Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American
country pop singer-songwriter, musician and actress.
In 2006, she released her debut single "
Tim McGraw", then her
self-titled debut album, which was subsequently certified
multi-platinum by the
Recording Industry Association of America. In November 2008, Swift released her second album,
Fearless, and the recording earned Swift four
Grammy Awards, including the
Album of the Year, at the
52nd Grammy Awards.
Fearless and
Taylor Swift finished 2008 at number-three and number-six respectively, with sales of 2.1 and 1.5 million.
[5] Fearless topped the
Billboard 200 for 11 non-consecutive weeks.
[6] Swift was named
Artist of the Year by
Billboard Magazine in 2009.
[7] Swift released her third album
Speak Now on October 25, 2010 which sold 1,047,000 copies in its first week.
In 2008, her albums sold a combined four million copies, making her the best-selling musician of the year in the United States, according to
Nielsen SoundScan.
Forbes ranked Swift 2009's 69th-most powerful celebrity with earnings of $18 million,
[8] 2010's 12th-most powerful celebrity with earnings of $45 million
[9] and 2011's 7th-most powerful celebrity with earnings of $45 million, too.
[10] Swift was ranked the 38th Best Artist of the 2000–10 decade by
Billboard.
[11] In January 2010
Nielsen SoundScan listed Swift as the most successful digital artist in music history with over 34.3 million digital tracks sold.
[12] On June 2011, renowned site The Boot named Swift and
Carrie Underwood The Country Royalty, as they were the only female country artists to be ranked on
Rolling Stone's Queens of Pop list.
[13] As of March 2011
[update], she has sold over 20 million albums and 34.3 million singles worldwide.
[12][14] She has been listed in the 2012
Guinness Book Of World Records as the Fastest Selling Digital Album by a Female Artist for her album
Speak Now, and Most Simultaneous U.S. Hot 100 Hits by a Female Artist.
