Taylor

Taylor Swift was a rarity in the world of pop music: she was the sole celebrity who moved from the country to mainstream, and to become an international icon of pop culture. Swift shed her roots in country music like a second-skin, and revealed that she had the best pop sensibility in her time. Swift was the only singer/songwriter who knew how to take the popular zeitgeist out on the road. The first songs she released including the neotribute for Tim McGraw were a testament to her talent. However, her second album Fearless from 2008 showed an songwriter discovering her voice and a wider fan base. Fearless wound up having considerable reach not just in the U.S. where it racked up six platinum singles on the strength of the Top Ten hits Love Story and You Belong with Me but throughout the globe, performing especially well within the U.K. Canada and Australia. Swift's Speak Now album released two years ago, consolidated her prior success, and catapulted the singer into superstardom. Over the next three years, her popularity was growing through the years -the albums - Red (2012), Reputation (2014), and 1989 (2014-2015) -- as she moved into a realm of pop with her skills already established. The popularity of her music grew after she altered her plan with 2020's pared-down siblings the folk singer (and Evermore) and stayed in the forefront of pop culture.