Taylor

Taylor Swift was a rarity in pop culture: she was the sole celebrity who transitioned from the traditional to the mainstream and become a pop icon worldwide. Swift has shed her roots in the country as if it were a second-skin, revealing herself to be the smartest pop singer/songwriter in her generation. She is able to take the zeitgeist of today and turn it into her own. The skills she displayed were apparent on her early hits including the Neo-tribute Tim McGraw but her second album in 2008's Fearless showed a writer discovering the person she really was, and in the process finding a mass audience. Fearless went on to become a global hit but not only in North America (where it received six times platinum for the Top Ten Hits Love Story and "You Belong with Me") however, in Canada, Australia, the U.K. and many other countries. Swift managed to build upon her popularity by releasing Speak Now almost two year after. The next three albums she released, Red (2012) 1989 (2004) and Reputation (2017) and Reputation, the popularity of Swift grew, and she became part of a music scene with a clear sense of where she was a part of. When she reduced her sound by releasing stripped-down albums like 2020, Folklore, and Evermore, she still remained in the top spot. It was a position that was confirmed with the re-recordings she had made from her earlier catalog, as well as Midnights which was her chart-topping synth heavy 2022 album.