Whether you like her or not, Taylor Swift has been truly inescapable in 2023. So it makes perfect sense that she was named Time magazine's Person of the Year on Dec. 6.
"This is the proudest and happiest I’ve ever felt, and the most creatively fulfilled and free I’ve ever been," the pop star told the outlet. "Ultimately, we can convolute it all we want, or try to overcomplicate it, but there’s only one question… Are you not entertained?"
Pop star Taylor Swift has been named Time magazine's Person of the Year for 2023.
She beat out finalists including Sam Altman, King Charles III and Barbie to join the ranks populated by Barack Obama, Greta Thunberg and Volodymyr Zelensky.
In her interview, Swift came off as a sincere storyteller with a deeply calculated approach to her public image and business dealings. Her ubiquity in a cultural moment that's been so deeply fractured by the internet says a lot about her star power. "She’s the last monoculture left in our stratified world," Time's Sam Lansky wrote.
The singer-songwriter was Spotify's most popular artist of 2023 with 26.1 billion streams. She also became the first living artist to have five different albums in the US Top 10 at the same time – 1989, Midnights, Folklore, Lover and Speak Now, BBC reported. Swift has broken glass ceilings, as well. This year she and her 13 chart-topping LPs broke the record for the most No. 1 albums by a woman in US chart history.
Swift is also a behemoth when it comes to concerts and other events. She sold 4.1 million tickets for her Eras Tour, some of which fetched more than $20,000 on the secondary market. The concerts were a powerful economic driver that made dozens of cities into ephemeral Swiftie boom towns. The Eras tour movie became the highest-grossing concert film of all time when it $249 million worldwide.
The musician was also included on Forbes' Most Powerful Women list and made it to the top of People's Most Intriguing People list.
The pop star's personal life has been turned into tabloid fodder this year, which is nothing new for her. Swift broke up with actor Joe Alwyn in April after they had been together for six years. Her brief entanglement with the 1975's Matt Healy rocketed the frontman into the global spotlight. Swift's more serious relationship with Travis Kelce, a tight end for the Kansas City Chiefs, has been a boon for the NFL. Millions of additional viewers have tuned into Chiefs games so they can witness Swift cheering her man on.
Swift was born and raised in Pennsylvania, where she spent part of her childhood on a Christmas tree farm in Berks County. Music is in the performer's blood. Her grandmother Marjorie Finlay was a renowned opera singer and TV star. Swift and her family moved to Nashville when the star was a teenager so she could pursue her music career. These days the artist spends much of her time at her apartment in New York City, which is where she was interviewed by Lansky.
The singer-songwriter was Spotify's most popular artist of 2023 with 26.1 billion streams.
This year she became the first living artist to have five different albums in the US Top 10 at the same time.
Swift's relationship with NFL star Travis Kelce has also made headlines.
The pop star's appearances at Kelce's games have led millions of additional viewers to tune in.
