Taylor

Taylor Swift was a rarity in the world of pop music: she was the only celebrity to have crossed from country into 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 finest singers/songwriters from her generation. Swift could make the moment personal or harness it to her advantage. Swift's first hits, particularly her neo tribute to Tim McGraw, showed off her skills. However, her album Fearless revealed a songwriter who was discovering herself and was able to draw a wide audience. The album was able to have significant appeal not just on the U.S. where it racked the record with six platinum singles, on the strength of the Top Ten hits Love Story and the hit single You Belong with Me but throughout the world performing particularly well with Australia, U.K. Canada and Australia. Speak Now delivered almost two years later and consolidated this popularity and pushed Swift into the stratosphere of superstardom. Swift's popularity continued to grow with her following three albums - Red (2012) 1989 (2014) and Reputation (2017) -- which saw her move into a realm of pop music in which she was already a part. In the end, when she refocused her music to the stripped-down versions of 2020, folklore, and Evermore but she was still at the top. The position was defended through re-recordings of her previous catalog as in Midnights the synth-based chart-topper 2022 album.