Tenley Tuschman
A couple weeks ago, a friend of mine and I got into a debate about Taylor Swift. We are both pretty biased as I am a pretty big fan of her and he is most definitely not. But the whole conversation got me thinking: what separates an artist from simply being famous to defining an entire generation?
Taylor Swift was barely twenty years old when she became the youngest artist to ever win album of the year at the 2010 Grammys for her second album, Fearless. This was no surprise, as this album resulted in two of her biggest singles – “Love Story” and “You Belong With Me,” songs that are still fan favorites over ten years later. From then on, her fame skyrocketed. In late 2010 she released her Speak Now, her third album, which was completely self written. The album charted on the Billboard Hot 200 for 137 weeks proving that she would be one the most promising song writers of the generation. Since then, Taylor has released six more albums, two of which she released in 2020. Over the years, Swift has managed to evolve from country to pop to indie successfully. This is a feat that few artists are able to successfully transition into. Most artists will stick with the genre they started their career in. Singers such as Justin Bieber, Miley Cyrus, and others who got their start young, started in pop and have remained within the genre. Swift has been able to transition from genre to genre leaving her fans with excitement over what she will do next.
With every new album release, Swift created an entirely new era of her music career, each one as successful as the last. In 2014, she dropped her first pop album, 1989, a masterpiece that boasts her biggest Billboard Hot 100 hit to date, “Shake It Off,” which stayed on the chart for 50 consecutive weeks; 1989 also earned Swift another album of the year win at the Grammys, making her the first woman to ever be honored with that award twice. Swift continued her career growth with “Reputation” in 2017, which helped her break The Rolling Stones’ record for highest-grossing US tour in history by earning a whopping $266.1 million. Then, capping off the decade came 2019’s “Lover,” an album that showcased all of Swift’s immense musical talents, but stands out in her catalog as the first album that she outright owns — a triumph that goes far beyond the music itself.
In 2019, Taylor was named Artist of the Decade at the American Music Awards, which, in my opinion, is a pretty fitting tribute to her success. In so many ways she has defined this generation’s music and I believe that she will continue to remain as popular as she is today. There are very few artists that stand against time, and Taylor Swift is most definitely one of them.
Southview Catalyst 