Taylor

Taylor Swift may be the most unusual of pop stars: an artist who could successfully cross the divide between pop and country, conquering the globe. Swift shed the country influences in the sense that they had been added as an extra layer of skin and revealed she was one of the best singers/songwriters of her generation. Swift could make the occasion personal, or use it for her benefit. This was evident in her earliest songs especially in her neo tribute towards Tim McGraw. On her second release Fearless (2008) Swift showcased a writer getting to know herself. The album was hugely successful and not just in the US and six of the singles have been declared platinum, on top of Top Ten hit songs Love Story and you Belong with Me. But the album also enjoyed a great reception across the globe. Swift's next album Speak Now, released almost two years after the previous one, built on this momentum. It helped propel Swift to the heights of fame. The singer's popularity increased through the three albums that followed - Red (2012), 1989 (2014) and Reputation (2017). Swift was now firmly established within a genre where she belonged. The popularity of her music grew after she reformulated her approach in 2020's more streamlined siblings Folklore (and Evermore) and stayed atop of the pop world.