Whether you’re a fully committed Swiftie with a wrist dripping in friendship bracelets or a casual onlooker in awe of her success, it’s impossible not to be fascinated by Taylor Swift.
So how did this cute country singer who grew up on a Pennsylvania Christmas tree farm transform into a globally adored powerhouse? The truth is, it’s what Swift, 34, wanted all along, once admitting, “I’m intimidated by the fear of being average.”
While no awkward 12-year-old writing songs in her bedroom on an acoustic guitar could possibly imagine the world domination that followed, from a young age, Swift didn’t just have a dream; she made it come true.
Let’s break it down …
1. Be insanely talented: check!
There’s some stuff you can’t manufacture, no matter how hard all those talent show judges might try! Whether you have The Tortured Poets Department on repeat or not, you can’t dispute that Swift is a genius with words.
Thankfully, her parents spotted her creative spark early, uprooting their lives to Nashville when they realized they had a little genius on their hands. Two decades (and thousands of songs) later, in a world where even the most talented musicians employ teams of producers and writers to craft their hits, Swift maintains a unique control over her process, usually working with just one or two close collaborators as she shepherds an album to completion.
She’s also unbelievably prolific, having released five new studio albums in the past five years, plus her first four rerecorded Taylor’s Version LPs, each featuring several new “From the Vault” tracks. That comes to 135 new songs since 2019.
So what spurs her on? “It’s because I could never feel the kind of rejection in the music industry that I felt in middle school,” she’s said. Yup, most of us just post a hot selfie every now and again to prove something to our childhood frenemies; she went one (OK, quite a few) better!
Taylor Swift Through the Years
2. Win over all kinds of people: check!
Picture a Swiftie: friendship bracelets, face glitter, maybe an oversize Eras T-shirt? Sure, she’s popular with young women but, these days, her fans span age groups and genders and, if you manage to get a ticket to one of her shows (what witchcraft is this?), you could run into Prince William, Flavor Flav, Paul McCartney, Julia Roberts, Tom Cruise or Swift’s ever-loyal boyfriend, NFL star Travis Kelce. And they all know one thing: You’re never too old, rich or famous to shimmy to “Shake It Off.”
Swift also gets that being nice to her fans, and making them feel close to her, is key to how globally adored she is. Swifties spend thousands of dollars traveling to far-flung locales to see her — not to mention hours of their lives battling Ticketmaster. She always acknowledges them, too, thanking them nightly from the stage for their lengthy standing ovations and the generous support they’ve given her all these years.
“I love it when people say things to me in public and want to meet me because I want to meet them!” she once said. “Early on, my manager told me, ‘If you want to sell 500,000 records, then go out there and meet 500,000 people.’”
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3. Feed the obsession: check!
One of the most fun things about being immersed in the Swiftverse is that you’re never just a passive listener; there are games to play and mysteries to be solved!
Over the years, Swift has become a master of keeping her fans invested in her output. One clever way she hooks us is through her Easter eggs, which, at this point, are a genre in their own right. She drops clues everywhere, from her lyrics to her music videos and her outfits, giving listeners full texts to dissect for info about her past relationships without directly naming who inspired any of her songs.
Who hasn’t listened to “All Too Well (10 Minute Version)” over and over to try and learn more about its strongly rumored subject, Jake Gyllenhaal? More than a decade later, his sister, Maggie Gyllenhaal, is still getting asked about the infamous missing scarf, thanks to Swift’s line about leaving the neck warmer at her boyfriend’s sister’s house. (For the record, Maggie claimed in 2017 that she is “in the dark” about the scarf’s whereabouts.)
4. Support other women: check!
Swift practices what she preaches when it comes to supporting other women. As her star has risen, she’s given a professional boost to up-and-comers like Sabrina Carpenter, Girl in Red and Phoebe Bridgers by bringing them on tour, introducing them to new audiences in the process and showing the world that she’s a woman of impeccable taste who has her finger on the pulse.
Plus, she has no time for being inexplicably pitted against fellow stars. When she was touring at the same time as Beyoncé (with their concert films heading to theaters back-to-back), the duo assured everyone that it’s all love between two women at the top of their game.
“I’m so glad I’ll never know what my life would’ve been like without Beyoncé’s influence,” Swift said after Queen B made an appearance at the Eras movie premiere. And why not? There’s plenty of room in our Spotify app for both megastars.
Besides, we all know that when Swift has a problem with someone, we’ll hear about it. The brilliantly spiky song “thanK you aIMee” on The Tortured Poets Department is believed to be about her spat with Kim Kardashian, and we all remember her rumored Bad Blood with Katy Perry, followed by their very public makeup.
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5. Surround yourself with the right squad: check!
Swift’s famous friend group first rose to prominence in the 1989 days when she enlisted everyone from Gigi Hadid to Mariska Hargitay to star in the “Bad Blood” music video, but she’s always surrounded herself with fellow power players.
More recently, her core group — which includes longtime pals Blake Lively and Selena Gomez, as well as collaborators like Jack Antonoff and Zoë Kravitz — has seen the addition of Brittany Mahomes, Ice Spice and Sophie Turner, who Swift invited to crash at her place after the actress split from their mutual ex, Joe Jonas. See, there’s that “women supporting women” thing in action again!
But it’s important to note that not all her friends are megastars. She hangs out with plenty of normal women, too, many who have worked with her in a more behind-the-scenes way and who help her keep grounded (see high school bestie Abigail Anderson).
And while the nights at fancy restaurants with fellow A-listers may get the attention, you just know she’d probably rather be at home with her cats, gossiping about relationships with the more low-key friends who know her best.
“I think who you are in school really sticks with you,” she’s said. “I don’t ever feel like the cool kid at the party, ever. It’s like, ‘Smile and be nice to everybody, because you were not invited to be here.’”
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6. Learn about business: check!
“I want to make the most of this cultural relevance or success or whatever you want to call it,” Swift once said. “Because it’s not going to last.”
Twenty years into her career, we’re not sure the second part is true — but her longevity as a star is because she has a seriously smart business brain as well as all that natural creativity.
Swift made the Forbes billionaire list this year, becoming the first musician to become a billionaire solely off of her music. After her masters were sold to Scooter Braun — leading to a highly publicized feud — Swift made the unprecedented decision to rerecord her first six albums. But she didn’t just drop them digitally — as with her new albums, the Taylor’s Version LPs have arrived with whole collections of limited-edition vinyl variants and themed merch that inspire true connoisseurs to buy multiple copies of the same album.
She’s become a master of marketing, making certain items available for just days or hours at a time or only at specific locations. But ask anyone who stood in line for the blue Eras crewneck in 2023: Swift always makes it worth the wait.
7. Get your happily ever after: question mark!
Of course, one of the things Swift is best known for is singing about her relationships. It’s not that she’s dated any more guys than your average successful, unmarried thirty something woman; it’s just that the men (who run the gamut from actors and boy banders to a controversial rocker) have largely been high-profile.
Her six-year relationship with Joe Alwyn felt like it could be forever, but we all know how that ended; The Tortured Poets Department is arguably one of the greatest breakup albums of all time. Now, though, we have Kelce, 34, who Swift got together with in the summer of 2023 after he revealed he’d unsuccessfully tried to slip her his number at an Eras concert — a move she later declared “metal as hell.”
Swift is obviously smitten too. While she’s always openhearted about relationships in her songs, she’s never been quite this publicly in love before, so we’re really rooting for them. If Swift settles down with Kelce, it will feel like the conclusion to a journey we’ve all been on with her. And if she doesn’t? It will be time for another heartbreak album… she’s got this down by now!
Watch the video above and read more in this week’s relaunch issue of the brand-new Us Weekly, featuring 12 additional pages, a redesigned look and new franchises you’ll love — on newsstands now.
