Collaborations, Groups and Family
EditTaylor Swift
In the News
(4 stories between 7th November 2008 and 7th February 2010)Taylor's Grammy Performance Under Scrutiny
by Ed @ SoundUnwound 7 February 2010
Taylor Swift's warbling performance at the Grammys last weekend still seems to be overshadowing the fact that she won four awards, including 'Album of the Year' for Fearless.
After a blitz of blog criticism, Scott Borcheta, CEO of her record label Big Machine, defended her in an interview with the Associated Press. "She is the voice of this generation. This is not American Idol. This is not a competition of getting up and seeing who can sing the highest note. This is about a true artist and writer and communicator."
Unsurprisingly, American Idol first series winner Kelly Clarkson took umbrage at that comment. In a typically sensible blog post, she said "I understand defending your artist... because I have done the same in the past for artists I like, including Taylor, so you might see why its upsetting to read you attacking American Idol for producing simply vocalists that hit 'the high notes'... You forgot to mention we generally hit the 'right' notes as well. Every artist has a bad performance or two and that is understandable, but throwing blame will not make the situation at hand any better."
Taylor Swift: Young, Gifted, Gives Back
by Ed @ SoundUnwound 18 December 2009
It’s been a great year for Taylor Swift. Even the uncomfortable experience of Kanye West’s interruption at the VMAs went on to prove the old cliché that there’s no such thing as bad press, as the outraged public took the teen star to its bosom and comforted her from the derision of the rude rapper. Now the two stars have been brought together again by Billboard: they share the chart honors as Top Female and Top Male Artist of the Year. Once again, Taylor triumphs over Kanye, as she was also named Top Artist of the Year, while Kanye finished sixth in the overall ranking. Recent times have seen Taylor’s name featuring ever more prominently in the consciousness of music lovers, who have bought her 2008 release Fearless in their millions, earning it multi-platinum status.
In celebration of her 20th birthday this week, she recognized those who have helped her most by donating $250,000 to her old schools. "The schools that I went to and the amazing people I got to learn from really turned me into who I am, and I wanted to give back," she explained. When awarding Taylor the Artist of the Year crown, Billboard called her a “graceful, timeless celebrity,” and we certainly can’t argue with that.
20th November 2008
by Ed @ SoundUnwound 20 November 2008
Taylor Swift's second album Fearless flew straight in at No.1 on the Hot 200 this week with hugely impressive sales of 592,000 in its debut week. That's the highest one-week sales for a country artist since Eagles' Long Road Out of Eden a year ago, and that was for a band with a career twice as long as Swift is old. At just 18 years old, her star is just being born. Compare those sales also to Brad Paisley and Rascal Flatts, two big hitters in the same genre, who sold 54,000 and 39,000 with their most recent releases, Play and Greatest Hits Volume 1 respectively. Elsewhere, American Idol runner-up David Archuleta hit No.2 with his debut self-titled album, and T-Pain reached No.4 with his new album Thr33 Ringz. Taylor will have to be strong to hold on to her top spot next week though, with big hitters from Nickelback, Beyoncé, Dido, Il Divo, and Sunday's hotly anticipated new Guns n Roses release, all fighting it out on the charts.
7th November 2008
by Ed @ SoundUnwound 7 November 2008
Teenage country music star Taylor Swift has admitted during an interview with radio station KIIS FM that she has been dating pop sensation, Joe Jonas. But before anyone had confirmed it was true, it was already a past-tense relationship, the Jonas brother having called time on their partnership sometime in the summer. Admitting that she had been "deeply hurt," she added that her method of dealing with the pain was to write new songs: "I've written about [the breakup] and I write about my life…that's just how I deal with things." The fertile creative ground of spurned love inspired new song "Forever and Always," which is due to appear on Taylor's second album, Fearless, in stores on November 11.
![Taylor Swift - Breathe ft. Colbie Caillat [Video]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/PnXrfksTjZ8/2.jpg "Taylor Swift - Breathe ft. Colbie Caillat [Video]"){kind=small}
![Taylor Swift - Breathe [lyrics]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/4a9O_jm8YA4/2.jpg "Taylor Swift - Breathe [lyrics]"){kind=small}
