Taylor Swift: Recent News

May 22, 2012

Taylor Swift's Sushi-Filled Celebration

Apr 30, 2012

Taylor Swift and Dianna Agron Play Birthday Dress-Up (Again!)

Apr 25, 2012

Dianna Agron Kisses Taylor Swift's Cat

Apr 23, 2012

Carrie Underwood Leads CMT Music Awards Nominations

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Taylor Swift: Snapshot

Name: Taylor Swift
Date of Birth: December 13, 1989
Birth Place: Wyomissing, Pa.

Taylor Swift may be country music's reigning sweetheart, but this songwriting, hit-making beauty isn't afraid to kiss and tell! With such hits as "Our Song" and "Love Story" and romances with Joe Jonas, Taylor Lautner and Jake Gyllenhaal under her belt, the newly minted Cover Girl has launched into music superstardom.

Although Swift has been eager to stake her claim in country music since age 11, she's taken Goldilocks' "just right" philosophy when it comes to record deals: she backed out on a contract that didn't let her write and sing her own songs – and she was barely 14. By 2010, Swift won four Grammys, released three No. 1 albums (including the mega-selling Speak Now) and became the youngest-ever winner of the CMA's top trophy for entertainer of the year at age 19.

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Taylor Swift: Video

Star Talk

See Nashville's buzzworthy women take to the water – and dish on each other

(2:19)

Taylor Swift: Five Fun Facts

At 11, Taylor Swift took her demo of karaoke songs door-to-door in Nashville. "My mom waited in the car while I knocked on doors up and down Music Row," she recalled to EW. "I would say, 'Hi, I'm Taylor. I'm 11. I want a record deal. Call me.'"
Taylor Swift's breakout hit, "Tim McGraw," was inspired by her ex-boyfriend. "He bought the album and said he really loved it, which is sweet," she told USA Today. "His current girlfriend isn't too pleased with it, though."
Taylor Swift is the youngest person ever to solely write and sing a No. 1 country song, "Our Song."
Taylor Swift took a stab at ex-boyfriend Joe Jonas in a MySpace video after he reportedly broke up with her via phone. "See, this one even comes with a phone," she said while displaying a Jonas Camp Rock doll. "So he can break up with other dolls."
The first thing Taylor Swift did when she turned 18: "I registered to vote online in my pajamas."

Taylor Swift: Biography

circa 2003: Country's Determined Darling
At 13, Taylor Swift, who began writing songs at age 5, signs with RCA Records. A year later, she gets out of the contract because she doesn't want to sing other writer's songs. Around that time, she becomes the youngest songwriter to sign a publishing deal with Sony – but doesn't want her songs sung by other artists. "She has a real inner vision, a real inner directedness," says Scott Borchetta, who eventually urges Swift to write and sing under a recording contract with his indie label, Big Machine Records.
2006: Swift's "Tim McGraw"
Swift's breakout single, "Tim McGraw," which she began writing in her freshman math class, hits country radio airwaves. The song is about hoping her love thinks of her when he hears Tim McGraw's music. It peaks at No. 6 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. While performing her hit at the Academy of Country Music Awards in 2007, Swift finally meets McGraw when she walks into the audience to serenade McGraw and his wife, Faith Hill (right).
October 24
Taylor's Self-Titled Debut
Big Machine Records releases the 16-year-old's self-titled debut album. "I didn't come in to this to be baby-sat," Swift tells the AP about having creative control. She also says she isn't afraid of the tough country music industry: "Not by any measure. I'm intimidated by the fear of being average." Her debut eventually sells more than 2.5 million copies.