Artists I'd Kill To See In Concert (or at least maim) Part One

1. Taylor Swift

Taylor Swift is probably the most famous artist on here. I’m pretty sure everyone in the English speaking or Western world knows who she is. She went from a country singer to a pop billionaire. At one point she was considered a serial dater (which kind of annoyed me. It’s really not anyone’s business who or how much she dates) but she is now engaged to football player Travis Kelce (again something everyone in the Western World knows). From an extremely young age, Taylor Swift showed talent being the youngest person to the awarded the BMI Songwriter of the Year title in 2007. She also got a nomination for Best New Artist at the 50th Grammy Awards.

I was a little young back but I remember when her song on her next album (‘Fearless”) came out: “Love Story”. Actually I filmed a music video to that song with me being Romeo, my friend being Juliet and my brother playing my father who didn’t want us together. I also have a  music book of Taylor’s first songs and let me tell you it works great on the piano. Her second album earned her more awards and her tour- the Fearless tour- grossed over $63 million. 

You should be aware Taylor writes her own songs which is somewhat rare these days. Her third album (Speak Now) might be my favorite because it contains feisty ones like “Better Than Revenge” to softer ones like “Enchanted”. At the 54th Grammy Awards she won Best Country Song and Best Country Solo Performance for “Mean”. She also won a smattering of other awards like Songwriter of the Year at the BMI awards and Entertainer at the Year at the CMAs and ACMS. She was even awarded Billboard’s Woman of the Year.

Her next album RED debuted at number one in the U.S. In the first week it sold 1.2 million copies and contained such chart topping hits as “We Are Never Getting Back Together” and “I Knew You Were Trouble” Taylor Swift’s songs were no longer merely country. She ventured into new territory- heartland, rock and dubstep. And alot of dance pop. She earned four Grammy nominations as well as a BMI award for Songwriter of the Year.

With her next album 1989 Taylor had officially changed her sound to pop. There were purists who did not like this (“I liked her old stuff” they sniffed as her new stuff played over the radio). Meanwhile she was appealing to a much broader audience with her new pop sound. She went on tour again (The 1989 World Tour) which ended up being the highest grossing tour of the year ($250 in revenue). The album also won album of the year at the Grammy’s. 

Her next album was reputation. Taylor laid low for a while until her next album came out. She wasn’t on very good terms with Kim and Kayne West (now  no one is on good terms with Kayne West). She appeared on Jimmy Kimmel a few times and helped host the Capital UK’s Jingle Ball. She released a concert film on Netflix and again it became the highest grossed tour at the time. 

I loved her next album Lover. It contained 18 songs and they all charted on the Billboard Hot 100 especially my personal favorite “Cruel Summer”. It was the world’s best solo studio album of 2019 and earned 3 nominations at the Grammy’s. She also won Artist of the Decade at the American’s Music Awards, the first female to do so.

I’m not familiar with her most recent work because I kind of tend to drag behind modern music. People regularly stare at me in disbelief and said “How have you never heard this song before?” But you can bet it I was going to Taylor Swift’s concert (you know if I had a thousand or so dollars to throw around) you can bet I’d do my homework!