Are you ready for it? Taylor Swift started writing songs about boys and breakups in the early 2000s, but her talent was soon recognized by music executives who knew she was the real deal.
From releasing her first record in 2006 to gracing stages all over the world on her biggest tour yet 12 years later, this “Lover” has earned her place in the Hollywood A-list music scene.
“I remember people asking me, ‘What are you gonna write about if you ever get happy?’” Swift recalled to Elle magazine in March 2019. “There’s a common misconception that artists have to be miserable in order to make good art, that art and suffering go hand in hand. I’m really grateful to have learned this isn’t true. Finding happiness and inspiration at the same time has been really cool.”
The “Willow” songstress’ happiness is partially linked to longtime beau Joe Alwyn. News of their romance broke in 2017 and the twosome have been going strong ever since.
“[They] have talked about their future and marriage. They don’t have a set deadline in place, but they’re very much in love,” a source told Us Weekly in 2020. “Taylor considers Joe one of the only safe constants in her life. He has always been a huge support and stuck by her.”
2020 marked a big year for Swift as she released two albums recorded amid the coronavirus pandemic — Folklore and Evermore. She even worked with Alwyn on several tracks, including “Betty” and “Exile.”
“Joe, who is the first person that I play every single song that I write,” the musician said as she accepted the Grammy for Album of the Year in March 2021. “And I had the best time writing songs with you in quarantine.”
In April 2021, Swift officially began a new journey, rereleasing her old albums, beginning with Fearless (Taylor’s Version) after a very public feud with Scooter Braun and former Big Machine Records owner Scott Borchetta over the rights to her first six albums. Several months later, Red (Taylor’s Version) broke Spotify records upon its November release.
“Artists should own their own work for so many reasons,” Swift wrote via Instagram in March 2021 about the process. “But the most screamingly obvious one is that the artist is the only one who really knows that body of work.”
Scroll down to revisit Swift’s epic journey to stardom: