Taylor

Taylor Swift was a rarity in pop culture: she was the sole celebrity who crossed from country into the mainstream and then to be an international icon of pop culture. Swift shed her roots in the country genre like a second skin and showed that she had the best pop sensibility of the time. Swift was the only musician/singer to be a part of the trending zeitgeist and take it when she went on tour. This was evident in her earliest hits especially the Neo-Tribute Tim McGraw but her second album 2008's Fearless showcased a songwriter discovering the person she really was, and in the process finding an audience of mass. Fearless became a big hit not only in the US which is where it's Top Ten singles Love Story and Belong with Me helped it to achieve six platinum records however, it also swept the world. The album was particularly successful in Canada, Australia as well as the U.K. Speak Now delivered almost two years later consolidated that success and moved Swift to the heights of stardom. She grew in popularity over the course of her three subsequent albums - Red (2012), 1989 (2014) and Reputation (2017). Swift became a household name within the genre she was a part of. When she reduced her sound to the stripped-down versions of 2020, folklore, and Evermore but she was still on top. The position was defended by re-recordings from her past catalog, as along with Midnights, her synth-heavy chart-topping 2022 album.