December 06, 2023
Taylor Swift usually speaks to the public in Easter eggs, or subtle clues interpreted by eagle-eyed fans. But the singer spoke more candidly about her life and career in a new interview with Time magazine.
Amid her record-smashing Eras Tour, successful concert film release and ongoing project to reclaim her older music, Swift has been named Time's Person of the Year. In an article commemorating the honor, she reminisces on past dramas, illuminates the timeline of her relationship with Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce and pulls the curtain back on her tour preparations.
MORE: Here is the music Philadelphians listened to most this year, according to Spotify Wrapped
As the latest Person of the Year, Swift joins the ranks of 14 U.S. presidents, five leaders of Russia or the Soviet Union and three popes. She is the first Person of the Year to be recognized for success in the arts, according to Time.
Journalist Sam Lansky's interview with Swift, published Wednesday, delves into Swift's status as an "extraordinary storyteller" and her redemption arc after she felt her career had potentially ended. It also includes quotes from some of the West Reading native's famous friends and collaborators, including Stevie Nicks, Phoebe Bridgers, Greta Gerwig and Kenny Chesney.
Time Magazine: We’d like to name you Person of the Yea-
— Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) December 6, 2023
Me: Can I bring my cat. https://t.co/SOhkYKSTwG
“It feels like the breakthrough moment of my career, happening at 33," Swift said in the interview. "And for the first time in my life, I was mentally tough enough to take what comes with that."
Here are six key takeaways from the piece:
For the first time, Swift publicly spoke about her relationship with Kelce. She said they began talking after Kelce discussed Swift on a July episode of the "New Heights" podcast, which he co-hosts with his Eagles-player brother, Jason Kelce. She notes that by the time she was spotted in September at her first Chiefs game this season, they were already dating.
"This all started when Travis very adorably put me on blast on his podcast, which I thought was metal as hell," she said.
"We started hanging out right after that. So we actually had a significant amount of time that no one knew, which I’m grateful for, because we got to get to know each other. By the time I went to that first game, we were a couple. I think some people think that they saw our first date at that game? We would never be psychotic enough to hard launch a first date."
Swift, who has since attended several Chiefs games to support Kelce, said she's not aware when or how often the cameras are showing her on NFL broadcasts.
"I’m just there to support Travis," Swift said. "I have no awareness of if I’m being shown too much and pissing off a few dads, Brads, and Chads."
In the piece, Swift recalls "getting canceled within an inch of my life and sanity" following drama with rapper Kanye West and his then-wife Kim Kardashian. In 2016, West released a song that featured vulgar lyrics about Swift. Swift denied West's claim that she consented to the lyric, prompting Kardashian to release a video that appeared to indicate that Swift was okay with the song. Many people were quick to side with Kardashian and West, labeling Swift a snake on social media and causing Swift to experience what she referred to as a "career death."
"You have a fully manufactured frame job, in an illegally recorded phone call, which Kim Kardashian edited and then put out to say to everyone that I was a liar," Swift said. "That took me down psychologically to a place I’ve never been before."
In 2019, Swift’s former record label, Big Machine Records, was sold to music manager Scooter Braun. The sale gave Braun the rights to all master recordings of Swift’s music up to 2018, when she left Big Machine, meaning that anyone who wanted to license one of Swift’s old songs would have to ask for Braun’s permission and pay him a licensing fee.
Swift said she believes Braun, a former ally of West, wanted her masters for "nefarious reasons," and she refers to the experience as "having my life’s work taken away from me by someone who hates me."
She also noted that it was her father and singer Kelly Clarkson who urged her to re-record her old albums in an effort to take back control of her music, a project she is now more than halfway through completing.
"There is one thing I’ve learned: My response to anything that happens, good or bad, is to keep making things. Keep making art." Swift said. "But I’ve also learned there’s no point in actively trying to quote unquote defeat your enemies ... Trash takes itself out every single time."
While Swift joked that she previously toured "like a frat guy," she said she had to change her approach for the demanding Eras Tour, which runs over 180 minutes and includes over 40 songs and 16 costume changes. She cut back on drinking, trained with "Dancing With the Stars" choreographer Mandy Moore and works on strength conditioning and weights training.
"Every day I would run on the treadmill, singing the entire set list out loud," Swift said. "Fast for fast songs, and a jog or a fast walk for slow songs."
As a 17-year-old up-and-coming singer, Swift said she received the huge opportunity of being booked as an opener for country singer Chesney's tour. The opportunity fell apart, though, as the tour was sponsored by a beer company and Swift was too young to join. Months later, for Swift's 18th birthday, Chesney sent a check.
"It was for more money than I’d ever seen in my life ... I was able to fuel my dreams," Swift said of the gift.
Swift said her Eras Tour is one part of "a three-part summer of feminine extravaganza," along with Gerwig's "Barbie" film and Beyoncé's Renaissance Tour. But when Swift's and Beyoncé's tours began taking over stadiums, Swift said the media too often juxtaposed the two women.
"There were so many stadium tours this summer, but the only ones that were compared were me and Beyoncé," Swift said. "Clearly it’s very lucrative for the media and stan culture to pit two women against each other, even when those two artists in question refuse to participate in that discussion."
Swift and Beyoncé, who Swift refers to as "a great disrupter of music-industry norms," showed support for each other at the premieres for their recently released concert films. Swift said things women enjoy have historically been labeled "frivolous" by society, but that her success, Beyoncé's success and new feminine art gives her hope for a more equal future.
"What fuels a patriarchal society? Money, flow of revenue, the economy," Swift said. "So actually, if we’re going to look at this in the most cynical way possible, feminine ideas becoming lucrative means that more female art will get made. It’s extremely heartening."
Time's 2023 Person of the Year print magazine can be ordered online. There are three cover options, each featuring a different photo of Swift. Other people honored in the new issue include OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, professional soccer player Lionel Messi and actor Alex Newell.
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