Taylor Swift

Taylor Swift (born 13.12.1989)

Taylor Swift is an American country and pop singer. She began her musical career as a teenager and her debut single 'Tim McGraw' was released in 2006.

Taylor Swift: Childhood

Taylor Swift was born in Wyomissing, Pennsylvania and now lives in Hendersonville, Tennessee. Taylor's grandmother was a trained opera singer and Taylor cites her grandmother as one of her primary influences, along with LeAnn Rimes and Dolly Parton.

Taylor Swift began performing locally and writing her own material around the age of 10. She sang in karaoke contests, at festivals and fairs. When she was 11, Swift handed copies of her demo tape to all of the receptionists on Music Row in Nashville. She faced a lot of rejection, both from record labels and her peers. She channeled those feelings of rejection into one of her early songs, 'The Outside.' On her return from Nashville, Swift was invited to sing the national anthem at the US Open tennis tournament.

The Swift family eventually moved to a suburb of Nashville in order to aid their daughter's burgeoning career. When Taylor performed at the Bluebird Café, she caught the eye of Scott Borchetta. Borchetta promptly signed Taylor to his label, Big Machine Records.

Taylor Swift: Music Career

Swift's debut single was entitled 'Tim McGraw' and was released in 2006. Later that year, she released her eponymous debut album. The album debuted at number 19 in the Billboard 200 album chart, selling over 60,000 copies in the first week of release. It also topped the Billboards Top Country Albums chart and has sold over 3 million copies across the globe.

In May 2007, Swift performed 'Tim McGraw' at the Academy of Country Music Awards. Tim McGraw himself was in the audience at the time. Since that performance, Taylor Swift has been an opening act for both Tim McGraw and Faith Hill on the Soul2Soul 2007 tour.

The second song to be released from the Taylor Swift album was 'Teardrops on My Guitar'. The track reached number two in the Billboard Country Chart. In October 2007, Taylor Swift became the youngest artist ever to win the Nashville Songwriters Association's Songwriter / Artist of the year.

Taylor's third single, 'Our Song' spent six weeks at number one on the Country charts.

In October 2007, Swift released Sounds of the Season: The Taylor Swift Holiday Collection. The album featured covers of Christmas classics, as well as self-penned tracks. Swift was nominated for a Best New Artist Grammy but lost out to Amy Winehouse in 2008.

Later in 2008, Taylor Swift released a Wal-Mart exclusive EP named Beautiful Eyes.

Taylor Swift's second studio album proper was released in November 2008. Entitled Fearless, the album debuted at number one on the main Billboard 200 album chart. The lead single from the album was 'Love Story' and was accompanied by a music video that was based on the story of Romeo and Juliet.

Taylor Swift: Personal Life

It is known that Taylor Swift has previously dated the singer Joe Jonas. The song 'Forever & Always' was written about Jonas and was a last-minute addition to her Fearless album.