Taylor

Taylor Swift was a rarity in pop: she is the sole celebrity who transitioned from the traditional to the mainstream and become a pop icon worldwide. Swift let go of the influences from her country music like they were an extra layer of skin and revealed she was among the best singers/songwriters of the generation she was born into. Swift could make the moment personal or harness it for her benefit. This was evident in her early songs, particularly with regard to the neo homage of Tim McGraw. On her 2nd album, Fearless (2008), Swift revealed a singer/songwriter who was beginning to get acquainted with herself. The album was able to have significant legs not only in the U.S. where it racked seven platinum singles thanks to Top Ten hits Love Story and You Belong with Me but throughout the world performing particularly well with Australia, U.K. Canada and Australia. Swift's next album, Speak Now, released nearly two years following the previous one, built on the success of this album. It helped propel Swift to superstardom. In the following three years, Swift's popularity grew with the release of three albums -- Red (2012), Reputation (2014) as well as 1989 (2014-2015) during which time she moved into a arena of pop in which her talent was already established. In the end, when she refocused her music to the stripped-down versions of 2020, Folklore, and Evermore however, she remained in the top spot. It was a position that was confirmed by re-recordings from her past catalogue as well as Midnights which was her chart-topping synth heavy 2022 album.