About Taylor

Name: Taylor Alison Swift



Birthday: December, 13 1989



Hometown: Reading, Pennsylvania



Nicknames: T-Swizzle, Tay, T Swift, Swifty



Taylor was born on December 13, 1989 in Reading, Pennsylvania to Scott and Andrea Swift. She was named after James Taylor. She grew up on a Christmas tree farm and her family moved to Wyomissing, Pennsylvania when she was 9. She had an early love for English horseback riding, but began to focus on musical theater. She auditioned for shows on Broadway and after not getting any breaks; she focused her attention on country music. When she was 11 years old she won a talent show competition for singing LeAnn Rimes song “Big Deal”.



Her love for country music isolated her from her peers during her middle school years. At age 12, a computer repairman showed her 3 chords on the guitar which led her to write her first song, “Lucky You.” Her attention quickly focused on songwriting. At the age of 14, she and her family moved to Nashville, Tennessee. There she got an artist development deal with RCA records but left the label a year later because they wanted her to record the work of other songwriters and wait until she was 18 to release an album.



At a showcase the Bluebird Café in 2005, Taylor was discovered by Scott Borchetta who was starting his own independent record label: Big Machine Records. Her debut album “Taylor Swift” was released in October 2006 and was well received. Her single, “Our Song,” made her the youngest sole writer and singer of a number one country song. The album sold 39,000 copies in the first week.



Taylor’s second studio album, Fearless, was released in 2008. The lead single from the album, “Love Story,” was released in September 2008 and became the second best-selling country single of all time and reaching number 4 on the Billboard Hot 100. The following singles released from the album were: “You Belong With Me,” “White Horse,” “Fifteen,” and “Fearless.” “You Belong With Me,” made it to the number 2 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 list. The album also debuted at number 1 on the Billboard Hot 200 and sold 6.6 million copies. In November 2009, she became the youngest and 1 of only 6 females, to win Entertainer of the Year from the Country Music Association.



In October 2010, Taylor’s third studio album “Speak Now” was released. All of the songs on the album were written exclusively by Taylor. The album sold over a million copies in its first week. The singles released from this album were: “Mine,” “Sparks Fly,” “Mean,” “Ours,” “Back to December,” and “The Story of Us.” “Mean” won Taylor two Grammy awards.



In October 2012, her fourth studio album Red was released. The single “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together,” was Taylor’s first single to reach number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. This album sold 1.2 million copies in its first week. 


She will be announcing her Fifth studio album on August 18, 2014 at 5pm EST during a Yahoo livestream.


Taylor has been honored by the Nashville Songwriters Association and the Songwriters Hall of Fame. She was also in an episode of CSI and the films: "Valentine’s Day," "The Lorax," and "The Giver".