Taylor Swift

Taylor Swift in Summary

Taylor Swift is an American singer-songwriter.

Taylor Swift Biography

Taylor Alison Swift was born at the Reading Hospital in West Reading, Pennsylvania. Her father, Scott Kingsley Swift, is a former stockbroker for Merrill Lynch; her mother, Andrea Gardner Swift (née Finlay), is a former homemaker who previously worked as a mutual fund marketing executive.

Her younger brother, Austin, is an actor. She was named after singer-songwriter James Taylor and has Scottish and German heritage; some of her antecedents worked in the music industry. Swift’s great-great-grandfather on her father’s side was an Italian immigrant entrepreneur and community leader who opened several businesses in Philadelphia in the 1800s.

She spent her early years on a Christmas tree farm that her father purchased from one of his clients. Swift identifies as a Christian. She attended preschool and kindergarten at the Alvernia Montessori School, run by the Bernadine Franciscan sisters, before transferring to The Wyndcroft School. The family moved to a rented house in the suburban town of Wyomissing, Pennsylvania, where she attended Wyomissing Area Junior/Senior High School.

At age nine, Swift became interested in musical theater and performed in four Berks Youth Theatre Academy productions. She also traveled regularly to New York City for vocal and acting lessons. Swift later shifted her focus toward country music, inspired by Shania Twain’s songs. She spent weekends performing at local festivals and events. After watching a documentary about Faith Hill, Swift felt sure she needed to move to Nashville, Tennessee, to pursue a career in music. She traveled with her mother at age eleven to visit Nashville record labels and submitted demo tapes of Dolly Parton and The Chicks karaoke covers. She was rejected, however, because “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.”

When Swift was around 12 years old, computer repairman and local musician Ronnie Cremer taught her to play guitar. He helped with her first efforts as a songwriter, leading her to write “Lucky You”.

In 2003, Swift and her parents started working with New York-based talent manager Dan Dymtrow. With his help, Swift modeled for Abercrombie & Fitch as part of their “Rising Stars” campaign, had an original song included on a Maybelline compilation CD, and attended meetings with major record labels.

After performing original songs at an RCA Records showcase, Swift was given an artist development deal and began making frequent trips to Nashville with her mother.

To help Swift break into country music, her father transferred to Merrill Lynch’s Nashville office when she was 14 years old, and the family relocated to a lakefront house in Hendersonville, Tennessee. Swift initially attended Hendersonville High School before transferring to the Aaron Academy after two years, which could better accommodate her touring schedule through homeschooling. She graduated a year early.

Her eponymous debut studio album (2006) included the Hot Country Songs number-one singles “Our Song” and “Should’ve Said No” and the pop radio crossover “Teardrops on My Guitar”. Swift rose to mainstream prominence with her country pop second studio album, Fearless (2008), which was certified Diamond by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and featured the top-five singles “Love Story” and “You Belong with Me”. Her third studio album, Speak Now (2010), blended country pop with rock elements and furthered her crossover success with the top-ten singles “Mine” and “Back to December”.

Swift’s fourth studio album, Red (2012), experimented beyond country, incorporating pop, rock, and electronic genres. She completely transitioned to pop with her synth-pop fifth studio album, 1989 (2014); its successor, Reputation (2017), expanded on the electropop sound with urban influences. Swift released her next studio album, Lover, in 2019, while she was in a dispute over the ownership of her back catalog after her Big Machine contract expired.

She explored indie folk and alternative rock on her 2020 studio albums, Folklore and Evermore. These six albums spawned a string of international top-ten singles, including “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together”, “I Knew You Were Trouble”, “Shake It Off”, “Blank Space”, “Bad Blood”, “Look What You Made Me Do”, “Me!”, “You Need to Calm Down”, “Cardigan”, and “Willow”. She also released the acclaimed documentaries Miss Americana and Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions in 2020.

With sales of over 200 million records worldwide, Swift is one of the best-selling music artists of all time. Her accolades include 11 Grammy Awards (including three Album of the Year wins), a Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Award, two Brit Awards, 11 MTV Video Music Awards (including two Video of the Year wins), 12 Country Music Association Awards, 25 Billboard Music Awards (the most wins by a woman), 32 American Music Awards (the most wins by an artist) and 49 Guinness World Records. She ranked eighth on Billboard’s Greatest of All Time Artists Chart (2019) and was listed on Rolling Stone’s 100 Greatest Songwriters of All Time (2015).

Swift has been included in various power rankings, such as Time’s annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world (2010, 2015 and 2019) and Forbes Celebrity 100 (placing first in 2016 and 2019). She was named Woman of the Decade (2010s) by Billboard and Artist of the Decade (2010s) by the American Music Awards, and has been recognized for her philanthropic efforts and advocacy of women’s and artists’ rights.

More Information about Taylor Swift

• Name: Taylor Swift
• Date Of Birth: December 13, 1989
• Place Of Birth: West Reading, Pennsylvania, United States
• Main Occupation: Singer