Taylor swift

Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American country-pop[1] singer-songwriter, and actress.

In 2006, she released her debut single "Tim McGraw", then her self-titled debut album, which was subsequently certified multi-platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. In November 2008, Swift released her second album, Fearless. Fearless and Taylor Swift finished 2008 atnumber-three and number-six respectively, with sales of 2.1 and 1.5 million.[5] Fearless has topped the Billboard 200 in 11 non-consecutive weeks;[6] no album has spent more time at No. 1 since 2000. Swift was named Artist of the Year by Billboard Magazine in 2009.[7] Fearless won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year in 2010.

In 2008, her albums sold a combined four million copies, makingher the best-selling musician of the year in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan. Forbes ranked Swift 2009's 69th-most powerful celebrity with earnings of $18 million.[8] In January 2010 Nielsen SoundScan lists Swift as the top-selling digital artist in music history with over 24.3 million digital tracks sold to date.[9]
Contents
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* 1 Early life
* 2 Songwritinginterest
o 2.1 Early work
* 3 Music career
o 3.1 2006–2008: Taylor Swift
o 3.2 2008-2010: Fearless
+ 3.2.1 MTV VMA controversy
o 3.3 2010-present
* 4 Songwriting style
* 5 Acting career
* 6 Philanthropy
* 7 Public image and other work
* 8 Personal life
* 9 Discography
* 10 Filmography
* 11 Awardsand nominations
* 12 References
* 13 External links

Early life

Swift was born in the borough of Wyomissing, Pennsylvania. She is the daughter of Scott Swift, a stock broker, and his wife Andrea, a homemaker. She has a younger brother, Austin.[10] When she was in fourth grade, Swift won a national poetry contest with a three-page poem titled "Monster In My Closet".[11][12]

Atten, Swift began writing songs and singing at karaoke contests, festivals, and fairs around her hometown. One summer, she devoted herself to writing a 350-page novel, which remains unpublished.[13] Her first major show was a well-received performance at the Bloomsburg Fair.[14]
Songwriting interest

Swift began learning to play guitar from a computer repairman who showed her how to play threechords. After learning those three chords, she wrote her first song, "Lucky You".[15] She began writing songs regularly and used it as an outlet to help her with her pain from not fitting in at school. Other kids would react badly to her so she wrote songs about them.[16]
Early work

Swift's greatest musical influence is Shania Twain.[17] Her other influences include LeAnn Rimes, Tina Turner, DollyParton, and Swift's grandmother. Although her grandmother was a professional opera singer,[18] Taylor's tastes always ran more toward country and she developed a love for Patsy Cline and Dolly Parton at an early age.[19] She also credits the Dixie Chicks and Shania Twain for demonstrating how much impact can be made by "stretching boundaries".[20]

At age 11, Swift made her first trip toNashville, hoping to obtain a record deal by distributing a demo tape of her singing with karaoke songs. She gave a copy to every label in town.[21] Swift was rejected by record labels and her peers.[22]

After Swift returned to Pennsylvania, she was asked to sing at the U.S. Open tennis tournament; her rendition of the national anthem received a lot of attention.[23] Swift started writing songs andplaying 12-string guitar when she was 12. Swift began to regularly visit Nashville and wrote songs with local songwriters. By the time she was 14, her family decided to move to an outlying Nashville suburb.[24]

When Swift was 15, she rejected RCA Records because the company wanted to keep her on a development deal.[25] Swift then performed at Nashville's songwriters' venue, The Bluebird Café,...