to hot adult contemporary radio on August 31, and contemporary hit radio on September 1, 2015. Big Machine released a remix by R3hab for download via the iTunes Store on October 15, and Universal Music released
9417-497: 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
9546-563: 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
9675-430: 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
9804-498: 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
9933-425: 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
10062-584: 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
10191-487: 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
10320-438: The lover's memory as a woman with red lips, "standing in a nice dress, staring at the sunset". She cautions the lover that she will haunt him: "Say you'll see me again even if it's just in your wildest dreams." The bridge is set in double time and sees Swift's character affirming, "You see me in hindsight/ Tangled up with you all night/ Burnin' it down." Critics have described the sound as sultry, sensual, and dramatic, comparing
10449-563: The lyrics portrayed her arrogance and confidence to "[move] onto better things", contrasting with the victim mentality on her past songs. Big Machine Records released 1989 on October 27, 2014; "Wildest Dreams" is number nine on the standard edition's track listing. The song debuted at number 76 on the US Billboard Hot 100 in November ;2014. On August 5, 2015, Swift shared on Twitter that "Wildest Dreams" would be
10578-400: 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
10707-487: 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
10836-488: 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
10965-422: The original song on the video-sharing platform TikTok , which lead to an increase in streams. "Wildest Dreams (Taylor's Version)" is included as part of 1989 (Taylor's Version) , the re-recorded version of 1989 , which was released on October 27, 2023. "Wildest Dreams (Taylor's Version)" is a synth-pop song that replicates the original's production. Swift produced the song with Shellback and Christopher Rowe ,
11094-585: The original version to Italian radio on October 30. On the Billboard Hot 100, "Wildest Dreams" re-entered at number 15 on the chart dated September 19, 2015, after its single release. It reached number 10 on October 10, 2015, and became 1989 's fifth consecutive top-10 single. In the Billboard issue dated November 7, 2015, the single peaked at number five on the Hot 100 and became 1989 's fifth consecutive number-one song on two Billboard 's airplay charts: Pop Songs and Adult Pop Songs ; 1989 tied with Katy Perry 's Teenage Dream (2010) to become
11223-434: The pair is seen shooting in front of a savanna backdrop in a California studio. At the film's premiere, Swift's character sees her co-star with his wife. During the screening, Swift's character flees the theater and gets into a waiting limousine, as the co-star runs into the street and watches her leave. The video premiered on television during the pre-show of the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards on August 31. Swift donated all of
11352-539: The piano, and Shellback played the electric guitar and percussion . Mattias Bylund joined the production of "Wildest Dreams" after Martin played the track to him; Bylund played and arranged the strings , which he recorded and edited at his home studio in Tuve, Sweden . Michael Ilbert and Sam Holland, assisted by Cory Bice, recorded the track at MXM Studios in Stockholm and Conway Recording Studios in Los Angeles. It
11481-404: 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
11610-466: 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. Electric guitar Too Many Requests If you report this error to
11739-476: The proceeds from the video to the African Parks Foundation of America for wild animal conservation causes. Rolling Stone 's Brittany Spanos commented that Swift and Eastwood channeled "retro Hollywood glamour", and Billboard 's Natalie Weiner deemed Elizabeth Taylor an influence on Swift's fashion in the video. ABC News described the video as visually powerful, and Wickman found
11868-456: The production and the theme of failed romance to the music of the singer-songwriter Lana Del Rey . The Guardian ' s Alexis Petridis felt that the song abandoned Swift's previous "persona of the pathetic female appendage snivelling over her bad-boy boyfriend" and instead portrayed the man as her victim. Slate 's Forrest Wickman thought that Swift's character was a "sort of [...] femme fatale ". Robert Leedham of Drowned in Sound wrote that
11997-460: The production cinematic and the narrative "a lot more engaging" than the music video for "Style". Mike Wass of Idolator said that although Swift and Eastwood did not have a strong "chemistry", the African scenery and narrative "all [hang] together rather nicely". The video was nominated for Best Fresh Video at the 2016 MTV Italian Music Awards . Many online blogs and publications contended that
12126-413: The production took "great care to capture the sound of the original, right down to a riff in the second chorus". Murray and Siroky praised Swift's vocals as having improved. Within four hours, "Wildest Dreams (Taylor's Version)" amassed over two million streams on Spotify , surpassing the original version's biggest single-day streaming tally on the platform. In the United States, it debuted at number 37 on
12255-484: 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
12384-417: The second chorus, proceeded with "Enchanted". The rendition built up with accompanying synths and backing vocals. She finished the mashup by changing costumes from a sparkling tulle skirt to a bodysuit for the next number. The Ringer 's Nora Princiotti in March 2023 deemed it Swift's best live performance, praising it as an "epic five-and-a-half-minute medley [that] is fundamentally simple". "Wildest Dreams"
12513-456: The set lists for two of her world tours, the 1989 World Tour (2015) and the Eras Tour (2023–2024). Following the dispute regarding the ownership of Swift's master recordings in 2019 and the viral popularity of "Wildest Dreams" on the social media site TikTok in 2021, Swift released the re-recorded version " Wildest Dreams (Taylor's Version) ". Taylor Swift had identified as a country musician until her fourth studio album, Red , which
12642-738: The set lists of two concerts: at the United States Grand Prix in Austin on October 22, 2016, and at the Super Saturday Night, a pre- Super Bowl event, on February 4, 2017. Swift performed "Wildest Dreams" as a "surprise song" outside the regular set list twice on her Reputation Stadium Tour in 2018: at the first show in Santa Clara , California, on May 11, and at the second show in Tokyo, Japan, on November 21. At
12771-694: The single peaked at number three on the ARIA Singles Chart and was certified nine-times platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). When it was first released, "Wildest Dreams" received mixed reviews from music critics. Petridis found it "hugely cheering" that Swift employed a new perspective in her songwriting. Caramanica said that the song had the "most pronounced vocal tweak" on 1989 , demonstrating Swift's new ways of expressing herself in music. The Arizona Republic 's Ed Masley found
12900-435: The song "sounds stronger and stronger over the years". NME 's Hannah Mylrae called it a "beauty", and Nate Jones from Vulture considered it one of Swift's 10 best songs and specifically lauded the "invigorating double-time bridge". The bridge was ranked 66th on Billboard 's 2021 list of the 100 Greatest Song Bridges of the 21st Century. Alex Hudson and Megan LaPierre of Exclaim! included "Wildest Dreams" in their list of
13029-631: 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
13158-562: The songs from his perspective "like it was Bruce Springsteen 's Nebraska ". Before the album's release, Adams previewed his cover of "Wildest Dreams" online in August. He switches and adjusts pronouns in some places; the lyric "Standing in a nice dress" becomes "Standing in your nice dress". His version combines country rock , alternative country , and jangle pop . It uses acoustic instruments of live drums and guitar strums . Adams's "Wildest Dreams" peaked at number 40 on Billboard 's Hot Rock & Alternative Songs chart. Kornharber found
13287-519: 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
13416-710: 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
13545-579: The top 10 in Malaysia (10) and Singapore (5). It peaked in the top 40 in Australia (14), the Philippines (15), Canada (18), Hungary (29), and New Zealand (30). It was certified double platinum in Australia, gold in New Zealand and Greece, and silver in the United Kingdom. Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. Streaming-only figures based on certification alone. Taylor Swift Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989)
13674-525: The top five on charts of Australia, Canada, Poland, and South Africa. It was certified diamond in Brazil, nine-times platinum in Australia, and double platinum in Portugal and the United Kingdom. In the United States, "Wildest Dreams" peaked at number five and became 1989 's fifth consecutive top-ten single on the Billboard Hot 100 ; it peaked atop three of Billboard 's airplay charts. The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) certified
13803-493: 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
13932-430: 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
14061-438: The track four-times platinum . Joseph Kahn directed the music video for "Wildest Dreams". Set in Africa in the 1950s, it depicts Swift as a classical Hollywood actress who falls in love with her co-star but ends the fling upon completion of their film project. Media publications praised the production as cinematic but accused the video of glorifying colonialism , a claim that Kahn dismissed. Swift included "Wildest Dreams" in
14190-517: The track "haunting" and Swift's vocals "seductive". Sam Lansky of Time described the production as "lush" and full of "cinematic grandeur". Writing for Hot Press , Paul Nolan picked it as the album's best track for its combination of chillwave and "sweeping, singalong choruses". The song helped Swift win the Songwriter of the Year Award at the 2016 BMI Pop Awards and was recognized at
14319-442: The video and said that featuring a black cast would be historically inaccurate for the 1950s settings. Lauretta Charlton of Vulture felt that the accusations were overblown: although she acknowledged that the video's depiction of Africa was problematic, she regarded it as "antiquated" and recommended the audience to focus on the "modern-day colonialism of Africa" that demanded urgent attention. Some journalists and academics analyzed
14448-461: The video glorified " white colonialism " by featuring a white cast in Africa. Critics opined that it portrayed a romanticized nostalgia for colonial Africa held by white people and neglected the struggles of the African peoples during the European colonization . The African studies professor Matthew Carotenuto wrote that the storyline depicted "pith-helmet-and-khaki-clad men as civilizing heroes and
14577-456: The video in the context of Swift's celebrity and the historical Hollywood depictions of Africa. Carotenuto opined that Swift was part of a " Lion King generation", which led her to think of Africa as "nothing more than a rich tapestry of flora and fauna, with actual Africans fading onto the periphery", an idea that had been propagated by Hollywood films and popular American culture. The Atlantic 's Spencer Kornhaber wrote that her generation
14706-410: The women who joined them roughing it in tents wearing lingerie". In the book Mistaking Africa , the history and political science authors Curtis Keim and Carolyn Somerville wrote that "Wildest Dreams" reinforced the stereotypes associated with Africa and "the mistaken perception held by many Americans that large game are found everywhere in Africa and that all parts of Africa are identical". Kahn defended
14835-564: 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
14964-682: Was mixed by Serban Ghenea at MixStar Studios in Virginia Beach and mastered by Tom Coyne at Sterling Sound in New York. "Wildest Dreams" is a power ballad that interpolates Swift's heartbeat in its rhythm. It incorporates programmed drums, pulsing synths, and staccato strings generated with a Mellotron . In the chorus , the melody is accentuated by live strings with what Bylund described as " Coldplay -type rhythm chords ". Swift sings with breathy vocals. According to Jon Caramanica from The New York Times , she sings "drowsily" in
15093-520: 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
15222-446: Was a "lesson" for Swift about "how nostalgia can be inherently political"; the latter said that the video was a "clumsy move, but not one that merits outrage", but the criticism blemished Swift's "America's sweetheart" reputation. On the 1989 World Tour (2015), Swift performed the song as part of a mashup with " Enchanted ", from her 2010 album Speak Now . Playing a sparkling grand piano , she first sang "Wildest Dreams" and, after
15351-762: 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,
15480-696: 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
15609-546: 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
15738-487: Was included in Swift's other concerts. On September 30, 2015, she performed a stripped-down rendition on an electric guitar as part of the "Taylor Swift Experience" exhibition at the Grammy Museum at L.A. Live . At a private concert for 100 fans in Hamilton Island , Australia, as part of Nova 's "Red Room" series, Swift "Wildest Dreams" on an acoustic guitar. Swift included the "Wildest Dreams"/"Enchanted" mashup in
15867-471: 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
15996-590: 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
16125-546: Was released on October 22, 2012. Red 's eclectic pop and rock styles beyond the country stylings of Swift's past albums led to critics questioning her country-music identity. Swift began writing songs for her fifth studio album in mid-2013 while touring. She was inspired by 1980s synth-pop to create her fifth studio album, 1989 , which she described as her first "official pop album" and named after her birth year. The album makes extensive use of synthesizers , programmed drum machines , and electronic and dance stylings,
16254-586: 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
16383-526: 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
16512-518: 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
16641-464: Was when "certain symbols of white dominance [...] have been glorified". For Kornhaber, "Wildest Dreams" was in line with Swift's artistic vision of "a powerful but vague nostalgia, defined less by time period than by particular strains of influence that just happen to be affiliated with a certain skin color". Kornhaber and Tshepo Mokoena from The Guardian argued that the criticism was not meant to portray Swift as racist. The former contended that it
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