Taylor Swift

Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American country pop singer-songwriter, musician and actress.

Swift was born on December 13, 1989 to Andrea Gardner (née Finlay), a homemaker, and Scott Kingsley Swift, a stockbroker. She was born and raised in Wyomissing, Pennsylvania. Her maternal grandmother, Majorie Finlay, was an opera singer. Swift has a younger brother, Austin.

When she was in fourth grade, she won a national poetry contest with a three-page poem entitled "Monster In My Closet". When Swift was 10, a computer repairman showed her how to play three chords on a guitar, sparking her interest in learning the instrument. Afterwards, she wrote her first song, "Lucky You". She began writing songs regularly and used it as an outlet to help her with her pain from not fitting in at school. She was a victim of bullying, and often wrote songs to express her emotions. Swift also started performing at karaoke contests, festivals, and fairs around her hometown. When she was 12, she devoted an entire summer to writing a 350-page novel, which remains unpublished. She was subsequently homeschooled for her junior and senior years. In 2008, she earned her high-school diploma.

Swift's greatest musical influence is Shania Twain. Her other influences include LeAnn Rimes, Tina Turner, Dolly Parton, and her grandmother. Although her grandmother was a professional opera singer, Swift's tastes always leaned more toward country music.
Performing at Nashville's songwriters' venue, The Bluebird Café, she caught the attention of Scott Borchetta, who signed her to his newly formed record label, Big Machine Records. At age 14, she became the youngest staff songwriter ever hired by the Sony/ATV Tree publishing house.

In 2008, Swift was in a relationship with pop singer Joe Jonas which ended in October of that year. Swift indicated that her heartbreak song, "Forever & Always", on her album Fearless was inspired by Jonas.

In 2009, she referenced the rumors that she was dating Taylor Lautner during her monologue while hosting Saturday Night Live. The song "Back to December" off her album Speak Now, which Swift has described as an apology song, has been widely speculated to be dedicated to Lautner.

In late 2010, Swift briefly dated actor Jake Gyllenhaal. They split in early 2011. Swift has been reported to be dating Chord Overstreet.

Swift has also been linked to singr/guitarist John Mayer. There has been speculation that the song "Dear John" from her album Speak Now is about Mayer, calling the latter out for an apparent relationship gone sour.

In 2006, she released her debut single "Tim McGraw", then her self-titled debut album, which was subsequently certified multi-platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America and was nominated for the Best New Artist award at 50th Grammy Awards. In November 2008, Swift released her second album, Fearless, and the recording earned Swift four Grammy Awards, including the Album of the Year, at the 52nd Grammy Awards. Fearless and Taylor Swift Swift released her third album Speak Now on October 25, 2010 which sold 1,047,000 copies in its first week.

In 2008, her albums sold a combined four million copies, making her the best-selling musician of the year in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan. Forbes ranked Swift 2009's 69th-most powerful celebrity with earnings of $18 million and 2010's 12th-most powerful celebrity with earnings of $45 million. Swift was ranked the 38th Best Artist of the 2000-10 decade by Billboard. In January 2010 Nielsen SoundScan listed Swift as the most commercially successful country (or country/pop crossover) artist in music history with over 33 million digital tracks sold. As of February 2011, she has sold over 19 million albums and 33 million singles worldwide.