To her devoted ‘Swifties’, she has always been an icon, a woman who has overcome trauma, stood up for herself and taken on a world determined to dismiss her as a young girl simply there to be told to stand up and sing on cue.
And now Taylor Swift ’s appeal has become nothing short of global and Britain has well and truly woken up and embraced the glitter ball.
No longer that American country singer you might have sort of heard of, the 33-year-old has converted not just one but many generations of fans with her pop anthems and soul-baring ballads.
The overwhelming clamour to buy tickets to her upcoming British Eras tour shows just how much the country has taken the star to their hearts. Thousands bombarded websites to nab pre-sale tickets, crashing one within minutes and with many left disappointed even as 14 more dates were added. The tour doesn’t even start until next June, main ticket sales aren’t until next week and already touts are asking for £3,000 a seat.
It’s not just her music though, it’s Taylor herself who has captured the attention of everyone from eight to 80.
For some she is inspiring, she has stood up to bullies and spoken about the injustices she faced. For others, despite her superstar million-dollar lifestyle, her songs talking about her break-ups and bouncing back from heartbreak appealed to those who felt just a little on the outside - like she was one of them.
“I’ve loved my fans from the very first day,” she said. “I’ll never go a day without thinking about our memories together.”
And clearly they feel the same. “Taylor’s sense of melody appeals to everyone,” says Dave Fawbert, founder of Swiftogeddon, a touring Taylor Swift club night. “You could be five years old and not understand any of the words but still love her songs.”
The 41-year-old self-proclaimed “massive Swiftie”, says his events, which can last as long as seven hours playing purely Taylor, are frequently attended by the older generations. “There’s a brilliant pair of two older ladies, aged 60-plus” he says, “halfway back singing along to every song.”
Indeed, it appears many mums have seen the effect on their daughters and have been swept up themselves, taking in her message of female empowerment and refusal to be beaten or broken by - often - men.
Fan sites and Facebook groups are full of praise for the singer after being introduced to her by their kids, comments like “such a great role model for all the girls” and “she’s just so mesmerising and positive” are common.
And while decades of male pop stars have had strings of girlfriends and been celebrated for it, female celebrities are often judged for their relationships. Taylor won’t have any of that though, it’s clear everyone views her beaus - no matter how famous - as just that, men she has chosen, not a man waiting to try to eclipse or control her.
Who else would have been often described as having Harry Styles as a boyfriend, rather than her being his girlfriend? And none of her - arguably more famous - boyfriends have stolen the limelight from her, Tom Hiddleston, Jake Gyllenhaal, Joe Jonas. No matter how the relationship went, there was always a feeling Taylor was the one making the calls.
“Guys can be a part of your life but never let the guy be your life,” she has said. “They can live in your world, but never make the guy your world.”
Her fans aren’t always thrilled with her choice of course. Her most recent fling with Matty Healy, lead singer of The 1975, earned Taylor criticism due to Matty’s controversial comments - seeing him accused of racism. Swifities banded together to write an impassioned open letter to Taylor urging her to address the remarks.
Taylor has become renowned for speaking about her relationships in her songs with eagle-eye Swifties matching up relationships to songs. The pop hit ‘Style’ from her 2014 album ‘1989’ which spent 11 weeks at number one, is believed to have taken major inspiration from her relationship with Harry Styles and the 2010 hit ‘Dear John’ is understood to explore her relationship with fellow singer-songwriter John Mayer.
Her wholesome image makes her feel a safe bet for older generations too.
Jonathan Bate, a 64-year-old Oxford Academic, attended the Eras tour with his daughters and later wrote about how the singer compares with the greats of poetry, even Shakespeare.
Yes, she might wear the odd risque outfit but she’s a good girl at heart, or at least she seems so. But who is the real Taylor Swift?
With over 200 million records sold, 12 Grammys, and as the most streamed woman on Spotify, there’s no doubt she’s on top of the world and shows no signs of moving.
Her latest re-recording of the 2010 album Speak Now was released last week and has since sold 48,000 copies, making number one in the midweek charts and outselling other top 10 combined.
The singer is re-recording all her old studio albums as ‘Taylor’s versions’ after losing the rights to the masters recordings after her old record label, Big Machine Records, was sold to Scooter Braun.
Celebs love her too - Billy Joel is a huge fan, as is former Prime Minister Liz Truss, and a long list of stars including Shania Twain and Ryan Reynolds have been seen at her latest tour.
But away from the stage and adoring crowds is Taylor the woman.
Born to Scott and Andrea Swift, a stockbroker and former marketing executive, she grew up on a Christmas tree farm in Pennsylvania, memories from which sparked her festive anthem ‘Christmas Tree Farm’ in 2019.
She began singing lessons aged nine, inspired by country musicians such as The Dixie Chicks and Shania Twain. “She was always singing music when she was three, five, six, seven, years old,” her dad said. “It’s Taylor doing what she likes to do.”
Extremely close to her parents, Taylor said they helped her achieve her ‘Wildest Dreams’, moving to Nashville to support her career when Taylor was 14. The singer said her parents weren’t just indulging her to be supportive, “My parents actually believed it,” she said.
But Taylor grafted hard to make it in the industry. She described how her mum would wait in the car while she knocked on doors down Music Row on trips to Nashville. She would tell people: “‘Hi, I’m Taylor. I’m 11. I want a record deal — call me.”
When no one did call her, the young singer took up guitar and decided to focus on songwriting to help herself stand out. When her parents tried to dissuade her from starting with a 12-string guitar, suggesting that her fingers were still too small, she set out to prove them wrong. “Don’t ever say never or can’t do to Taylor,” her mother Andrea said.
She began songwriting professionally at aged 14, breaking into the country music sphere with her debut single in 2006 - 114 million album sales later, it’s clear her fame hasn’t stopped growing since.
Not that her life has been without controversy. The singer attracted a cult following among white nationalists who adopted her as an ‘Aryan goddess.’ In an interview with Rolling Stone, she responded: “There’s literally nothing worse than white supremacy. It’s repulsive. There should be no place for it.”
It seems her real appeal, though, is that she stands up for what she believes in. Taylor tells young girls that you don’t have to just sit back and take it.
At a 2013 meet and greet, radio DJ David Mueller reached under the singer’s skirt and groped her as a picture was taken. Mueller filed for defamation and Swift counter-sued for battery and sexual assault, seeking a symbolic $1 in damages in a 2017 trial. The court ruled in Taylor’s favour and her fans loved her even more for standing up to her attacker.
But the moment Britain began to really sit up and notice the star was her run-in with rapper Kanye West. When Taylor was just 19, Kanye West interrupted her MTV Video Music Awards acceptance speech. The rapper climbed onto the stage and shouted “Yo, Taylor, I’m really happy for you, I’ll let you finish, but Beyoncé had one of the best videos of all time!”
The feud continued into 2016 when Kanye West name-checked Taylor in his song ‘Famous’ with the line: “I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex. Why? I made that b**ch famous.” The rapper’s then wife Kim Kardashian shared a video of the songstress appearing to give permission but Taylor later said she has never heard the specific lyrics.
Taylor posted on Instagram, “Where is the video of Kanye telling me he was going to call me ‘that bitch’ in his song? It doesn’t exist because it never happened. You don’t get to control someone’s emotional response to being called ‘that b*tch’ in front of the entire world.”
Feminism is a theme which comes up time and again for Taylor. The singer has pushed against claims that you can’t be ‘girly’ and stand up for what you believe in. In her documentary ‘Miss Americana’, she explains how she wants to “love glitter, and also stand up for the double standards that exist in our society. I want to wear pink and tell you how I feel about politics. I don’t think those things have to cancel each other out.”
What the ‘Love Story’ singer has done has made feminism ‘trendy’ for all ages. As Taylor says: “Just be yourself, there is no one better.”
So, if you’re on the lookout for a new role model for your kids, or in fact yourself, all you have to do is turn on the radio, have a sing along, and it might just be that you’re a secret Swiftie at heart.
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