Taylor Swift, from 16-Year-Old Breakout Star to Now

Taylor Swift, love her or hate her, she just broke a world record. Her new music video, “Look What You Made Me Do” is now the record holder for most views in 24 hours. The previous record was 27.7 million views set by Adele’s song “Hello.” Now one article on EnGadget speculates that it may be because if fans play the music video more than once, they get a better chance of getting tickets for Taylor’s new tour. For those who don’t know, as of August 29, 2017 Miss Swift is not outright selling tickets, instead you can earn points by purchasing certain merchandise and get a better chance of being able to buy a ticket.

But I am not even going to open that can of worms in this article. Instead, we are going to see what got Taylor Swift to where she is now. According to Forbes, as of June 2017 (so this does not include the revenue from her latest single, “Look What You Made Me Do”) she has a net worth of $280 million. She is 27 and has a net worth of 280 MILLION DOLLARS. Insane, right?

'Taylor Swift' (2006)

She started off at the age of 16, not only releasing her first country album, entitled Taylor Swift, but also being the youngest person signed by the Sony/ATV Music publishing house. On this album she released six singles, the first single being “Tim McGraw.” As of January 2015, the album has sold 6 million copies, however in its first week she charted number 19 and had sold 40,000 copies. With this album, she stayed on the chart for 277 weeks. Originally many peers in the country genre disliked Taylor; however she was able to tap into the previously unknown younger generation of country fans.

'Fearless' (2008)

On November 11, 2008, two years and one month later, she released her second album Fearless. On this album she released five singles with the lead single being “Love Story.” The song sold more than 8.1 million copies worldwide and was a crossover hit, even becoming one of the bestselling singles of all time. The album itself was a breakthrough and debuted at number one in the United States. Additionally it was the bestselling album of 2009. All at the age of 18! She was the youngest artist in history to have the bestselling album of the year. With Album of the Year at the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards, American Music Awards of 2009, Country Music Association and Academy of Country Music Awards, Fearless became the most awarded album in country music! This was also the year that rapper Kanye West interrupted her acceptance speech at the Grammy’s.

'Speak Now' (2010)

October 25, 2010 was another important day for Taylor Swift. Her third album, Speak Now, was released and she once again debuted at number 1 and all six singles received either a platinum or multi-platinum certification. It sold 1,047,000 copies in its first week and was the fifth-biggest debut in history for a female artist. Every song on Speak Now, including the bonus tracks, have charted on the US Billboard 100. Additionally the album entered number 1 on the Canadian Albums Chart.

'Red' (2012)

Her fourth album was released on October 22, 2010, and was titled Red. For the third album in a row she charted at number 1, and its first week of sales totaled in 1.21 million and became the fastest selling album in over a decade! She also debuted at number 1 in the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand. Her lead single was “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” which jumped from number 72 to number 1 on the chart.

'1989' (2014)

1989 was her fourth album release on October 27, 2014 and once again, debuted at number 1. This is her “first documented official pop album,” she said, departing from her country roots. She sold 1.287 million copies in its first week. This album won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year making her the first female artist to win this award twice (her first Grammy went to her second album, Fearless). Red was leaked online a few days before its official release, so Taylor and the record company decided to include 13 of 65 collectible printed Polaroids.

'Reputation' (2017)

On November 10, 2017, the world will know Taylor’s Reputation. Her first single, “Look What You Made Me Do” already has 77 million views on its music video and 50 million views on its lyric video. What kind of number will she bring to the table this time? How many awards will this album get? We’ll just have to wait and see.