Taylor

Taylor Swift was a rarity in pop: she is the sole celebrity who transitioned from the traditional to the mainstream and then to be a global pop culture icon. Swift removed her roots in the country as though they were part of her skin, revealing she was perhaps the savviest populist singer/songwriter of her generation one who could harness the current zeitgeist and make it personal and just as impressively perform in the opposite direction. Swift's early songs, including the neo tribute to Tim McGraw, showed off her talents. However, her album Fearless showed a singer-songwriter who was beginning to discover herself, and gaining a huge following. The album was able to have significant appeal not just in the U.S. where it racked up six platinum singles thanks to Top Ten hits Love Story and Belong with Me Belong with Me but throughout the globe, performing especially well in Australia, U.K. Canada and Australia. Swift's new album Speak Now, released just two years after the first one, consolidated this success. It propelled Swift into the spotlight. She grew in popularity through the three albums that followed - Red (2012), 1989 (2014) and Reputation (2017). Swift became a household name within the genre she was a part of. Her name was always at the top of pop until she reverted to her style with her sibling albums folklore & Evermore in the year 2020.