Taylor

Taylor Swift was a rarity in pop: she is the only superstar to have transitioned from the traditional to the mainstream, and to become a global pop culture icon. Swift shed her country roots as though they were part of her skin, revealing she was possibly the most savvy pop-oriented singer/songwriter of her time, someone who was able to harness the zeitgeist make it personal and also perform opposite. Her talents are evident in some of her earliest tracks, notably the neodue Tim McGraw. But on her second album Fearless released in 2008 Swift was able to discover who she is and find an audience that was large. The album was a huge success, not just in the United States, having six platinum-certified singles. In fact, the Top Ten songs Love Story & You Belong with Me were the main reasons for this. But, it also did very well across the globe. Swift's next album, Speak Now, released almost two years after the debut, further consolidated this momentum. It propelled Swift into the spotlight. In the three subsequent albums (Reputation 2017, 1989 2014, and Red 2012) Red 2012, 1989 2014 and Reputation 2017, her success only grew. That was an obvious sign she had moved to an entirely new world of pop that she could be part of. The popularity of her music grew after she reformulated her approach by releasing 2020's streamlined Folklore (and Evermore) and stayed in the forefront of pop culture.