Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter. Raised in Wyomissing, Pennsylvania, Swift moved to Nashville, Tennessee at the age of fourteen to pursue a career in country music. She signed to the independent label Big Machine Records and became the youngest songwriter ever hired by the Sony/ATV Music publishing house. The release of Swift's eponymous debut album in 2006 established her as a country music star. "Our Song", her third single, made her the youngest person to single-handedly write and perform a number one song on the country chart. She received a Best New Artist nomination at the 2008 Grammy Awards.

 

Swift's second album, Fearless, was released in 2008. Buoyed by the crossover success of the singles "Love Story" and "You Belong with Me", Fearless became the top-selling album of 2009 and was supported by an extensive concert tour. The record won four Grammy Awards, with Swift becoming the youngest ever Album of the Year winner. Swift's third album, 2010's Speak Now, sold over one million copies in its first week of US release and was supported by the thirteen-month Speak Now World Tour. The album's third single, "Mean", won two Grammy Awards. Swift's fourth album, Red, was released in 2012. Its opening US sales of 1.21 million were the highest recorded in a decade, with Swift becoming the only female artist to have two million-plus opening weeks. The lead single, "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together", was Swift's first number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and became a worldwide hit. The Red Tour is scheduled to begin in March 2013.

 

Swift is known for her hook-laden, narrative songs about her experiences as a teenager and young adult. As a songwriter, she has been honored by the Nashville Songwriters Association and the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Swift's other achievements include six Grammy Awards, eleven American Music Awards, seven Country Music Association Awards, six Academy of Country Music Awards and thirteen BMI Awards. She has sold over 26 million albums and 70 million song downloads worldwide. In addition to her music career, Swift has appeared as an actress in the crime drama CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (2009), the ensemble comedy Valentine's Day (2010) and the animated film The Lorax (2012). Forbes estimates that she is worth over $165 million. As a philanthropist, Swift supports arts education, children's literacy, natural disaster relief, LGBT rights, and charities for sick children.

 

Early life

Taylor Alison Swift was born on December 13, 1989 in Reading, Pennsylvania.Her father, Scott Kingsley Swift, is a Merrill Lynch financial adviser.He was raised in Pennsylvania and is the descendant of three generations of bank presidents. Her mother, Andrea (née Finlay), is a homemaker who previously worked as a mutual fund marketing executive.Andrea spent the first ten years of her life in Singapore, before settling in Texas; her father was an oil rig engineer who worked throughout Southeast Asia.Swift was named after singer James Taylor; her mother believed a gender-neutral name would help her forge a successful business career.She has a younger brother, Austin, who attends the University of Notre Dame.She spent the early years of her life on an eleven-acre Christmas tree farm in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania and was educated at the fee-paying Wyndcroft School. When Swift was nine years old, the family moved to Wyomissing, Pennsylvania,where she attended West Reading Elementary Center and Wyomissing Area Junior/Senior High School.She spent her summers at her parents' vacation home in Stone Harbor, New Jersey and has described it as the place "where most of my childhood memories were formed".

 

Swift's first hobby was English horse riding. Her mother put her in a saddle when she was nine months old; Swift later competed in horse shows.Her family owned several Quarter horses and a Shetland pony.At the age of nine, Swift turned her attention to musical theatre and performed in Berks Youth Theatre Academy productions of Grease, Annie, Bye Bye Birdie and The Sound of Music. She traveled regularly to Broadway, New York for vocal and acting lessons. However, "after a few years of auditioning in New York and not getting anything", Swift became interested in country music.She spent her weekends performing at local festivals, fairs, coffeehouses, karaoke contests, garden clubs, Boy Scout meetings and hospitals.At the age of eleven, after many attempts,Swift won a local talent competition by singing a rendition of LeAnn Rimes's "Big Deal", and was given the opportunity to appear as the opening act for Charlie Daniels at a Strausstown amphitheater. This growing ambition and interest in country music began to isolate Swift from her middle school peers.

 

After watching a Behind the Music episode about Faith Hill, Swift felt sure that she needed to go to Nashville, Tennessee to pursue a music career.She traveled with her mother to Nashville for spring break to leave a demo of Dolly Parton and Dixie Chicks karaoke covers with record labels along Music Row.She received label rejections and realized that "everyone in that town wanted to do what I wanted to do. So, I kept thinking to myself, I need to figure out a way to be different".She began performing the "The Star Spangled Banner" at sporting events because it was an opportunity to "get in front of 20,000 people without even having a record deal".At the age of twelve, Swift was shown by a computer repairman how to play three chords on a guitar, inspiring her to write her first song, "Lucky You".She had previously won a national poetry contest with a poem entitled "Monster in My Closet" but now began to focus on songwriting.In 2003, Swift and her parents started working with New York-based music manager Dan Dymtrow. With Dymtrow's help, Swift modelled for Abercrombie and Fitch as part of their "Rising Stars" campaign, had an original song included in a Maybelline Cosmetics compilation CD and took meetings with major record labels.After performing original songs at an RCA Records showcase, the eight-grader was given an artist development deal and began making frequent trips to Nashville.

 

When Swift was fourteen, her father transferred to the Nashville office of Merrill Lynch and the family relocated to a lake-shore house in Hendersonville, Tennessee.Swift later described this as "an incredible sacrifice" for her family to make.Her parents "presented it as a move to a nice community" rather than as her chance to become a star,and her mother has said, "We've always told her that this is not about putting food on our table or making our dreams come true." In Tennessee, Swift attended Hendersonville High School for her freshman and sophomore years.Later, to accommodate her touring schedule, Swift transferred to the Aaron Academy, a private Christian school which offered homeschooling services. She earned her high school diploma in 2008, having finished her final two years of course work in twelve months.

 

Artistry

Influences

One of Swift's earliest musical memories is listening to her maternal grandmother, Marjorie Finlay (née Moehlenkamp), sing. In her youth, Finlay was a recording star in Puerto Rico and performed in operas in Singapore: "She was in The Bartered Bride, The Barber of Seville and musicals like West Side Story".As a very young child, Swift enjoyed Disney movie soundtracks: "My parents noticed that, once I had run out of words, I would just make up my own".Later, her parents exposed her to artists including James Taylor, Simon & Garfunkel and Def Leppard.Swift has said she owes her confidence to her mother, who helped her prepare for class presentations as a child: "We would stay up that whole night before, just practicing different things to say."She also attributes her "fascination with writing and storytelling" to her mother: "When I was little, she would indulge my imagination and tell me stories." Swift enjoyed both reading and writing poetry and was particularly drawn to the works of Shel Silverstein and Dr. Seuss.She remains interested "in any writing from a child's perspective" and has cited To Kill a Mockingbird as one of her favorite books.

 

Swift was introduced to country music by "the great female country artists of the '90s ... Shania, Faith, the Dixie Chicks". Those three artists "really sealed the deal" for Swift and she became "infatuated with the sound, with the storytelling" of country music.Shania Twain was her biggest musical influence: "She was just so strong and so independent and wrote all her own songs".As an artist, Swift has said she "can only aspire to be like her" and, in 2009, she named Twain's Come On Over as her favorite album.She has spent time with Twain,who later expressed an interest in writing with the younger singer.Faith Hill was Swift's childhood role model and she tried to copy "everything she said, did, wore". She admired Hill for "taking country music to bigger audiences, and her grace in the spotlight".Hill has become a "welcoming and warm presence" in Swift's life since her rise to fame.On one occasion, Hill and her husband Tim McGraw gave Swift the use of their Los Angeles house while she was working in the area.Swift admired the Dixie Chicks's "we don't care what you think" attitude and was inspired by the way they played their own instruments.The band's "Cowboy Take Me Away" was the first song Swift learned to play on the guitar.LeAnn Rimes served as another introduction to country music.Swift found it "motivating" to observe another young artist find success.She then began to explore the music of older country stars, including Patsy Cline, Loretta Lynn, Tammy Wynette and Dolly Parton.Lynn's "Fist City" is one of Swift's favorite country songs.She has said Parton is "an amazing example to every female songwriter out there ... There's so much about Dolly Parton that every female artist should look to".She respects Kenny Chesney, particularly from "a business standpoint": "He's one of the only artists playing stadiums ... He's always been a huge hero of mine". Other mainstream country influences include George Strait, Garth Brooks,Reba McEntire, Alan Jackson,Martina McBride,Tim McGraw and Brad Paisley.Swift also admires alt-country artists such as Ryan Adams, Patty Griffin,Lori McKenna and Bon Iver.

 

Swift has been influenced by many artists outside the country genre.As a pre-teen, she enjoyed bubblegum pop acts including Hanson, the Backstreet Boys and Britney Spears; she still has "unwavering devotion" for Spears.In her high school years, Swift listened to emo bands such as Dashboard Confessional,Fall Out Boy,The All-American Rejects,Death Cab for Cutie and Jimmy Eat World.She was also a fan of female singer-songwriters including Michelle Branch,Pink,Alanis Morisette,Ashlee Simpson,Kelly Clarkson,Fefe Dobson and Avril Lavigne.Swift closely followed the musical supervision on the television dramas The O.C. and Grey's Anatomy, downloading "every" song featured.She was a fan of hip hop music, particularly the rhyming patterns used by artists such as Eminem: "Country and hip-hop are two of the most honest genres because we just like to sing about our lifestyle ... Pride is something that both country and hip-hop share".Swift also drew inspiration from the catalogues of veteran artists. Tom Petty, she has said, "is on a pedestal for me".She is "obsessed" with Sixties acts like The Shirelles, Doris Troy and The Beach Boys,and admires Bon Jovi because "there's just a melodic stickiness to their songs that I've always been drawn to".Influence also came from older female pop rock singers including Pat Benatar,Stevie Nicks,Melissa Etheridge, Sarah McLachlan, Sheryl Crow and Shawn Colvin.

 

Swift lists Paul McCartney, Bruce Springsteen, Emmylou Harris and Kris Kristofferson as her career role models: "They've taken chances, but they've also been the same artist for their entire careers."McCartney, both as a Beatle and a solo artist, makes Swift feel "as if I've been let into his heart and his mind": "Any musician could only dream of a legacy like that." She admires Springsteen because he is "so musically relevant after such a long period of time".Swift says of Kristofferson: "He shines in songwriting ... He's just one of those people who has been in this business for years but you can tell it hasn't chewed him up and spat him out".

 

Neil Young describes Swift as "a great writer": "I like listening to her. I kind of like watching her respond to all the attacks. I like the ways she's defining herself. So I keep my eye on it".Kris Kristofferson claims that "she blows me away. It's amazing to me that someone so young is writing such great songs. She's got a great career ahead of her".Dolly Parton is "extremely impressed with her, especially with her songwriting .... I'm real impressed with the depth of her sometimes": "She's got the qualities that could last a long time".Stevie Nicks believes Swift writes "songs that make the whole world sing, like Neil Diamond or Elton John ... It's women like her who are going to save the music business".Swift has also received songwriting praise from contemporaries including Alicia Keys,Kelly Clarkson and Lady Gaga.Christopher Owens, the songwriter and former frontman of Girls, describes Swift as his "favourite artist out of anybody", and has expressed a desire to work with her.The New York Times has noted similarities in the songwriting approach of Owens and Swift.Ryan Adams has said that "every tune of hers is like the one you wait a whole lifetime to write". Lena Dunham, the creator and star of HBO's television series Girls, has described Swift as her "artistic kindred spirit ... the way she uses autobiography in her work and the way she calls out guys who have, you know, fronted on her before. But at the same time there is something sort of affectionate and non-judgmental about her music that I appreciate."

 

Lyrical themes and style

Thematically, The Guardian has noted that Swift was "fantastically good at regarding teenage life with a kind of wistful, sepia-toned nostalgia" over the course of her first two albums.New York Magazine has remarked that few singer-songwriters have written "great records so explicitly about their teens ... Her nearest antecedent might be sixties-era Brian Wilson, the one true adolescent auteur before she came along".Comparisons have also been drawn with Janis Ian.Fairytale imagery featured on Swift's second album, Fearless. She explored the disconnect "between fairy tales and the reality of love": "We're raised as little girls to think that we're a princess and that Prince Charming is going to sweep us off our feet".Her third and fourth albums addressed more adult relationships.In addition to romance and love, Swift's songs have discussed parent-child relationships ("The Best Day", "Never Grow Up", "Ronan"), friendships ("Fifteen", "Breathe", "22"),alienation ("The Outside", "A Place In This World", "Tied Together with a Smile", "Mean") and career ambitions ("Change", "Long Live", "The Lucky One").Her defining quality as a songwriter, it has been said, is "a determination to register and hang onto fleeting feelings and impressions, a pre-emptive nostalgia for a present (and sometimes even a future) that she knows will some day be in the past".Swift frequently includes "a tossed-off phrase to suggest large and serious things that won't fit in the song, things that enhance or subvert the surface narrative".The New Yorker has said that her songs, "though they are not subversive, have a certain sophistication ... Sentimental songs are laced with intimations of future disillusionment".

 

Structurally, Slate notes that Swift has "effortless, preternatural mastery of pop conventions: Very few songwriters can build better bridges than she does."Rolling Stone has described her as "a songwriting savant with an intuitive gift for verse-chorus-bridge architecture".The Village Voice has noted that Swift uses third-verse POV reversals frequently.She has a tendency to use the same images repeatedly. In the words of The Guardian, "she spends so much time kissin' in the rain that it seems a miracle she hasn't developed trenchfoot".American Songwriter describes Swift as "a great songwriter, who writes with an unmatched and almost unnatural acuity ... Even her earliest material is characterized by thoughtful – perhaps meticulous – word choice and deliberate melodic construction, with nary a lazy rhyme or aimless tune to be found."While reviews of Swift's work are "almost uniformly positive", The New Yorker has said she is generally portrayed "more as a skilled technician than as a Dylanesque visionary".

 

Swift uses autobiographical detail in her work.Listening to music as a child, she felt confused "when I knew something was going on in someone's personal life and they didn't address it in their music".The New York Times believes that "righting wrongs is Ms. Swift's raison d'être".In her songs, Swift often addresses the "anonymous crushes of her high school years" and, more recently, fellow celebrities.Entertainment Weekly remarked that Speak Now was sometimes "an exercise in name-that-celebrity Whac-a-Mole".John Mayer, the presumed subject of "Dear John", has said the song "humiliated" him: "I think it's kind of cheap songwriting. I know she's the biggest thing in the world, and I'm not trying to sink anybody's ship, but I think it's abusing your talent to rub your hands together and go, 'Wait till he gets a load of this!'"The Village Voice has downplayed this aspect of Swift's songwriting: "Being told What Songs Mean is like having a really pushy professor. And it imperils a true appreciation of Swift's talent, which is not confessional, but dramatic."The singer herself has said that all her songs are not factual; she sometimes creates "an entire scenario" around a "dirty look" or a "casual" conversation: "You can draw inspiration from anything.""More of my songs come from observation than actual experience". Aside from her liner note clues, Swift tries not to talk specifically about song subjects "because these are real people. You try to give insight as to where you were coming from as a writer without completely throwing somebody under the bus."

 

Musical and vocal style

Swift's music contains elements of pop, pop rock, country and country-pop.She self-identifies as a country artist.Rolling Stone asserts that, "she might get played on the country station, but she's one of the few genuine rock stars we've got these days".Swift's own definition of country music "is really pretty simple. It's when someone sings about their life and what they know, from an authentic place ... One guy will write about how he grew up on a farm and fell in love and raised kids on that same farm. Some people sing about how, when they get sad, they go to the bar and drink whiskey. I write songs about how I can't seem to figure out relationships and how I'm fascinated by love".She has said there will be "a huge temptation" to make an alt-country record as her career progresses.The New York Times notes that, "There isn't much in Ms. Swift's music to indicate country – a few banjo strums, a pair of cowboy boots worn onstage, a bedazzled guitar – but there's something in her winsome, vulnerable delivery that's unique to Nashville."The New Yorker believes she is "considered part of Nashville's country-pop tradition only because she writes narrative songs with melodic clarity and dramatic shape—Nashville's stock-in-trade."The Guardian has said that Swift "cranks melodies out with the pitiless efficiency of a Scandinavian pop factory".Similarly, Rolling Stone has noted that her melodies call to mind "Swedish pop gods Dr. Luke and Max Martin".

 

Swift's voice has been described as "sweet but soft".In studio recordings, the Los Angeles Times identifies Swift's "defining" vocal gesture as "the line that slides down like a contented sigh or up like a raised eyebrow, giving her beloved girl-time hits their air of easy intimacy".Rolling Stone, in a Speak Now review, remarked: "Swift's voice is unaffected enough to mask how masterful she has become as a singer; she lowers her voice for the payoff lines in the classic mode of a shy girl trying to talk tough".In another review of Speak Now, The Village Voice noted that her phrasing was previously "bland and muddled, but that's changed. She can still sound strained and thin, and often strays into a pitch that drives some people crazy; but she's learned how to make words sound like what they mean".Slate, reviewing Speak Now, described Swift as "a technically poor singer": "Though she does vary her phrasing in ways that attempt to mask her limited voice (the way she sneers, "She looks at me like I'm a trend/And she's so over it," on "Better Than Revenge" is especially effective), Swift is still noticeably off-pitch at least once on every song on the album".In a live setting, Swift, according to The Hollywood Reporter, "does her best, but certainly doesn't have the pipes to go toe-to-toe with the likes of Christina Aguilera or Carrie Underwood".Her live vocals have been described as "flat", "thin, and sometimes as wobbly as a newborn colt".However, Swift has received praise for refusing to correct her pitch with Auto-Tune.In an interview with The New Yorker, Swift characterized herself primarily as a songwriter: "I write songs, and my voice is just a way to get those lyrics across".Scott Borchetta of Big Machine Records has conceded that Swift is "not the best technical singer" but describes her as the "best communicator that we've got".Swift's vocal presence is something that concerns her and she has "put a lot of work" into improving it.It was reported in 2010 that she continues to take vocal lessons.She has said that she only feels nervous performing "if I'm not sure what the audience thinks of me, like at award shows".

 

Public image

Swift has been described as "America's sweetheart" and "a role model".She has high Q Score and Davie-Brown Index ratings, reflecting a high level of public awareness (90 percent) and popularity (80 percent) in the United States.The Hollywood Reporter describes her as "the Best People Person Since Bill Clinton".The singer considers it her "responsibility" to be conscious of her influence on young fans.However, she insists that "I don't live by all these rigid, weird rules that make me feel all fenced in. I just like the way that I feel like, and that makes me feel very free".Swift did not drink alcohol at the beginning of her career but does since turning 21.The lyrical content of her songs is regarded as appropriate for young audiences.A Rolling Stone journalist who profiled Swift in 2009 remarked upon her polite manners: "If this is Swift's game face, it must be tattooed on because it never drops".A 2012 Vogue cover story described Swift as "clever and funny and occasionally downright bawdy" in person, but noted that she "asks if her cursing can be off the record".Grantland describes Swift as "dorky" and "openly neurotic in a way you'd never see from a blonde country princess like Faith Hill or Carrie Underwood. She is more like Diane Keaton in Annie Hall: overly gracious and eager to please but full of a nonstop, nervous, fluttering energy".

 

In the early years of her career, Swift's signature look consisted of sundresses and cowboy boots. This fashion style is still copied by many of the young fans who attend her concerts.At formal events, Swift became known for "sparkly, beaded dresses".Her naturally curly hairstyle is replicated by fans, and Swift has remarked: "I remember straightening my hair because I wanted to be like everybody else, and now the fact that anybody would emulate what I do? It's just funny."She was asked by Vogue to cut bangs for a cover shoot in late 2011, and now straightens her hair.Swift favors retro style and it has been said that she has the look of "a nineteen-thirties movie siren ... red lipstick, thick mascara." She was named an Icon of American Style by Vogue in 2011.

 

There has been much media commentary about Swift's reactions when she is recognized at award ceremonies.In 2011, The Hollywood Reporter remarked that Swift "seems to be consistently shocked and wonderstruck by each awards win, despite racking up an ever-growing collection of Grammys, CMAs, MTV Moonmen and AMAs".Kristen Wiig parodied Swift's surprised facial expressions during a Saturday Night Live sketch in February 2012.Swift later said she had seen the sketch: "I was laughing the entire time and then I realized that, as I was watching it, I was making the face she was making".At the Academy of Country Music Awards in April 2012, the ceremony's host Blake Shelton joked in his opening monologue that Swift should release a perfume called "I can't believe I smell this good". When Swift later presented Shelton with the Academy's Best Male Vocalist award, "the two faced off, showing each other their ultra-surprised looks".

 

Feminist discussion

The merits of Swift as a feminist have been widely discussed. She has been described by Jezebel as "a feminist's nightmare": "Her image of being good and pure plays right into how much the patriarchy fetishizes virginity, loves purity, and celebrates women who know their place as delicate flowers".A Village Voice music critic, using supporting evidence from Swift's body of work, dismissed such criticisms as "shallow and gross, in that special way that things get gross when you cram shaded and living work through an ideological sieve like you're mechanically separating chicken".It has been said that anti-Swift feminists "criticize Taylor for being repressive and perpetuating a patriarchal virgin/whore dichotomy by being repressive and perpetuating a virgin/whore dichotomy ... When people dismiss the stories that Taylor Swift writes as unrealistic, unfeminist pap or dismiss Taylor Swift herself as a sexist figure – even if we take them at face value, even if we pretend that Taylor Swift is indeed a virgin who thinks having sex is a bad thing and falling in love and having babies is the best experience a girl can have, they're still wrong. They're still wrong to dismiss her. Because by dismissing her, they're saying that those experiences and those beliefs are invalid and girls shouldn't have them – and that if girls do have them, then they're inferior in some way (unfeminist, unintelligent, uncool, whatever) ... It's the opposite of slut-shaming. It's prude-shaming, and it's no better or more enlightened or more feminist than slut-shaming, because it's still shaming."

 

The song "Fifteen" has been the subject of particular scrutiny. It has been said that the song contains a "feminist message" in the lyrics "Back then I swore I was gonna marry him some day, but I realized some bigger dreams of mine" and "In your life, you'll do things greater than dating the boy on the football team".Feminist critics claim the use of the word "everything" in the lyric "Abigail gave everything she had to a boy, who changed his mind, and we both cried" is a reference to virginity: "Songs like 'Fifteen' dig up the ancient Puritan ideal that girls can only access power by confidently and heterosexually denying access to their pants."However, others interpret "everything" as trust: "Abigail trusted and opened up to a boy for the first time, only to be let down. Maybe that includes sex, maybe it doesn't."

 

When asked by The New York Times in 2010 whether she considered herself a feminist, Swift replied, "I have never really thought about that".In 2012, when again asked her position, she said that she was "raised by parents who brought me up to think if you work as hard as guys, you can go far in life." She added that she hoped her music was empowering to women: "There’s strength when you’re baring your emotions."Later that year, Swift told Elle Canada that feminism was something "I have a lot to learn about ... I want to end up really educated about all these really big topics."

 

Acting career

Swift made her acting debut in a 2009 episode of CBS's CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, playing a rebellious teenager.The New York Times noted that the character allowed Swift to be "a little bit naughty, and credibly so". Rolling Stone felt she "held her own" and "does a good job with the script"while the Chicago Tribune said she "acquits herself well".Later that year, Swift both hosted and performed as the musical guest for an episode of Saturday Night Live. Entertainment Weekly described her as "this season's best Saturday Night Live host so far", noting that she "was always up for the challenge, seemed to be having fun, and helped the rest of the cast nail the punchlines". Proving "admirably resilient in a wide variety of sketch roles", "Swift inspired more of a female, girly-in-the-best-sense sensibility in SNL than it's shown since the Tina Fey-Amy Poehler days".

 

Swift made her feature film acting debut in the 2010 ensemble comedy Valentine's Day, playing the ditzy Valley girlfriend of a high school jock.The Los Angeles Times felt the performance suggested "serious comedic potential"while the San Francisco Chronicle found her "very funny".Time remarked that Swift portrayed her character "rather charmingly";The Boston Globe described her as "adorably dorky".Salon asserted that she was "one of the few actors not wasted in "Valentine's Day". Her overgrown-pixie look and odd, widely set eyes lend her a little bit of Marilyn and a little bit of Lucille Ball: She's Taylor-made for comic greatness."However, Variety found her "entirely undirected ... she needs to find a skilled director to tamp her down and channel her obviously abundant energy".The Daily News described her performance as "painfully clunky" while Slant Magazine found her "unwatchable".In 2012, Swift voiced the character of Audrey, a tree lover, in the animated film The Lorax.

 

Philanthropy

Swift's philanthropic efforts have been recognised by the Do Something Awards,The Giving Back Fund and the Tennessee Disaster Services.In 2012, Michelle Obama presented Swift with The Big Help Award for her "dedication to helping others" and "inspiring others through action".In December 2012, Ethel Kennedy will present Swift with the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights's Ripple of Hope Award because of her "dedication to advocacy at such a young age".

 

Arts education

Swift is a supporter of arts education. In 2010, she donated $75,000 to Nashville's Hendersonville High School to help refurbish the school auditorium's sound and lighting systems.In 2012, she pledged $4 million to fund the building of a new education center at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville.The 7,500-square-foot building is scheduled to open in 2014 and will facilitate new programs and workshops for teenagers and senior citizens.The space will include three classrooms and an exhibit space, and will house interactive activities such as a musical petting zoo and a "wet" classroom space to make concert posters and other art projects.Museum officials have decided to name it The Taylor Swift Education Center and the singer will be involved in an advisory capacity.Also in 2012, Swift partnered with textbook rental company Chegg to donate $60,000 to the music departments of six US colleges.

 

Children's literacy

Swift promotes children's literacy. In 2009, she donated $250,000 to various schools around the country that she had either attended or had other associations with. The money was used to buy books, fund educational programs and help pay teachers' salaries.In 2010, she took part in a live webcast, Read Now! with Taylor Swift, broadcast exclusively in US schools to celebrate Scholastic's Read Every Day campaign. In 2011, Swift donated 6,000 Scholastic books to Reading Public Library, Pennsylvania and, in 2012, she donated 14,000 books to Nashville Public Library, Tennessee.Most of the books were placed in circulation; the rest were gifted to children from low-income families, preschools and daycare centers.In 2012, she co-chaired the National Education Association's Read Across America campaign and recorded a PSA encouraging children to read. Also in 2012, Swift promoted the "power of reading" in a second live Scholastic webcast, broadcast directly to US classrooms.

 

Natural disaster relief

Throughout her career, Swift has donated money to help victims of natural disasters. In 2008, she donated the proceeds from her merchandise sales at the Country Music Festival to the Red Cross's disaster relief fund.Later that year, she donated $100,000 to the Red Cross to help the victims of the Iowa flood of 2008.In 2009, Swift supported the Victorian Bushfire Appeal by joining the lineup at Sydney's Sound Relief concert,reportedly making the biggest contribution of any artist to the Australian Red Cross.In 2010, she took part in the Hope for Haiti telethon; she performed and answered phone calls from viewers wishing to donate money.She also recorded a song for the Hope for Haiti Now album.In response to the May 2010 Tennessee floods, Swift donated $500,000 during a telethon hosted by WSMV.Later that year, she donated $100,000 to help rebuild a playground in Hendersonville, Tennessee which was damaged by floodwater.In 2011, Swift used the final dress rehearsal for the North American leg of her Speak Now tour as a benefit concert for victims of recent tornadoes in the United States, raising more than $750,000.She also donated $250,000 to Alabama football coach Nick Saban's charity, Nick's Kids, to aid in the tornado relief efforts of West Alabama.In 2012, Swift supported Architecture for Humanity's Restore the Shore MTV telethon in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy.

 

LGBT support

Swift opposes LGBT discrimination. Following the 2008 murder of Larry King, she recorded a Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network PSA to combat hate crimes.On the first anniversary of King's death, Swift told Seventeen that her parents taught her "never to judge others based on whom they love, what color their skin is, or their religion".In 2011, the music video for Swift's anti-bullying song "Mean" dealt in part with homophobia in high schools; the video was later nominated for an MTV VMA social activism award.The New York Times believes she is part of "a new wave of young (and mostly straight) women who are providing the soundtrack for a generation of gay fans coming to terms with their identity in a time of turbulent and confusing cultural messages".

 

Charities for sick children

The singer is involved with a number of charities which provide services to sick children. In 2008, she donated a pink Chevy pick-up truck to the Victory Junction Gang Camp; the truck is used to transport sick children from the airport to the camp.In 2009, after performing at the BBC Children in Need annual telethon, she donated $20,000 to the cause.In 2011, as the Academy of Country Music's Entertainer of the Year, Swift donated $25,000 to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Tennessee. This figure was matched by the Academy.In 2012, Swift participated in the Stand Up to Cancer telethon, performing "Ronan", a song she wrote in memory of a four-year-old boy who died of neuroblastoma. The song was made available for digital download, with all proceeds donated to cancer-related charities.Swift has met with many sick fans through the Make-A-Wish Foundation.She has also made private visits to hospitals such as St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, the Walter Reed Army Medical Center and the Ronald McDonald House.

 

Other charitable endeavors

Swift has encouraged young people to volunteer in their local community as part of Global Youth Service Day and has promoted The @15 Fund, a social change platform underwritten by Best Buy, which gives teenagers the opportunity to direct the company's philanthropy.In 2007, she launched a campaign to protect children from online predators, in partnership with the Tennessee Association of Chiefs of Police. Also in 2007, she supported an Allstate campaign which promotes safe teenage driving.In 2009, Swift recorded a Sound Matters PSA to make listeners aware of the importance of listening "responsibly".She appeared in a Got Milk? campaign in 2010.Swift has donated auctionable items to a large number of charities, including the Elton John AIDS Foundation,the UNICEF Tap Project,Oxfam International,Habitat For Humanity,MusiCares and Feeding America.She has also performed at a number of benefit concerts, including for the Food Bank For New York City,the Reading, Writing & Rhythm Foundation,Christmas for Kids and Shriners Hospitals for Children.

 

Personal life

Swift's main residence is a duplex penthouse in Midtown Nashville, Tennessee.She also maintains a residence in Beverly Hills, California.In addition, she owns a house, purchased for her parents' use, in Brentwood, Tennessee.According to Forbes's Celebrity 100 list, released annually in the month of May, Swift earned $18 million in 2009,$45 million in 2010,$45 million in 2011 and $57 million in 2012.

 

Relationships

Swift dated singer Joe Jonas from July to October 2008,and actor Taylor Lautner from October to December 2009.She was romantically linked to musician John Mayer from late 2009 until early 2010. Swift dated actor Jake Gyllenhaal from October to December 2010.On December 9, 2010, Gyllenhaal called the LAPD for assistance, after a large number of photographers followed the couple's car in Los Angeles.Following their break-up, they were seen together in January and February 2011.Swift dated Conor Kennedy, the son of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., from July to September 2012.

 

Awards and nominations

Swift has been the recipient of six Grammy Awards, eleven American Music Awards, seven Country Music Association Awards, six Academy of Country Music Awards and thirteen BMI Awards. As a songwriter, she has been honored by the Nashville Songwriters Association and the Songwriters Hall of Fame.