Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter. Her discography spans genres and her narrative songwriting—often inspired by her personal life—has received critical praise and widespread media coverage. Born in West Reading, Pennsylvania, Swift moved to Nashville, Tennessee at age 14 to pursue a career in country music. She signed a songwriting deal with Sony/ATV Music Publishing in 2004 and a recording contract with Big Machine Records in 2005. Her 2006 self-titled debut album made her the first female country artist to write or co-write every song on a US platinum-certified album.
Swift's next albums, Fearless (2008) and Speak Now (2010), explored country pop. The former's singles "Love Story" and "You Belong with Me" were the first country songs to respectively top the US pop airplay and all-genre airplay charts. She experimented with diverse rock and electronic styles on Red (2012), which features her first US Billboard Hot 100 number-one single, "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together", and recalibrated her identity from country to pop with her synth-pop fifth studio album, 1989 (2014), supported by the chart-topping singles "Shake It Off", "Blank Space", and "Bad Blood". Media scrutiny on her life inspired the urban-flavored Reputation (2017) and its number-one single "Look What You Made Me Do". The album made Swift the first act to have four albums each open with a million copies sold.
Departing from Big Machine and signing with Republic Records in 2018, Swift released her seventh studio album, Lover (2019), followed by the autobiographical documentary Miss Americana (2020). Her artistic input during the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in the indie folk and alternative rock albums, Folklore and Evermore (2020), which incorporated escapism and fictional narratives; their lead singles "Cardigan" and "Willow" debuted atop the Hot 100. She began re-recording her Big Machine catalog after a public dispute over the ownership to the albums' masters, releasing two re-recorded albums in 2021—Fearless (Taylor's Version) and Red (Taylor's Version). The latter's "All Too Well (10 Minute Version)" became the longest song to top the Hot 100. Besides music, Swift has played supporting roles in films and directed the music films Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions (2020) and All Too Well: The Short Film (2021).
Having sold over 200 million records worldwide, Swift is one of the best-selling musicians of all time. Her accolades comprise 11 Grammy Awards—including three Album of the Year wins, 34 American Music Awards—the most for an artist, 29 Billboard Music Awards—the most for a woman, and an Emmy Award. She has featured on rankings such as Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Songwriters of All Time (2015), Billboard's Greatest of All Time Artists (2019), the Time 100 and Forbes Celebrity 100. Honored with titles such as Woman of the Decade and Artist of the Decade, Swift is an advocate for artists' rights and women's empowerment. Her albums have been credited with influencing a generation of singer-songwriters.
