Taylor Swift has dropped her latest album, The Life of a Showgirl’ today, so now is a good time to reflect on the times she has broken the mould in her career.
Taylor Swift is the name on the internet’s lips today as the iconic star has released her latest album, the 12-track The Life of a Showgirl, her 12th studio album.
The record, much of which was written during the European leg of her Eras tour – more on that later – includes a collaboration with Sabrina Carpenter, and is expected to top the charts around the world.
With success a guarantee for this album, it makes sense to look back at some of the reasons why Taylor Swift is the icon she is, having broken the accepted mould of the pop star many times.
Biggest tour
Taylor’s mammoth Eras world tour, which spanned 2023-24, became the first by any artist to gross $1 billion in revenue – although this is disputed as Coldplay’s Music of the Spheres World Tour was the first to officially report the number. However, what isn’t disputed is that Eras became the first tour to break the $2 billion barrier, taking $2.07 billion by the time it concluded in December 2024.
Biggest tour film
Perhaps unsurprisingly, given the unprecedented success of the Eras tour, the film of the tour, the imaginatively-named Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour, is also the most successful in history too. Worldwide, it grossed $261.7 million, and it is recognised by the Guiness World Records as the biggest ever. It has been estimated that the film made a net profit of $172 million.
Most awards
The number of awards that Taylor has won – and from the number of awarding organisations – in her career to date is mind-boggling. Here are just some of the records she has: she is the most-awarded artist at the American Music Awards, Billboard Music Awards and MTV Video Music Awards. She also has 14 Grammy Awards – including a record four Album of the Year wins. Taylor is also the only artist to be named as the IFPI Global Recording Artist of the Year on five occasions.
Fast-selling
Taylor’s legions of fans, known as Swifties, are renowned for being loyal – and when she releases an album, they go buy it fast. Seven of her first 11 studio albums have sold more than one million copies in their first week of release in the US alone. Chances are this will be eight by this time next week.
Re-recording her back catalogue
The music business is renowned for being ruthless and artists not having control over their own back catalogue isn’t unprecedented. But what Taylor did to regain control was. When Scooter Braun acquired Big Machine Records in 2019 – including the masters of Taylor’s first six albums – Taylor wasn’t happy, but he wasn’t going to sell. So, Taylor decided to re-record her first six albums instead. This move was popular with fans, but also devalued the originals. Braun sold the rights to Taylor’s work to Shamrock Holdings in 2020. But it was only in May this year that Taylor managed to acquire the masters back from Shamrock Holdings, means he has full ownership of her work again.
Time first
US news magazine Time’s Person of the Year has been a huge accolade for decades, and Taylor became the first person from the arts to receive this, back in 2023 – the award has been given annually since 1927, and previous recipients include Mahatma Ghandi, Winston Churchill and Barack Obama, which gives you an idea of the hugeness of her win.
