TAYLOR MADE

John Lennon once said that The Beatles were bigger than Jesus. Aside from a route towards potentially alienating a decent chunk of a fanbase, the perception wasn’t altogether untrue.

And yes, okay, a good proportion of the devoutly religious population of the United States of America were far from elated with the icon’s comments – so much so that they made a bonfire out of the group’s albums and set it ablaze. 

Aside from a fervent liberal stance whereby she has criticised Republican candidate for attempting to regain his Presidential status, Donald Trump, it’s fair to say Taylor Swift has held back from proclaiming herself as the Second Coming. In this day and age, with social media and 24/7 wall-to-wall news, plus the ability for a comment to hang around for perpetuity, that’s probably wise.

The other thing is that the singer scarcely needs to bestow on a fanbase the scale of her own presence. In simple terms, they’ll do that themselves.

Take Swift’s 18-MONTH-LONG Eras tour, which kicked off in March 2023 in Glendale, Arizona. Comprising a colossal 149 shows, it was played out across six continents, generating ticket sales that surpassed $1bn. 

Not even The Beatles, in their pomp, could have played out a project of such longevity and scale. Yet it wasn’t always like this.

“Oh, I had a real big crowd for the Nashville Rubber Duck Race when I was 14 years old,” begins Swift, laughing, when quizzed on the sheer magnitude of promoting her music live. “I’d rather put behind me now as I’m obviously something of a big deal, now, apparently. There were only a handful of people there and there were there for the ducks!

“In all seriousness, if anyone tells you they’ve only ever played in front of big crowds, they’re lying,” she adds. “No matter what part of the entertainment industry anyone is in, a lot of us start from nothing. We go through the times of performing in front of nearly empty rooms, but then, hopefully, it gets better, and we build confidence… and a fanbase!” 

Taylor Swift, for all her scale – as a musician, a style icon, an influencer – often comes across as impossibly grounded. She is as much about helping out those behind her in the queue (and it’s a long queue) as she is preening and posturing her way to even greater riches, both financial and metaphorical.

“I look on my role as someone who can entertain, sure; but also a person who can lead out and advise the next generation of singer, or songwriter, or whatever.

“So much of what people achieve in this industry is down to self-belief and confidence. It’s a very simple formula to follow, but also so easy to find yourself overpowered by the challenges.

“When anyone asks me what advice I have for anyone who wants to try and make it in this industry, I always say the same thing,” the 13-times Grammy winner states. “You have to be strong, tough and resilient, no matter how talented you are. If you can’t work against adversity, it’s difficult, if not impossible. Believe in yourself.”

From teenage country music prodigy to a global pop sensation, Swift was born in Reading, Pennsylvania. Her early life was steeped in music and she began performing in local venues at a young age, being inspired by country legends like Shania Twain and Dixie Chicks. Recognising her talent, the family relocated to Nashville when she was just 14, in order to help her pursue a career in country music. 

It wasn’t long before she caught the attention of industry professionals, signing with Big Machine Records. Her eponymous debut album, Taylor Swift, was released in 2006 when she was only 16, with lead single Tim McGraw resonated across both country and mainstream audiences, as well as showcasing an incredible gift for storytelling.

Two years later, second album Fearless marked a significant breakthrough with hits Love Story and You Belong with Me underlining the singer’s qualities as a crossover star.

The long-player won four Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year, making her the youngest artist to ever receive that honour at the time. It also signalled the beginning of a career marked by continual evolution, and a connection with her audience that few others could rival.

That includes several notable film appearances, showcasing versatility outside of music – from her acting debut in Valentine’s Day in 2010, playing a bubbly high school student, voicing Audrey in the 2012 animated film The Lorax, taking on the serious Rosemary in 2014’s The Giver, through to playing Bombalurina in 2019, in the movie adaptation of Cats. 

“Interacting with fans through music, film or conversation is my way of doing things,” she admits, referencing her so-called Swifties. “It’s me paying back, via whatever medium I can, in order to show just how much I appreciate them.

“In the early days when, on social media, I saw my face on murals, or I witnessed elaborate fan tributes for me, it was perhaps a little disconcerting. It is strange to go from a very simple world – and no matter how big the country music market is, it’s still a very earthy genre with a lot of groundedness and humility – into something that’s so big and so exposed.”

Nine albums have followed since 2008, including two during lockdown, and with that, the almost constant media speculation of her love life, her wellbeing, and even her commercial demise.

“It all sells magazines and gets people visiting websites,” she says. “I get how it works and it doesn’t offend me.

“Rumours of my demise are always greatly exaggerated, because the last time I checked I’m still here! For as long as people aren’t bored of me, I’ll still be here!”

Swift’s appeal across multiple demographics perhaps come back to her ability to talk to audiences in many and varied ways. From the music-led fervent early-teen market, right up into those in adulthood who connect with the star through her philanthropy, political advocacy and activism, her cross-pollination of global culture is astonishingly good.

Then there’s her position as a style icon.

She is an exemplar who mixing vintage with modern, throwaway with designer, sympathetic with challenging. “I’m glad we live in an era now where anything goes,” offers Swift. “When I was growing up I remember the echoes of the Seventies and Eighties where, in essence, if you didn’t conform to normal fashion, you would be marked out as belonging to a certain genre or sector. If you didn’t wear what everyone else was wearing, you might be a goth, or a metal head, or an indie kid, or an emo, or something else. 

“Those tags aren’t really a problem by themselves, because they promote difference and individuality; until you realise that by labelling people like that it became very different for them to then flip and be someone or something else. There was no real fluidity between different ideas and looks, so people got put into holes and to a large extent left there.”

Swift says today’s society is much more malleable, and that versatility of look is something she tries to bring through in who she is and how she operates.

“Being known isn’t about showing off – it’s about showing you can be many different things, and we should all feel like that.

“I find both high and low fashion equally exciting – sometimes I want chic lines, other times loose waves. I want exemplary in some looks and disrupted in others.

“Fashion is about what makes you feel good, not about the price tag. I’m just as happy in a cosy jumper from a mall as I am in a designer piece. 

“Style should be about self-expression, not status. At the end of the day, it’s about feeling comfortable and confident in what you’re wearing, not how much you spent on it.”

That’s not to say Swift has always got the look right. She is the first to bemoan the past looks which haven’t quite hit the right notes, admitting that to look back and laugh is the best route to acceptance!

“My style choices and my songs often resonate the everyday challenges of a shy teenager. I may have moved on in life and I may be many things to many different people, but I think deep down I am still that shy teenager – a musician with deep emotions.”