Her record-shatteringEras Tour(a 3.5-hour spectacle that draws from her 10 albums and spawned a history-makingconcert film) helped boost Swift to billionaire status,Forbesreported in October.Rerecordings of her early albums(which she began to release after her original label head sold them to music manager Scooter Braun) have even made vinyl records popular with Gen Z:1989 (Taylor’s Version)brokethe recordfor the largest vinyl sales week ever in October with at least 580,000 copies sold.
And the 12-time Grammy winner remains a force in pop culture, defining friendship goals with her tightknit group of girlfriends and causingTaylor-mania in the NFLamidher new romancewith Kansas City Chiefs tight endTravis Kelce.
PEOPLE’s 2023 Most Intriguing People of the Year cover, featuring Taylor Swift.Peggy Sirota/Trunk Archive
Peggy Sirota/Trunk Archive
After 17 years living in the spotlight, “she knows when, where, how to promote [her work], but she also knows when, where, how to be normal and be a human just living her life,”Tim McGrawsays of Swift, 33. “I think she has brilliantly navigated that line.”
“She never really stops writing songs,” says the National frontmanAaron Dessner, 47, who first began working with the star on her 2020 pandemic projectsFolkloreandEvermore. “I’ve spent a lot of time with her, and I’ve never seen anyone wait on her. When I have stayed at her house, Taylor herself was cooking everyone breakfast and dinner. She’s legitimately just a very down to earth and hard-working person.”
A fan’s friendship bracelets on opening night of Taylor Swift’s concert film.Amanda Edwards/Getty
Amanda Edwards/Getty
For nearly two decades, Swift has reinvented herself at aMadonna-like pace, bending genres and redefining the music business with her marketing savvy.
Taylor Swift.Peggy Sirota / Trunk Archive
Peggy Sirota / Trunk Archive
In the last three years, Swift has taken a hammer to that glass ceiling, shattering expectations — and blazing a path for the next generation of female artists.
“Since I was a little girl, I’ve really looked up to how fearless and how smart she is. As a performer, I look up to how she’s able to connect with every single person in the crowd, like she’s singing to them personally,” says her Eras Tour openerSabrina Carpenter, 24. “She sets such a beautiful tone, and it’s why the shows are as magical as they are. And offstage she is still a superstar, but she’s a superstar who’s really good at baking.”
Taylor Swift performing with Este, Danielle and Alana Haim on July 28 at Levi’s Stadium.Jeff Kravitz/TAS23/Getty
Jeff Kravitz/TAS23/Getty
“Taylor has so many stories to tell,” says Dessner. “I think she’ll keep inventing new ways and methods of writing and keep expanding this enchanted universe of her own making that we all get to enjoy.”
Swift’s longtime friend, Paramore rockerHayley Williams, 34, agrees.
“I’m almost afraid to say it,” Williams ponders, “but I kind of think she’s just getting started.”
Melody Chiu
andRachel DeSantis
Rachel DeSantis
source: people.com
