Taylor Swift

The 12-time Grammy winner shot to stardom as a teenager and grew into adulthood in the spotlight. From pop culture to politics, Swift has begun to share thoughts on hot topics she previously avoided, whether that’s being infamously interrupted by Kanye West at the 2009 VMAs, taking a stand against workplace sexual assault in a lawsuit or endorsing President Joe Biden in the 2020 election.

A champion for artists’ rights, Swift got the green light in 2020 to re-record her first five albums, after Scooter Braun gained ownership of her older music in a $330 million deal with Big Machine Label Group the year before. Sharing her side of the story on Twitter at the time, Swift said she had attempted to “enter into negotiations” to buy her music back, but walked away when asked to sign an “ironclad NDA” stating she would only speak positively about Braun during the process.

Her first re-recorded album, Fearless (Taylor’s Version), debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard charts in April 2021, and her second, Red (Taylor’s Version), topped the charts in November, making them the only re-recorded albums in history to ever reach the top spot.

In October 2022, Swift released her tenth studio album, Midnights, which she followed up with the announcement that she would be hitting the road for her Eras Tour.

When fans logged on to score tickets to the tour, they were faced with a litany of issues which ultimately resulted in a lawsuit filed by over two dozen fans against Live Nation Entertainment, Ticketmaster’s parent company and a Justice Department investigation into Live Nation. (The power of Swifties!)

In 2023, Swift was ranked at No. 9 on Forbes‘ annual list of the highest-paid entertainers in the world — having earned $92 million in 2022 — making her the only woman to appear in the top 10.