Taylor Swift, The #65 Artist of the Rock Era, Part Three

 (Continued from Part Two above)

 

In 2017, Swift and Zayn Malik released the single "I Don't Wanna' Live Forever" for the "Fifty Shades Darker" Soundtrack, which reached #2 in the United States, Canada, Germany and Switzerland, was a Top 5 hit in every other major country and won Best Collaboration at the MTV Video Music Video Awards.

 

Swift released the single "Look What You Made Me Do" in 2017 as the opening single from the album Reputation, a #1 song in the U.S., U.K., Australia, New Zealand, and Ireland.

 

Taylor was honored as the Time magazine Person of the Year in 2017.   "...Ready For It" followed up with a #3 ranking in Australia and #4 in the United States.

Reputation debuted at #1 in the U.S. and Taylor again achieved a #1 album in the U.K., Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Ireland.  Reputation also sold over one million copies in its first week, making Swift the first artist in history to have four albums reach that sales level in the opening week, and was nominated for a Grammy for Best Pop Vocal Album.

Taylor sang on Sugarland's "Babe" in 2018 and toured the world in a tour that sold over two million tickets and grossed over $345 million.  Her U.S. segment grossed over $266 million, breaking Swift's own record for the highest-grossing U.S. tour by a female artist and set a new mark for the most successful North American tour in history.

 

The album has now sold over 4.5 million copies worldwide.  "Delicate" is another of The Top Unknown/Underrated Songs of the Rock Era*.

 

Swift won American Music Awards for Artist of the Year, Favorite Pop or Rock Female Artist, Tour of the Year, and Favorite Pop or Rock Album to break Whitney Houston's record for the most American Music Awards won with 23.  "New Year's Day" is another great track from Taylor.

Swift also won Billboard Music Awards for Top Female Artist and Top-Selling Album and was nominated for Top Artist, Top Billboard 200 Artist and Top Billboard 200 Album.

In 2018, Taylor signed a multi-album contract with Universal Music Group and released the concert film for her tour on Netflix.  Swift released the album Lover in 2019.  All 18 songs on the album charted on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, which is a notable achievement but more reflective of the bad competition that has existed in the music business since the late 1980's. 

 

When "Me!" rocketed from #100 to #2 in its second week, it set a new record for the biggest jump in chart history and also reached #2 in Canada and Australia and #3 in the U.K. and New Zealand.  "Me" captured an MTV Video Music Award for Best Visual Effects. 

   

Lover was the top-selling album of the year with 3 million copies sold.  "You Need To Calm Down" was a strong follow-up, peaking at #2 in the U.S., #3 in Australia and #4 in Canada.  The video captured an American Music Award for Favorite Music Video and MTV Video Music Awards for Video of the Year and Video for Good. The song was also nominated for Best Pop Solo Performance at the Grammy Awards.

 

The album went to #1 in nearly every country in the world and was a Top 5 album in the few which didn't have it charted at the top.  The title song landed at #3 in Australia and New Zealand, #7 in Canada, and #10 in the United States.  

The song was nominated for Song of the Year while the album earned a Grammy nomination for Best Pop Vocal Album.  

 

Swift dominated the American Music Awards, extending her all-time record for career AMA awards when she won six, including Artist of the Decade, Artist of the Year, Favorite Pop/Rock Female Artist, Favorite Adult Contemporary Artist and Favorite Pop/Rock Album.  "Cruel Summer" is another great song on the album.

 

Swift also was nominated for Top Artist, Top Billboard 200 Artist, Top Female Artist, Top Song Sales Artist and Top Touring Artist at the Billboard Music Awards.  This touching song is another example of Taylor's best work--"Soon You'll Get Better".

 

Taylor was named Woman of the Decade by Billboard and starred in the movie adaptation of Cats in 2019.  Her documentary, Miss Americana, premiered at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival.  "The Man" is something of a female anthem.

 "Paper Rings" is another solid track from Swift.  

 

In 2020, Swift released the album Folklore, which sold two million copies in its first week and gave her yet another #1 album in the United States, the U.K., Australia, New Zealand, Canada and Ireland.  The lead single, "Cardigan", gave Taylor another #1 song in the U.S. and Australia and reached #2 in New Zealand.

 

She released the movie Folklore:  The Long Pond Studio Sessions.  "Exile" with Bon Iver jumped to #3 in Australia and New Zealand and peaked at #6 in the U.S. and Canada.

 

Taylor also earned Songwriter of the Year at the American Music Awards and she was nominated for Album of the Year, Best Pop Vocal Album, Song of the Year (for "Cardigan"), Best Pop Duo/Group Performance (for "Exile") and Best Song Written for Visual Media ("Beautiful Ghosts").  "The 1" made it three Top 10 hits off the album.

 "Willow" gave Swift a fourth Top 10 and another #1 smash in the United States, Canada and Australia.

 

Swift released another #1 album later in 2020 called Evermore.  She is at her best with this track, "The Last Great American Dynasty", in which she depicts the life of Rebekah Harkness, an American artist who previously owned the house Taylor has in Rhode Island.

Taylor has always been in close contact with her fans, interacting with them online, visiting them in hospital, and giving holiday gifts to some by mail and in person.

Swift was nominated for six Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year.

Taylor has always been one of the most responsible musicians of the Rock Era.  In 2009, Swift donated $250,000 to schools around the U.S. to improve education.  She also donated thousands of books to the Reading and Nashville Public libraries and New York City schools.  

In 2010, she donated $75,000 to Hendersonville High School in Nashville to help refurbish the school auditorium.  In 2012, she pledged $4 million to fund the building of a new education center at the Country Music Hall of Fame.  She also teamed with Chegg, a textbook rental company, to donate $60,000 to the music departments of six U.S. colleges.  

In 2013, Taylor donated $100,000 to the Nashville Symphony.  In 2016, she donated $1 million to aid flood relief in Louisiana and $100,000 to the Dolly Parton Fire Fund.  She donated to the Houston Food Bank after Hurricane Harvey in 2017, donated $1 million for tornado relief in Tennessee in 2020, and numerous other causes.  During the COVID pandemic, Taylor donated to the World Health Organization and Feeding America and donated a signed guitar for an auction to raise money for the National Health Service.

Swift has sold over 50 million albums in her relatively short career.  

She has won 10 Grammy Awards, an Emmy Award, a record 32 American Music Awards, and 23 Billboard Music Awards, the most ever by a female artist.

Taylor has charted 64 career singles with 27 reaching the Top 10 and 7 #1's.  The only thing keeping her down is the level of competition.  If music improves and Swift continues to score big hits and she continues to sell albums, she will move up.

This incredibly gifted songwriter and artist has been one of the most honored stars in history.  She has won an incredible 33 American Music Awards out of 40 nominations, 23 Billboard Music Awards from 59 nominations, 10 Grammys from 41 nominations, 9 MTV Video Music Awards out of 35 nominations, 13 People's Choice Awards out of 31 nominations, been nominated for eight World Music Awards, and won 29 BMI Pop Awards among hundreds of other awards.