Taylor

Taylor Swift was a rarity in pop: she is the only superstar to have transitioned from the traditional to the mainstream and become an international icon of pop culture. Swift left country music like it was an additional layer of herself, proving that she is perhaps the best pop-singer/songwriter in her generation. One who can harness the current zeitgeist and make it personal, and be able to perform at the opposite. Her talents could be seen in the first songs she released, most notably the neodue Tim McGraw. But on her second album Fearless released in 2008 Swift was able to discover who she is and find audiences across the globe. Fearless wound up having considerable appeal not just on the U.S. where it racked the record with six platinum singles, thanks to Top Ten hits Love Story and the hit single You Belong with Me but throughout the globe, performing especially well in the U.K. Canada and Australia. Speak Now delivered almost two years later consolidated that achievement and propelled Swift to the heights of fame. Swift's popularity continued to grow with her following three albums - Red (2012) 1989 (2014) as well as Reputation (2017) -- and saw her move confidently into the realm of pop where she already belonged. However, even when she reduced her strategy with 2020's stripped down sister album folklore, and Evermore she continued to be atop of the pop world a position she kept with the re-recordings of her older catalogs as well as Midnights which was her top-charting synthesizer 2022 album.