Taylor Swift

Taylor Swift

Early Life

It is no longer a time to associate country music with people in their mid 40s, for artists jumping in this genre is getting younger and younger. One living proof: Taylor Swift. The accomplished country singer and songwriter who began her career while a teenager has spawned an album and several singles that garnered her awards that are commonly dominated by people twice or triple her age. In 2007 alone she was nominated for four different awards, two of them which have successfully been snatched. She took Breakthrough Video of the Year at Country Music Television Awards through her debut single "Tim McGraw", and Horizon Award, a special honor that was presented at 41st Country Music Association Awards for being a promising act. 

Hailing from Wyomissing, Pennsylvania, Taylor Alison Swift was musically influenced by her grandmother who was a professional opera singer. While living with her parents, the December 13, 1989-born beauty became addicted to singing in contests and talent shows. At 10-year-old, she had entered local karaoke contests and recorded some demo tapes which ended in almost every receptionist desks of Nashville's record labels. Two years later she did the very thing that would eventually make a difference to her world, guitar picking. For four hours a day she would continuously try to master the art of guitar playing until her fingers literally bled. From there, original songs came pouring out along with the growing love of country vibes. She often wrote her lyrics during lessons at school although her reputation as a straight A student was unaltered. Her family eventually moved to Hendersonville, Tennessee where opportunity came in the form of Scott Borchetta. 

Personal Life

While performing at a cafe, Swift immediately struck the attention of the record producer who was on the verge of developing a record label. Amazed, Borchetta thought that she would be the perfect candidate to launch his new company, Big Machine Records. Together with Liz Rose, the then 16-year-old Swift wrote a ballad called "Tim McGraw", which is an ode to her favorite country singer. The song peaked at #6 on Billboard Hot Country Song and even entered the Hot Singles chart at #40. Her self-titled debut album was then released on October 24, 2006 and debuted at #19 on Billboard Hot 200 before eventually peaking at #8. The second single was released to better fate than the first one. "Teardrops on My Guitar"

#2 on Hot Country Songs chart. Numerous nominations were immediately coming towards her way, mainly for breaking through the industry with amazingly only one studio album in hand. 

Not only was she an accomplished singing bird, but she was also recognized for her work. In October 2007 her songwriter peers at Nashville Songwriters Association International voted her to be Songwriter/Artist of the Year, a title that had never been taken by a 17-year-old before. Swift was also nominated for a 2008 Grammy Award in the category of Best New Artist, but ultimately lost to Amy Winehouse. 

Career

Her second album was planned for a 2008 release, the same year she will complete her home-school program. "Fearless" was released in November that year, containing seven self-written songs about love and its complication. The album was graced with the chart success of lead single "Love Story". The song became the second best-selling country single of all time, peaking at number four on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The following singles also experienced chart success, sending the album to number one on Billboard Hot 200 chart with almost 600,000 copies sold in the first week. "Fearless" was in fact the top-selling album of 2009. 

A Fearless tour was conducted extensively between April 2009 and June 2010, visiting some cities in Australia and Asia as well with rising star Justin Bieber as supporting act on some dates. The tour was filmed for a DVD and Blu-ray release. Road trip aside, Swift gained popularity as well as sympathy from fellow musicians when she won Best Female Video for "You Belong With Me" at 2009 MTV Video Music Award. Her thank you speech was interrupted by Kanye West, who declared that Beyonce Knowles' video was the rightful winner. West received a lot of harsh criticisms for his act and was kicked off from the event. Konwles invited Swift to the stage to finish her speech when she later won Video of the Year. While insisting that Knowles' video was still the best of the decade, he gave a public apology to Swift by saying she was talented. Swift accepted his personal apology to her. 

source:aceshowbiz.com