taylor swift

Biography

Taylor Swift is one of the youngest singers in country music history, though certainly not the first teenage country singer. Tanya Tucker had her first top ten hit "Delta Dawn" at only thirteen in 1972. Marie Osmond had her first hit single, "Paper Roses" at only thirteen as well. LeAnn Rimes was thirteen when she charted the Country Top Ten with her first hit single "Blue". Taylor Swift's voice has a quiet sound to it, but she is not afraid to show her country roots in many of her songs.

Rising Success

She was born in Pennsylvania in 1989. She was musically influenced from an early age. Her maternal grandmother was a professional Opera singer who was one of Swift's key inspirations in her musical career during her early life. At the age of ten she began to perform around her hometown, singing at karaoke contests, festivals, and fairs. Her first exposure to the music business consisted of recording demo-tapes at a studio.

When she was eleven, she sang the national anthem at a Philadelphia 76ers game. When she was twelve, she gained interest in the guitar and began to write songs. During this time she also took trips with her family to Nashville, Tennessee, to show her music around. In Nashville she wrote songs with local songwriters. A few years later, she and her family moved to Hendersonville, Tennessee. When she performed at a local restaurant called the Bluebird Cafe, she caught the attention of a veteran of the Nashville music industry, Scott Borchetta. Borchetta wanted to put her on his new label called Big Machine Records.

Current Success (2006)

With the help of Borchetta, Taylor released her self-titled debut album in 2006. Soon afterwards, she released her single "Tim McGraw". The song was written by Swift about one of her biggest musical influences of all-time, Tim McGraw. The song is currently a hit on the U.S. Country charts, currently at #6 there. Like many songwriters, Taylor is inspired to write songs about her current life. Classmates at her high school can often be found guilty as the subjects of many of her songs.

She has included "hidden messages" in each song's lyrics in the booklet of the CD.

Since her success, she has appeared on Good Morning America, and at the 2006 Academy of Country Music Awards. Her pursuit of country music stardom was the subject of "GAC Short Cuts," a part-documentary, part-music video series that aired during the summer of 2006 on the country music channel Great American Country.

Her self-titled debut CD was released on October 24, 2006. It peaked at #19 selling more than 40,000 during its first week. She moved to Nashville with her family in 2003. She sang the national anthem at the November 12, 2006 Nascar race and at the November 23, 2006 Thanksgiving Day football game between the Miami Dolphins and Detroit Lions. She also performed at halftime at a recent Pittsburgh Steelers game.

Recent News

Down in Nashville, Tennessee, seventeen-year-old Taylor Swift certainly isn't shedding any tears on her guitar these days! Following the breakout success of her debut single "Tim McGraw," Taylor is gearing up for the release of her second single "Teardrops On My Guitar." She recently shot the video for the single at a local Nashville high school with none other than One Tree Hill's Tyler Hilton. Hilton also starred in Walk the Line as a young Elvis Presley. Always one to pour her heart into her music, Taylor did just that with "Teardrops On My Guitar." The song echoes Taylor's longing for one-time crush, Drew, while putting on a smile when he's around his girlfriend. "Teardrops On My Guitar" is slated for release in mid-February.

Discography

Albums

Singles

Notes

These are the current positions for Taylor Swift's "Tim McGraw" song. Go to Billboard.com to see current chart positions for Taylor Swift's "Tim McGraw" song by clicking Here.