Country Music'sTaylor Swift Breaks Chart Records
Hit-Country Singer-Songwriter's Sales Top Britney Spears & Beyonce
The blond-maned country-pop singer has sold 5 million-plus albums this year, thanks to her self-titled smash debut and Fearless, her sophomore CD for Big Machine Records, which was released Nov. 11, 2008.
The latest album, at this writing, was riding in the No. 1 spot on Billboard's Top 200 Albums charts, with sales of 249,000 for the current week. To date, Fearless has sold more than 1.5 million copies in a five-week span.
Taylor Swift Makes Hit-Country Songs, Breaks Country Music & Chart Records
Moreover, according to NME News, the release of Fearless swiftly knocked Britney Spears' comeback CD, Circus, from the No. 1 spot on Billboard's U.S. album charts, putting the Pennsylvania-born country singer firmly in the top-album spot and well ahead of Spears at No. 2 and Beyonce Knowles at No. 3.
It's been a record-breaking year on many fronts for Swift, who turned 19 on Dec. 13. In addition to being named the top-selling country artist for 2008, Billboard also crowned her its "Top Country Artist" and "Hot Country Songwriter" of 2008. Plus, she performed in a genre-merging TV concert on CMT Crossroads with rockers Def Leppard, one of her lifelong dreams, she has said.
She also became the youngest person ever to win "Country Song of the Year" in the annual BMI Awards, a show hosted just for tunesmiths.Taylor received the top prize at the 56th annual ceremony for Teardrops on My Guitar, a former No. 2 single from her debut that she co-penned with Liz Rose.
In 2008, Swift-who dated Joe Jonas of the Jonas Brothers, who now-famously jilted her via text-also earned her first Grammy nod in the "Best New Artist" category, a trophy she lost to troubled British songbird Amy Winehouse.
This time, Swift brought home her first American Music Award for "Favorite Female Country Artist," as well as an '08 Teen Choice Award for "Breakout Artist" and this year's "Young Star of Tomorrow" prize from the Young Hollywood Awards 10th annual contest-never mind that she's known as country-pop artist, not as one of the Hollywood acting set. (Not yet, anyway.)
Country Singer Scores 2008 Country Music & Country Video Awards
The cover girl of last June's Seventeen and April's Blender magazines, Swift-aside from landing a slew of industry nominations-also nabbed two CMT Music Awards in 2008 for "Video of the Year" and "Female Video of the Year" for the country-music video in honor of her Our Song track, which was the third single and first No. 1 from her Taylor Swift CD.
In addition to which, she was among the Class of 2008 in July when she graduated from the Aaron Academy, a Christian school in Hendersonville, Tenn., that offers a home-schooling program.
In an online interview with The Boot, Swift-who lists Dolly Parton, LeAnn Rimes and her opera-singer grandmother-among her musical influences said that the rocket-speed take-off her music career really didn't cause her to miss out on anything in high school.
From High School to Concert Tours & Country Radio Success
"I don't think there's really anything I miss, to be honest," remarked the country-pop princess, who admits her young age has bolstered and inspired her songwriting. "There's a lot less drama when you're touring the country on a major tour. And I've actually been to prom before ... twice. So I don't want anyone to feel bad for me. ..."
Refreshingly, Swift has maintained a "girl-next-door" image in spite of her staggeringly fast rise to stardom. But serving as a role model for other young girls and women is a responsibility she takes seriously, she has noted.
"I have a million people who went out and bought my first album," she once told reporter Beville Darden. "Who knows how many of them were young girls? And I always think about the 10-year-old girl in the front row at my concert before I make a decision ... (and) how would this affect her choices?"
Taylor Swift: Hit-Song History, New Country Music & Devoted Country Fans
Released Oct. 26, 2006, Swift's 10-song, self-titled debut earned the teen five top-10 hits, including the lead single, Tim McGraw, which was inspired by her favorite country singer, as well as Teardrops on My Guitar, Picture to Burn, Should've Said No and Our Song.
The album was certified triple platinum in May 2008 in the U.S. and is platinum in Canada. Swift wrote or co-wrote all of the disc's songs. The CD reached No. 1 on the country albums charts and No. 5 on the Billboard 200. By scoring five consecutive hits with this CD, Swift became the first solo female artist to score five top 10 hits from a debut album since the album chart was first published in1964.
The immediate commercial success of her second CD, Fearless, and its No. 1-ranked first single, Love Story, has tied Swift in second place with Mariah Carey and the Beatles for the most top-20 debuts in a career. If Swift scores one more such hit single (something that seems highly likely), she will then be tied for first place with Janet Jackson and Madonna for the most top-20 debuts.
On Nov. 11, 2008, its first day of release, Fearless sold 217,000-plus copies. The 13-tune album, again fully penned by Swift, debuted at No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard 200, U.S. Billboard Top Country Albums, Canadian Albums Chart and on the Canadian Top Country Albums. The album also is a critical success, with Swift being credited as "wise beyond her years" by many.
Sources
Darden, Beville. 11 questions with Taylor Swift, posted online Nov. 30, 2007, at www.theboot.com
Keel, Beverly. Swift best-selling country artist of 2008, The Tennessean, Dec. 17, 2008.
NME News. Britney Spears' album sales decline rapidly: Taylor Swift knocks pop star off top of US chart, Dec. 19, 2008. Available online at http://www.nme.com/news/nme/41753
Taylor Swift, Wikipedia profile. Accessed Dec. 21, 2008, at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taylor_Swift
Fearless CD by Taylor Swift
|
Self-titled CD by Taylor Swift
|
Taylor Swift on Seventeen cover, June 2008
|
Taylor Swift with Koa wood guitar
|
Latest Articles