Taylor Alison Swift was born December 13, 1989, in Wyomissing, PA. Her parents, both in the career of finance, hoped she would pursue the same profession. In her childhood she loved making up fairy tales and singing Disney movie songs by heart. When she was six, she came upon a LeAnn Rimes album she loved and played repeatedly.
At age 11 she played the guitar for several hours a day until her fingers bled. Through observing her great talent and dedication, her parents would travel frequently to Nashville to hear her play. She’s earned a great deal of respect from famous musicians. Tim McGraw and Faith Hill were her idols since childhood.
Taylor became a singer who wrote or co-wrote songs at the age of 13. She was offered a contract with RCA records, but at the age of 14 walked away from it because they didn’t seem so sure if they wanted her or not. Although many big-label record companies expressed interest in signing record deals with her, she joined with Big Machine Records, which was founded by Scott Borchetta, who was highly inspired when he heard her sing at the Bluebird Café in Nashville.
In high school she was considered somewhat of a misfit and made fun of for liking country music. She was made fun of by her friends and not invited to parties. Some days she was even isolated at the cafeteria table. Frequently, she would come to school with taped up, sore fingers as a result of heavy guitar practice the night before. Being made fun of didn't bother her that much, it gave her even more reasons to write songs.
Taylor Swift's Success As a Pop Star
Predominantly a country singer, she earned the name The Princess of Pop in 2008 after selling over six million copies of her first and second albums. In October of 2006 she released her first album simply titled Taylor Swift with the debut single "Tim McGraw", a great friend of her's and an inspiration to her music. Her first and second album, Fearless, produced five consecutive Top Ten singles, earning her multi-platinum sales. Fearless is best known for the singles "Love Story" and "Fifteen". This album was number one for eight weeks in the winter of 2009. Also, she was nominated for the Grammy, Best New Artist, but was beat by Amy Winehouse.
Being aired on both pop and country radio stations has given her great exposure. Her broad demographic appeal has contributed greatly to her popularity. The term "Taylor Nation" includes millions of country and indie music fans as well as those from the Disney generation.
Taylor Swift's Personality
Taylor is reputable for being one of the goody, goody two-shoe girls and claims at age 19 to have never smoked a cigarette nor consumed a single drop of alcohol. She was the Little Miss Perfect type who was always polite to others and never liked to lie to her parents.
If she isn't giggly or dorky, she could be thought of as an insistently overly-active, self-controlled perfectionist. Being independent and doing everything in the most proper manner were well-known attributes of her personality. She struggles continuously to be polite and worries that if she isn't careful, she may say something to offend her fans.
She enjoys working out on her treadmill at home, but not at public gyms. Her father claims she dislikes being barraged by people who want her signature, but she strongly disagrees. Instead, she claims she doesn't want people snapping pictures of her after she's hot and sweaty from a workout.
Taylor has put a lot of thought and emotion into her songs. They not only express her own experiences with romance, but her friends' as well. Such examples may be her breakup with Joe Jones in the song "Forever & Always" or a guy she wanted to date, but never kissed in the song "Love Story". As she stated in the Rolling Stone magazine: "I'm fascinated by love. But I'm much more likely to write a song than to do anything about it. You know, self-preservation". She attributes "self-preservation", also to her desire to be a long-term musician, so she works continuously, hoping not to short-lived and discarded like other pop teen musicians have. With her hard work and dedication, her likelihood of ongoing success is very promising.
Sources:
Rolling Stone Magazine, The Very Pink, Very Perfect Life of Taylor Swift, March 5, 2009
All Music Guide, www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll
Lyrics Mode, www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/t/taylor_swift/
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