Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American country music artist who began her career as a teenager. Signed to the independent Big Machine Records label in 2006, she made her debut on the Billboard country charts with the release of her debut single "Tim McGraw". This song, which peaked at #6, was the first of five singles from her self-titled debut, which was released in late 2006 and re-issued in 2007, and has been certified 3× Multi-Platinum by the RIAA. Following "Tim McGraw" were the #2 "Teardrops on My Guitar", the six-week Number One "Our Song", the #3 "Picture to Burn" and another Number One in "Should've Said No". All five singles from her debut were Top 40 hits on the Billboard Hot 100, as was her song "Change" from the AT&T TEAM USA Soundtrack. Her second album, Fearless, will be released on November 11, and its lead-off single "Love Story" has become her highest Hot 100 hit.
Taylor Swift was born in Wyomissing, Pennsylvania and lives with her parents, Scott and Andrea, and her brother, Austin, now in Hendersonville, Tennessee. Swift's influences include her grandmother and LeAnn Rimes. Although her grandmother was a professional opera singer, Taylor's tastes always ran more toward country and she developed a love for Patsy Cline and Dolly Parton at an early age. She also credits the Dixie Chicks and Shania Twain for demonstrating how much impact can be made by "stretching boundaries". At the age of ten, Swift began to perform around her home town, Wyomissing, singing at karaoke contests, festivals, and fairs, and also started writing songs. Her first exposure to the music business consisted of recording demo tapes at a studio. At age eleven, Swift made her first trip to Nashville in hopes of obtaining a record deal by handing out a demo tape she had made of her singing along to karaoke songs. She boldly handed this tape to receptionists at every label on Music Row. Swift faced much rejection, not just from record labels, but also from her peers. When asked how she was able to handle such hurtful rejection from record labels, she responded saying that it wasn't nearly as painful as the rejection she received from the kids around her. One of the first songs she wrote, The Outside, was her expression of feeling that rejection. After Swift returned to Pennsylvania, she was asked to sing at the U.S. Open tennis tournament, when her rendition of the national anthem completely moved the crowd.
Swift began to regularly visit Nashville, where, at age twelve, she wrote songs with local songwriters. Eventually, her family decided to move to an outlying Nashville suburb. Taylor Swift performed at Nashville's premier songwriters' café, The Bluebird Café, catching the attention of Scott Borchetta who signed her to his newly-formed record label, Big Machine Records.
Swift plays a Taylor Grand Auditorium acoustic guitar made of koa wood.
Swift confirmed in a 2008 interview with Ellen DeGeneres on her talk show that she had dated singer Joe Jonas and that he dumped her "over the phone in 27 seconds." Swift wrote the song "Forever & Always" about Jonas, and the song appeared on her album, Fearless. It was the last song that she had recorded, and it was a last minute addition to her album, making it 13 songs total. 13 is also Swift's "lucky number".
Discography
Albums
EPs- 2007: Sounds of the Season: The Taylor Swift Holiday Collection
- 2008: Beautiful Eyes
Quick InfoBirth name Taylor Alison Swift
Born Dec 13, 1989
Origin Wyomissing, Pennsylvania, USA
Genre(s) Country pop
Occupation(s) Singer-songwriter
Instrument(s) Vocals, guitar
Label(s) Big Machine
Associated acts Kellie Pickler
Website
TaylorSwift.comClick here for VM You're not sorryClick here for VM Change
