I live with a Swiftie – I know, it doesn’t make me unique, and yes I’m thinking of starting a support group – but it’s a constant part of everyday life in our household.  My sister Margaret, who happens to be Co-Editor In Chief of this Journalism program, basically lives for two things: Taylor Swift, and the Boston Celtics (and not always in that order).  I know so much about Taylor Swift that I could probably write Part One of her Biography at this point.  My sister is a walking, talking encyclopedia of all things Taylor Swift – sound like anyone you know?  Of course, it does because like locusts – they’re everywhere.  So inspired by her NFL Star Boyfriend Travis Kelce’s recent commercial “Two Things At Once” – I’m dedicating this article to looking at Taylor Swift from two points of view: The one that is sick and tired of the never-ending Swift coverage (I do get the irony here), and the fact that what she is doing right now hasn’t been seen in the world of entertainment in a very long time. 

Let’s start with the movement: Taylor Swift and her millions of crazed fans that drive all the rest of us occasionally crazy. She burst onto the scene in the early 2000s as a singer-songwriter in the world of Country Music. Within a decade she became one of the biggest stars in the music industry period.  She fully embraced the world of pop music and ever since has gained the type of fame that we seldom see today.  Her fans know everything about her: her birthday (December 13, 1989), the long list of boyfriends and bad breakups & the songs she wrote about them, where she grew up (A Christmas Tree farm in Pennsylvania), the beef with Kanye (which doesn’t make her special, but still), the Scooter Braun drama (and drama is putting it mildly), and on and on and on. Seeing her in concert just on this last Era’s Tour (which smashed box office records both in person, and the filmed version in theaters last fall), became such an event that it literally broke the country’s oldest ticketing system and caused mass outrage that nearly took Ticket Master under. 

These Swifties are not just loyal – they are Taylor’s legion of Ride or Die’s. Say something bad about Taylor Swift in their presence – but make sure there are no breakable objects around when you do.  Give credit to one of the bad breakups – and again – get out of harm’s way.  Misquote her, get a hidden “Easter Egg” wrong, or do anything that they deem as intended to harm her – and you will get the full force of their brutality – and I wish I was being dramatic. And Swifties are everywhere – they are not just teenage girls.  Men and women of all ages and backgrounds pledge the Taylor Swift oath – and then there are the “Secret Swifties”– those who choose to worship in private. My father, who despises most modern music, has two Taylor Swift songs on his random playlist. When asked why, he simply replies “It’s got a good hook”. This is the same guy who said back in November when we went to the movies on a night that the concert film was also playing “All these people coming in with big signs do realize she’s not actually here right?”. Can’t help but laugh at that one.

So maybe it’s not her, maybe it’s all of them that make it hard for some of us who secretly like a few of her songs or maybe even an album, to embrace her. How many times have you been playing a song and had a parent ask what it is, only to find out a few weeks later that it’s been added to their streaming library? How many times has the same thing happened, only in reverse? And the media coverage, the ten breaking news alerts I get every time she attends a Chiefs game or holds hands with someone in public, or has a surprise drop at midnight of a new version of an old song – it doesn’t help. She is literally everywhere all the time. This brings me to the other point I need to make, and it’s why I saved it for last.

We haven’t seen someone become this type of a Mega Star in a long, long time. Our parents and grandparents all grew up in an age where people who had legit talent and brought something new and fresh with big personalities – weren’t all that uncommon. Sinatra, Elvis, The Beatles, Streisand, MJ, Madonna, and Garth Brooks – all took not just the recording industry by storm – but the world right along with it. Many of them went on to movies and became permanent fixtures in pop culture. And even though just in the last twenty years or so we’ve seen some names rise to the top for a while, none of them, not even Beyonce – have dominated everything the way Taylor Swift has. Let’s take a look at just some of the major accomplishments she’s had:

• 12 Grammys, and she’s expected to win a lot more this year.
• An Emmy Award
• 117 Guinness World Records
• Highest Grossing Female Touring Act of All Time
• Era’s Tour – Highest Grossing Tour of All Time
• Beat Elvis’s Record for most weeks atop the Billboard 200 (68 weeks total)

Most recently she added the distinction of being the first ever Solo Female Act to be named Time Magazine Person of the Year. Forbes named her the Fifth Most Powerful Woman in the World, and the first-ever entertainer to crack the top five. Political experts believe she could actually sway this year’s Presidential election if she wanted to – sound like another Mega Star entertainer we already mentioned (I’m looking at you Ole Blue Eyes!). If you don’t know who Old Blue Eyes is well I can’t really help you there. Go look up Frank Sinatra and you’ll see what I’m talking about.

She’s a cultural icon and many industry experts consider her a marketing genius. We are literally witnessing history with every move she has made in recent years. And consider this: she’s not very controversial, keeps her system of beliefs mostly to herself, and all things considered actually comes off as somewhat humble in the rare interviews that she does grant.  She’s had typical celebrity problems: the dating history is the big one, she’s had a few stalkers in which law enforcement had to get involved, and of course, there’s the Kanye thing.  But overall she is fairly vanilla when you compare her actual personality to the global superstar that she has become. 

Perhaps most impressive of all: she’s only 34.  If she retired today (did you hear that massive gasp from the Swifties?) she would go down in history as one of the greatest-selling artists of all time. In the current format of streaming, it would take decades of above-average streams just to top what she has already done since streaming was introduced. 

So, I guess if we really do hold two things in our brains at once – she really is a big deal. Credit her – she actually does deserve it.  Muzzle them – they also deserve it…