American popular music has produced some unforgettable female icons during my lifetime: Janis Joplin, Dolly Parton, Cher, Madonna, Janet Jackson, Beyonce, Adele, just to name a few. They have all been influential on their fan base, and to some degree, to the public in general. Joplin gave young women permission to experiment with sex and drugs, often to dangerous excess. She died of a heroin overdose. Dolly Parton has always encouraged women with her words and by example to be strong and independent without sacrificing their femininity or sexual charm. Madonna in some ways paralleled the rise to fame of Michael Jackson. She was definitely the queen of pop for a while, more so than Michael’s own sister, Janet. She still holds the record as the biggest selling female artist to date. All of these women enjoyed success here and around the world.
Perhaps these women prepared the way for the female entertainer who has taken the world by storm in the 21st century and will likely surpass them all at some point. Taylor Swift is so much more than a singer, songwriter, musician, producer, and entertainer. She is a force. With the release of her single “Our Song” in 2006, she became the youngest singer-songwriter to perform an original song and reach the number one spot on the Hot Country Songs chart at the ripe age of seventeen. Two years later she became the youngest person to win the Country Music Association Awards’ top spot. She has won more American Music Awards than anyone else in history. She is the first woman to have four albums in the Billboard 200 chart’s top 10 simultaneously. She also broke Billboard’s record for most number one albums by a female artist. Swift made history again at the 2024 Grammy Awards when she took home the Album of the Year, becoming the first and only person to have won the award four times.
These accolades are phenomenal; however, some of her other accomplishments have served to establish her as one of the most influential women in the country, if not the world. According to some sources, the opening night of Swift’s Eras Tour set a record for the most attended concert ever by a female musical entertainer in the U.S. The tour continued to break attendance records across the country and became the first to surpass $1 billion in revenue. According to Forbes magazine, Swift became a billionaire in 2023 and thus the highest-earning female performer in the music industry. Between vinyl, streaming, and other media, Taylor Swift continues to break sales records in various categories every year.
I couldn’t find an estimate of how many people have seen Swift in concert over the course of her career. Based on stats that are available, close to 10 million people worldwide have attended her Eras tour, which ends in December 2024. She has been a dominant figure in the lives of at least two generations: her adoring fans and the many parents who continue to take their young children to her concerts. It is amazing how many of those parents and children (mostly female but certainly not all) sing along to every word of every song Taylor Swift performs. What a rush that must be for her.
Swift is an outspoken advocate for progressive causes, especially related to women and the LGBTQ population. She is not afraid to let her fans know through public statements and social media where she stands on controversial issues. She is not overtly political, and she attracts fans from across the political divide. Yes, there are Swifties for Trump – they may not agree with her ideologically, but they still love and identify with her music. She doesn’t shy away from publicly revealing her candidate of choice, even on the national level. She backed Joe Biden in 2020 and Kamala Harris in 2024. She wisely stops short of suggesting who her fans should support, but she strongly encourages them to do their research and vote their conscience. Shortly after the presidential debate between Trump and Harris in September 2024, Taylor Swift sent messages on her social media platforms making her choice known and including a link to a voter registration site. According to multiple sources, over 400,000 people clicked on the link in the 24 hours after Swift posted it. That’s power, and I would guess that very few people in this country have that level of influence.
For those who still think that Taylor Swift’s work is just a bunch of shallow revenge music obsessing over her broken heart, I suspect they haven’t followed her career closely enough. Her latest album, The Tortured Poets Department, has considerable depth thematically in places. Her lyrics really started to show her maturity as a songwriter with the 2020 release of Folklore. Okay, perhaps her musical compositions are not complex or interesting enough for some people, but I maintain she is writing good stuff. The song “This Is Me Trying” from the Folklore album packs a powerful punch that almost channels Bruce Springsteen in my mind. Oh, one more thing. My wife and I live in Missouri and are Kansas City Chiefs fans. We absolutely love seeing Taylor Swift at the football games and think the budding romance between the rock star and Chiefs tight end, Travis Kelce, is a refreshing American celebrity love story. They are adorable. Go ahead, call me a Swiftie. I’m “fearless.”
Source consulted:
https://theweek.com/culture/entertainment/1025810/taylor-swift-records-2023
If You Want My Opinion 