Taylor Swift: All your questions answered on the 'Cruel Summer' singer 🎶
We love Taylor 💕
Taylor Swift really needs no introduction - the country-turned-pop star has been on the music scene since way back in 2006 when she released her self-titled debut album. Now, she's got a whopping 14 Grammy Awards, a BRITs Global Icon Award and countless other achievements under her belt - including her history-making 'Eras Tour', where she brought out Ed Sheeran.
Having achieved so much in her career, let's take a look at the icon who won two awards at the 2024 Grammys, and became the most-awarded solo artist at the MTV VMAs. Now that the singer has finished the European leg of her record-breaking 'Eras Tour' and announced an official tour book, here is everything there is to know about Taylor Swift?...
Who is Taylor Swift?
Taylor Swift is an American singer-songwriter, best known for her hits 'Love Story', 'Shake It Off' and 'Blank Space' among many others!
How old is she?
Tay's birthday is 13th December 1989, making her currently 34-years-old.
Where is she from?
Taylor was born in West Reading, Pennsylvania in the US, and the family moved to Wyomissing, Pennsylvania in her early childhood. They moved again to Hendersonville, Tennessee when she was 14-years-old so she could pursue a country music career in nearby Nashville.
How did Taylor Swift become famous?
Taylor's musical talents go all the way back to when she was just nine-years-old. She developed an interest in musical theatre and had singing and acting lessons in New York.
After being inspired by Shania Twain, Taylor began to focus on a career in country music and submitted demos of herself singing covers of Dolly Parton and The Chicks, when she was 11, to record labels in Nashville. Sadly, she was rejected, later saying: "Everyone in that town wanted to do what I wanted to do. So, I kept thinking to myself, I need to figure out a way to be different."
At the age of 12, Taylor began working with local musician Ronnie Cremer, who taught her to play guitar and helped her become a songwriter, and her parents hired talent manager Dan Dymtrow who put her forward for record labels.
By 14, Taylor was living near Nashville and began having songwriting sessions with Liz Rose, who later co-wrote 'Teardrops on My Guitar', 'You Belong with Me' and 'White Horse' among many others. Taylor then met record executive Scott Borchetta, who signed her to his new label Big Machine Records and her debut album was released in 2006.
How many albums has Taylor Swift released?
So far, Taylor has released 11 studio albums: 'Taylor Swift' (2006), 'Fearless' (2008), 'Speak Now' (2010), 'Red' (2012), '1989' (2014), 'Reputation' (2017), 'Lover' (2019) and 'Folklore' (2020), 'Evermore' (2020), 'Midnights' (2022) and 'The Tortured Poets Department' (2024).
It was in February 2024 that Taylor announced her brand new album, called 'The Tortured Poets Department', and its release date of 19th April 2024. The album served as her 11th studio album, and features 16 songs. Taylor surprised fans on the day of its release, announcing two hours after it dropped that it was in fact a double album, subtitled The Anthology, with a second volume of songs (15 more).
You can find out more details about Taylor's albums here.
What about re-recorded albums?
Taylor has also famously released four re-recordings of her previous albums. 'Fearless (Taylor's Version)' was the first re-recording Taylor released, and is a re-recorded version of her second studio album 'Fearless'. It was released in April 2021, and features 26 tracks in total - including six brand-new unheard songs.
Taylor also re-recorded her 2012 'Red' album and released 'Red (Taylor's Version)' in November 2021, with an extra 14 songs included. Her third re-recorded album was then July 2023's 'Speak Now (Taylor's Version)' - which features six previously unreleased tracks, including collaborations with Fall Out Boy and Paramore singer Hayley Williams - followed by '1989 (Taylor's Version)' three months later, in October. The album is a re-recording of her 2014 album and includes five previously unreleased tracks.
Which album will she re-record next?
Fans are speculating that Taylor's sixth studio album 'Reputation' will be the next one she re-records, serving as her fifth re-recorded album in total. The singer, however, is yet to confirm which album she will re-record next.
According to Consequence of Sound, Taylor has no plans of stopping when it comes to making music. She reportedly told fans at her 'Eras Tour' concert in Los Angeles that she plans to create 'as many albums as humanly possible.'
What is Taylor's newest album called?
Taylor released 'The Tortured Poets Department' on 19th April 2024, after announcing it at the Grammy Awards just a couple of months earlier. The album was certified Platinum by the BPI just two weeks after it was released - meaning that it had already seen over 300,000 album sales in the UK alone!
Taylor's streaming records
In July 2023, Taylor's song 'Anti-Hero' surpassed a billion streams on Spotify. Sharing the news on social media, the streaming platform wrote: 'Taylor Swift's Anti-Hero is the newest member of the Billions Club. Thanks to all the fans.'
Taylor responded to the news by sharing the post on her Instagram Story alongside the words: 'Thanks a billion guys.' The song became the first single from Taylor's album 'Midnights' to be certified 3x Platinum by the BPI, meaning its seen over 1.8 million sales!
Taylor's track 'Cruel Summer' also entered the Billions Club in September 2023. Thanking fans on Instagram, Taylor said: 'Summer just got a BILLION TIMES CRUELER. Love you all so much for this.' The track was also certified 3x Platinum by the BPI in July 2024, marking 1.8 million sales in the UK alone.
She also has three other tracks in the Billions Club - 'Shake It Off' and 'Blank Space' from the album '1989' and her collab with Zayn Malik, 'I Don't Wanna Live Forever'.
In August 2023, Taylor made history by becoming the first female artist to hit 100 million monthly listeners on Spotify. Announcing the news on social media, the streaming platform wrote: 'Queen behaviour. On August 29th, Taylor Swift became the first female artist in Spotify history to reach 100 million Spotify listeners.'
In August 2024, Taylor's 2022 album 'Midnights' became 3x Platinum selling — while the following month 'Reputation' followed suit, also being announced as certified 3x Platinum.
Is Taylor Swift on tour?
She certainly is! Though it wasn't until June 2023 that Taylor finally announced UK dates for her 'Eras' tour. After completing the first UK leg of her 'Eras' tour in Liverpool, Edinburgh, Cardiff and London, in June, she then returned to London for five more dates in August 2024. This was her first tour in the UK since 2018, so its no wonder fans are excited!
In 2022, a year before the 'Eras Tour' began, she appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and spoke about returning to touring. Taylor said: "I think I should do it. When it’s time, we’ll do it. I miss it. I really miss it.
"I miss when you write songs and you’re proud of the songs and you have the fans reacting. The most potent way that you can see them react is when you’re looking into their faces…I really miss that connection."
While on her 'Eras' tour she also wrote a handwritten letter to Lily Allen's daughter, who attended a show with her stepdad, Stranger Things actor David Harbour.
In the UK she also welcomed Ed Sheeran on stage and premiered the music video for 'I Can Do It With A Broken Heart', as well as meeting backstage with families affected by the Southport stabbings, which happened at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class.
How to watch Taylor Swift's 'Eras Tour' film
Taylor delighted fans when 'The Eras Tour' film hit cinemas across the world. The film originally landed in cinemas on 13th October 2023 and was available to watch on the big screen again on 13th December, which is also Taylor's birthday.
The film is now available to stream on Disney+.
Does Taylor have any tour merchandise?
Yes, Taylor has released details of her 'Eras' merch, which is available ahead of her tour. The Taylor Nation Twitter account shared details of the Eras Collection telling fans it would only be available for 72 hours, or while supplies last.
She has also announced she will be releasing an Official Tour Book to accompany her amazing tour.
Time Magazine Person of the Year
In December 2023, Taylor was named Time Magazine's Person of the Year for 2023. Speaking to the publication, Taylor said: "This is the proudest and happiest I've ever felt, and the most creatively fulfilled and free I've been."
'All Too Well' short film by Taylor Swift
In November 2021, Taylor released a short film All Too Well: The Short Film. The film is based on the premise of the song of the same name, released in 2012 and included on her re-recording of 'Red', also released in November 2021.
'Red' (Taylor's version) includes a 10-minute long version of her song 'All Too Well', the music video for which is a short film directed by Taylor starring Stranger Things actress Sadie Sink and Dylan O’Brien. It won Video of the Year at the 2022 MTV Video Music Awards.
Watch 'All Too Well' short film by Taylor Swift:
Which films has Taylor Swift been in?
Taylor is also a talented actress, having appeared as lovesick teenager Felicia in 2010 flick Valentine's Day, Zac Efron's love interest Audrey in The Lorax in 2012, 2014 film The Giver as Rosemary and 2019's live-action remake of the musical Cats as Bombalurina.
She was also the star of 2020 documentary Miss Americana, which followed her "during a transformational period in her life as she learns to embrace her role not only as a songwriter and performer, but as a woman harnessing the full power of her voice." Taylor also had a cameo in 2013 in New Girl.
In December 2022, Taylor announced that she has written a film script, which is being put into production at Searchlight Pictures. Presidents David Greenbaum and Matthew Greenfield said: "Taylor is a once in a generation artist and storyteller. It is a genuine joy and privilege to collaborate with her as she embarks on this exciting and new creative journey."
Has Taylor Swift been on Saturday Night Live?
Taylor Swift performed on Saturday Night Live on 13th November 2021, the day after her album 'Red (Taylor's Version)' was released.
The show Taylor performed on was hosted by actor Jonathan Majors. Ed Sheeran and Saweetie were also announced as performers throughout November.
Taylor stunned the crowd when she performed the new 10-minute version of her song 'All Too Well' for the first time live on SNL.
Watch Taylor Swift perform 'All Too Well' on SNL:
Has Taylor ever performed at the Super Bowl Half-Time show?
Taylor has not yet performed at the Super Bowl Half-Time show, however many fans have expressed their wishes for her to appear at the iconic sporting event.
According to TMZ, Taylor was even offered the chance to perform at the Super Bowl in 2023, but is said to have turned it down. According to a source, Taylor has no plans to perform at the Half-Time show until she has finished re-recording her first six albums following a rights dispute.
Which awards has Taylor Swift won?
Taylor has been the recipient of a LOT of awards - read up on her biggest awards and accolades.
Taylor was nominated for two BRIT Awards at the 2023 ceremony: International Artist of The Year and International Song of The Year ('Anti-Hero'), but missed out to Beyoncé in both categories.
In 2024, Taylor was in the running for six categories at the Grammy awards, winning two of them, including Album of the Year, which she took home for the fourth time. Breaking Grammy history!
Taylor's 2024 nomination of 'Anti-Hero' for Song Of The Year made her the first songwriter to achieve seven nominations in the category at the Grammys.
She has also made history countless times over with her gargantuan 'Eras Tour' - including six Guinness World Records and two Golden Globe nominations. The tour made history for achievements such as becoming the first tour in history to surpass $1 billion in revenue, breaking Disney+'s record for Most-Streamed Music Film after just 3 days and shattering eight venue attendance records (so far). Her Glendale, Ariz, show from the tour also broke the record for highest attended concert by a female artist in the U.S.
In September 2024 the singer became the most awarded solo artist at the MTV VMAs, after she won several awards, many for her collaboration with Post Malone, 'Fortnight'. The singer now has 30 MTV VMAs to her name, overtaking Beyoncé who has 27.
Who has Taylor Swift dated?
Taylor has been linked to some pretty famous faces including Harry Styles and Calvin Harris - and a lot of them have also had songs written about them, too! One of her most recent relationships, thought to have inspired songs on her 11th albu, was with British actor Joe Alwyn; the pair began dating in 2016 and were reported to have split in April 2023.
Taylor was rumoured to be dating The 1975 frontman Matty Healy, with Matty spotted in the audience at some of Taylor's 'Eras Tour' shows. However, it was later confirmed that the pair were 'no longer romantically involved.'
Since September 2023, Taylor has been dating NFL star Travis Kelce.
Can you study Taylor Swift at university?
Yes, you can study Taylor at uni! There are three courses that we know of, one is at New York University, where she also accepted an honorary degree in 2022. The course covers the singer's evolution as a creative music entrepreneur, including the legacy of pop and country songwriters.
The second course is called The Taylor Swift Songbook and students study her songs alongside well-known works by Chaucer, Shakespeare, and Keats.
Then, in August 2023, another course, thought to be the first in Europe, was announced. Literature: Taylor's Version started in the autumn of 2023 at Ghent University in Belgium.
In May 2024, it was then announced that ahead of Taylor's gigs in Liverpool, the university would be holding a special, free event, open to students, fans and academics. The full day event is called Tay Day: A Taylor Swift Symposium. The event was held on Wednesday 12th June and tickets are available from the university website.
The biggest moments from Taylor Swift's epic career journey:
2002: Taylor Swift performs the National Anthem
In 2002, a young Taylor Swift sang the American National Anthem at a Philadelphia 76ers basketball game. It was clear early on she was destined to be a star.
2004: Taylor Swift signs her first record deal
In 2004, 14-year-old Taylor signed a record deal with Sony/ATV, becoming the youngest signing in the company's history.
2006: Taylor Swift releases her first single and album
By age 16, Taylor was already getting major recognition as an established country artist. She released her first single, 'Tim McGraw', off her self-titled debut album, which was later certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
Her album was released on October 24th 2006 by Big Machine Records. The songstress wrote the best-performing songs 'Teardrops On My Guitar', 'Should've Said No' and 'Picture To Burn' whilst juggling high school with her blossoming music career.
Impressively, the singer-songwriter became the youngest person in history to single-handedly write and perform a Number 1 song on the Hot Country Songs chart with 'Our Song'. 'Teardrops on My Guitar' also performed well commercially, spending 48 weeks in the Billboard chart and became Taylor's first US top 20 hit.
2007: CMT Music Award win
Taylor Swift won the CMT Music Award for Breakthrough Artist, foreshadowing her massively successful career that was to follow. She also performed at the Academy of Country Music Awards, where she won the award for New Female Vocalist of the Year.
2008: Taylor Swift's 'Fearless' album
The super-talented Taylor released her second album, 'Fearless', in 2008. It became the longest Billboard chart-topper by a female country artist. The album held the Number 1 spot for 11 consecutive weeks in the US.
The lead single from this album, 'Love Story', stayed in the Billboard chart for 36 weeks. With the iconic music video re-telling a fairytale love, it became a firm fan favourite and cemented Taylor Swift in the pop scene. 'Love Story' won a number of awards including Song of The Year at BMI's Country Awards.
2009: VMA Best Female Video award
Although this might not typically be a highlight, it did start the complicated relationship that Taylor Swift and Kanye West went on to have. If you don't know what we're talking about then here's a quick recap. During her acceptance speech for her Best Female Video award win, Kanye West interrupted her on stage to speak up for Beyoncé's 'Single Ladies' video, which he believed should have won the award. This event started an infamous feud between the pair that spanned a decade.
Thankfully, Taylor later had the chance to finish her VMA's winner's speech when Beyoncé invited her back on stage during her own win.
Taylor Swift's 2009 was not clouded by this though as this was also the year that she embarked on her debut concert tour 'Fearless'. The tour was named after her second album of the same name. Beginning in Indiana and concluding in Canada, Justin Bieber was one of the support acts for this tour back in 2009.
2010: Taylor makes film debut in Valentine's Day
Taylor Swift proved she is a woman of many talents in her debut film role in the 2010 Valentine's Day. She played Felicia Miller the film, with the plot following a group of characters through their love struggles and relationships on Valentine's Day.
She was also listed as one of Time's 100 Most Influential People in 2010. Unsurprisingly, she made the list in 2015 and 2019 too.
2010: Taylor Swift wins her first Grammy Award
Taylor was awarded her first well-deserved Grammy, during the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards. She won Best Female Country Vocal Performance for her song 'White Horse'.
She won three other Grammy awards on that date, Best Country Song, Best Country Album for 'Fearless' and finally, the coveted Album of the Year award.
In her Grammy award acceptance speech, Taylor said, "This is my first Grammy, you guys! I mean this is, this is a Grammy! I live in awe of the people that I was nominated against in this category. I live in awe of my producer, Nathan Chapman, and all of the wonderful incredibly talented musicians in Nashville, and thank you to anyone who was a Grammy voter and decided that it might be a good idea to vote for me for this, because I'm so happy. Thank you so much!"
2011: Taylor Swift releases third studio album 'Speak Now'
2011 was the year that saw Taylor's third album release, 'Speak Now' with it winning Favourite Country Album at the American Music Awards. It also holds the record for Fastest Selling Digital Album by a Female Artist in the Guinness World Records. 'Mean', the best-performing single from the 'Speak Now' album, won two Grammy Awards.
Taylor also embarked on her first international headline tour, 'The Speak Now World Tour' in the same year.
2012: Taylor Swift's fourth album release, 'Red'
'Red' is Taylor's critically acclaimed fourth studio album and was released in 2012. It was her first album to top the UK Album Chart in the UK (with her next five album releases also going on to top the chart).
'We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together' became the lead single from her 2012 album. The single was Swift's first to peak at Number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the US.
Having already conquered the music industry at such young age, she released the iconic '22' song on this album, which took the world by storm and struck a chord with her fanbase.
2013: Taylor Swift's 'Red' tour begins
In 2013, the singer-songwriter embarked on her 'Red' World Tour. During this tour, she became the first female artist in history to sell out the Allianz Stadium in Sydney, Australia (with a 40,900 capacity), since it opened in 1988.
Plus, her hit song 'I Knew You Were Trouble', rumoured to be about her former love, Harry Styles, won Best Female Video at the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards. In July 2024, it was certified 3x Platinum by the BPI, translating to 1.8 MILLION sales in the UK alone. Wow!
2014: '1989', Taylor's fifth studio album, is released
Taylor released 'Shake It Off', the first single off of her fifth studio album '1989'. Achieving great success, it became her second Billboard Hot 100 Number 1 single in the US and it peaked at Number 2 in the UK Singles Chart. In June 2024, the song was certified 5x Platinum by the BPI, meaning it's seen over 3 million sales in the UK alone!
'1989' debuted at Number 1 on the Billboard 200 Albums chart with the largest sales week for an album since 2002, selling 1.287 million copies in the week ending November 2nd 2014, according to Nielsen SoundScan. It also went to Number 1 in the UK Albums Chart.
The '1989' album spent a full first year in the Top 10 in the US, making it just the fifth album to spend the first 52 weeks of its release in the Top 10.
2015: Taylor is made into a Madame Tussauds wax work
Taylor Swift gets her own waxwork in the Madame Tussauds gallery in Hollywood. Taylor later became a permanent fixture at the London Madame Tussauds in 2019.
'Bad Blood' achieved Number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. The epic 'Bad Blood' video premiered on the Billboard Music Awards. It created quite the stir by going viral instantly as it featured her star-studded friendship group including Selena Gomez, Cara Delevingne and Jessica Alba.
2016: Taylor takes home three Grammy awards!
2016 was the year that Taylor won three Grammy Awards. She won Best Music Video with 'Bad Blood', and both best Pop Vocal Album and Album Of The Year with '1989'. She became the first woman to win the Album Of The Year Award twice.
2017: Taylor releases her fifth Number 1 album 'Reputation'
'Reputation' launched after an iconic Instagram deletion and subsequent revamp ahead of its release. 'Reputation' become the super-talented singer's fifth Number 1 album on the Billboard 200 and her third UK Number 1 album. With 1.2 million copies sold in its first week, Taylor became the first artist in Nielsen Music History to do so.
2017: Taylor is one of Time Magazine's 'Silence Breakers'
Taylor's summer court case saw the singer set out to prove a point by requesting only $1 in damages. As a result of her work fighting against sexual assault and harassment, Taylor was among the individuals highlighted.
In the Time interview about the court case, Taylor revealed: "I was angry. In that moment, I decided to forego any courtroom formalities and just answer the questions the way it happened. This man hadn't considered any formalities when he assaulted me, and his lawyer didn't hold back on my mom - why should I be polite? I'm told it was the most amount of times the word 'ass' has ever been said in Colorado Federal Court."
2018: Taylor embarks on her 'Reputation' Stadium Tour
Taylor's 2018 'Reputation' tour was massively successful and broke the US record when it became the highest-grossing tour in US history. To top it off, the 38 tour show brought in ticket sales of over a whopping $2 million!
With all the drama of three stages, a ten-story screen, two lifts and LOTS of snakes, the worldwide tour was certainly a crowd pleaser!
2019: American Music Awards haul as Taylor wins six awards
2019 was the year that saw Taylor smash the record for winning the prestigious American Music Award, Artist Of The Decade, an astonishing six times!
The 'Shake It Off' singer made history at the 2019 AMAs, she became the highest-awarded person in the show's history. With an astonishing 28 total wins under her belt, she beat a record set by Michael Jackson.
2019: Cats song Golden Globe nominee
The singer-songwriter scored a Golden Globe nomination for Best Original Song for 'Beautiful Ghosts' from the Cats film, in which she also starred as Bombalurina.
2020: Taylor drops surprise albums ‘Folklore’ and ‘Evermore’
2020 saw the surprise release of Taylor's eighth album, 'Folklore', which dropped via social media. It was recorded in lockdown and was just what Swifties needed! Her recent evolutionary journey has taken her to a recent move into folk music.
'Evermore' was the songstresses' second surprise 2020 album, released only five months after 'Folklore'. With 'Folklore' and 'Evermore' described as sister records, 'Evermore' explored the themes of love, marriage and grief, picking up where 'Folklore' left. Selling a million copies globally during its first week, it definitely got the acclaim it deserved!
Taylor's fan base has grown with her own artistic development, like they have been on the journey with her. In 2020, Taylor Swift also broken another record, holding the title for most cumulative weeks spent at Number One for a female artist on the Billboard 200.
2020: Miss Americana Netflix documentary release
Taylor's Netflix documentary Miss Americana premiered at the prestigious Sundance Film Festival in 2020. Explaining Taylor Swift's story from her own point of view, it offered insight into her hard-working, busy schedule. With both intimate portrayals of home life with her family and the exciting whirlwind of tours, album releases and recording in the studio.
The film also gave her the chance to address that infamous 2009 VMA's Kanye West feud. She explores the feud and how it caused her subsequent 'cancelling' but how she ultimately bounced back and rose above it!
2021: 'Fearless (Taylor's Version)'
After Taylor re-recorded her multi-million-selling 2008 album 'Fearless', we were all graced with 'Fearless (Taylor's Version) in April 2021.
The re-recording came about after talent manager Scooter Braun acquired the rights to Taylor's master recordings, from her former label Big Machine Label Group, in 2019. Reportedly, this included ownership of the singer's first six albums, from 2006 to 2017.
'Fearless (Taylor's Version)' was released through Republic Records and includes re-recorded versions of all 19 tracks from the platinum edition of 'Fearless', along with six additional 'from the vault' tracks that weren't included on the original album in 2008. Songs on the 2021 release include the iconic 'Love Story' and the world-renowned 'You Belong with Me'.
2021: BRIT Awards 2021 Global Icon
Taylor won the Global Icon Award at the BRIT Awards 2021, becoming the first female artist to ever take home the gong. In her acceptance speech, Taylor said she was "proud to be part of a musical community, especially in a year where we've needed music so much." She also paid tribute to the key workers in the audience.
2021: 'Red (Taylor's Version)'
Taylor released 'Red (Taylor's Version)' in November 2021, with rerecorded versions of the original album's songs and a 30 song track list.
The album includes a 10-minute version of 'All Too Well', and Taylor also directed a short film to accompany the song. She performed this version of the song live for the first time on SNL on 13th November.
Taylor also released her 'I Bet You Think About Me' music video directed by Blake Lively on 15th November.
2022: Taylor Swift receives an honorary doctorate
Taylor Swift received an honorary doctorate in fine arts at New York University. She also gave the commencement speech at the ceremony which was held at the Yankee Stadium.
2022: Taylor Swift confirms 'Midnights' tour
In October, the official Taylor Swift website confirmed that fans who pre-ordered her 'Midnights' album would get pre-sale access to 'forthcoming and yet to be announced Taylor Swift UK show dates'.
Fans were surprised and thrilled by the news and jumped at the chance to see her perform live, resulting in the website crashing hours after the announcement.
2022: Taylor stars in film Amsterdam
In June 2021 it was announced that Taylor was set to star in film Amsterdam alongside the likes of Margot Robbie, Christian Bale, Robert De Niro, Rami Malek and Mike Myers. It was released in October 2022 to rave reviews!
2022: Taylor has written a film script
In December 2022, it was announced that Taylor has actually penned a film script which is being put into production! Presidents of Searchlight Pictures David Greenbaum and Matthew Greenfield said: "Taylor is a once in a generation artist and storyteller. It is a genuine joy and privilege to collaborate with her as she embarks on this exciting and new creative journey."
2023: Grammy Award win
Taylor won a Grammy Award in February 2023, taking home the Best Music Video gong for 'All Too Well: The Short Film'!
2023: Taylor Swift announces UK dates for her 'Eras' tour
Taylor Swift announced UK dates for her 'Eras' tour in June 2023. The singer announced that she will be performing in Liverpool, Edinburgh, Cardiff and London in June 2024, before returning for more dates in London in August.
July 2023 - 'Anti-Hero' hits a billion streams
In July 2023, Taylor's song 'Anti-Hero' surpassed a billion streams on Spotify. Taylor also has three other tracks in the Billions Club - 'Shake It Off' and 'Blank Space' from the album 1989, and her collab with Zayn Malik, 'I Don't Wanna Live Forever'.
September 2023: Taylor wins nine awards at the MTV Video Music Awards
Taylor won an incredible nine awards at the 2023 MTV Video Music Awards, winning an award in every category she was nominated in. The win took Taylor to an astonishing 18 VMA Awards in total, just two behind the overall record held by Madonna.
October 2023: Taylor releases '1989' (Taylor's Version) and 'Eras Tour' film
In August 2023, Taylor confirmed the highly-anticipated release date for '1989' (Taylor's Version). The re-recording of her 2014 album was then released on 27th October, featuring five previously unreleased tracks.
October 2023 also saw the release of her 'Eras Tour' movie, with the concert film hitting cinemas across the world. The film returned to the big screen later in December - 13th, to be exact - on Taylor's birthday. You can now stream the 'Eras Tour' film on Disney+.
December 2023: 'Eras Tour' achieves numerous Guinness World Records
By December 2023, Taylor had achieved a total of 118 Guinness World Records - including a whopping seven for the 'Eras Tour' alone! The tour became the first in history to surpass $1 billion in revenue - bagging Guinness World Records in 2023 for the following: Highest-grossing Concert or Performance film at the Global Box office, Highest-grossing Music Tour, Highest-grossing Music Tour by a Female Artist, Highest-grossing Music Tour in a Single Year, Highest-grossing Music Tour by a Female Artist, Highest-grossing Music Tour by a Solo Artist and Highest-grossing Music Tour Per Concert by a Female Artist.
February 2024: Historic Grammy win
Taylor Swift picked up two Grammy Awards at the prestigious ceremony in 2024, following a whopping six nominations. The singer won awards for Best Pop Vocal Album and Album of the Year - making history at the event as this is the first time an artist has won the Album of the Year award four times.
February 2024: 'The Tortured Poets Department' album announcement
Not only did Taylor make history at the Grammy Awards 2024, but she announced the huge news that her 11th studio album was on the way. In her acceptance speech for Best Pop Vocal Album, she revealed she had been keeping a 'secret' for two years, going on to announce her 11th studio album 'The Tortured Poets Department' was on the way and was set for release on 19th April 2024.
April 2024: Taylor releases 'The Tortured Poets Department'
Taylor's 11th studio album 'The Tortured Poets Department' was released on Friday 19th April 2024, to huge acclaim from both fans and critics alike. One week after its release, it was certified Gold by the BPI - translating to 100,000 sales in the UK alone; and two weeks after release, was certified Platinum... Meaning 300,000 sales in the UK. Wow!
Are Taylor Swift and Katy Perry friends?
They are now! Taylor and Katy Perry infamously feuded for many years, which started after Taylor 'accused Katy of stealing backing dancers' for their respective tours. There were then a few barbed comments and songs supposedly written about each other ('Bad Blood' and 'Look What You Made Me Do' from Taylor, and 'Swish Swish' from Katy), with a common ex-boyfriend, John Mayer, in the mix.
However, they officially buried the hatchet when Katy sent Taylor an actual olive branch in May 2018, and appeared in Taylor's music video for 'You Need To Calm Down'. Taylor also hand-stitched a baby blanket for Katy's newborn, Daisy Dove, in September 2020.
You can hear Taylor Swift's biggest hits on the Forth 1 playlist!
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