Happy 36th birthday to the iconic Taylor Swift.
The 14x Grammy-winning superstar, who debuted in 2006, has taken the world by storm era after era, and record after record. Her impact has ranged from her songwriting talents, which landed her a Songwriter Hall of Fame nomination in her first year of eligibility, to the phenomenon of the Eras Tour, which is the highest-grossing tour of all time. She is the first artist in history to hold the entire Top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 multiple times, which no other artist has done once. She was named TIME’s Person of the Year in 2023 and, this year, broke the record for biggest album opening in Billboard 200 history when her twelfth studio album opened at four million units. She also gained ownership to her first six albums and now fully owns her entire discography, which boasts four Album of the Year wins — the most for any singer ever.
THAT GENUINELY MIGHT BE THE BEST MOVIE I HAVE EVER SEEN IN MY ENTIRE LIFE LITERALLY EVER AND I’M NOT EVEN SLIGHTLY EXAGGERATING YOU GUYS OH MY FUCKING GOD WOW I’M A FUCKING WRECK RIGHT NOW. THE ENTIRE TRAJECTORY OF MY LIFE JUST PERMENANTLY CHANGED FOR THE BETTER FOREVER. FOR GOOD!!!!!! I AM AN ENTIRELY NEW PERSON. MY LIFE IS NOW SEPARATED INTO BEFORE WICKED AND AFTER WICKED. I CANNOT PHYSICALLY BRING MYSELF TO GET UP FROM MY SEAT I JUST DON’T WANT THIS TO END IT CAN NEVER END PLEASE DON’T EVER CUT THIS SCREEN TO BLACK. I DON’T WANT TO GO BACK TO ANYTHING ELSE THAT ISN’T THIS WORLD MY GOD WHAT A NEEDED ESCAPE IT’S JUST SO BEAUTIFUL AND EMOTIONAL I’M TEARING UP AGAIN IT WAS SO MAGICAL AND PERFECT AND SO FUCKING POWERFUL AND IMPORTANT AND IS NOW FOREVER A PART OF ME. IT TRULY FED MY SOUL IN A WAY THAT NOTHING EVER HAS BEFORE, I NEEDED THIS SO BADLY. THIS IS NOW AN INTEGRAL PART TO A MAJOR HEALING JOURNEY FOR ME. I LAUGHED. I SANG. I GASPED. I CHEERED AND WHISTLED AND APPLAUDED HARDER THAN MY HANDS EVER HAVE BEFORE. I BAWLED MY EYES OUT AT LEAST 5 SEPARATE TIMES AND HUGGED MYSELF SO TIGHTLY MY HEART WAS POUNDING OUT OF MY CHEST I JUST COULDN’T STOP OR CONTAIN MYSELF. I ATE. I GOT SHOT: I HAD SEVERALLLLLLL LIFE ALTERING EPIPHANIES THIS WHOLE THING JUST REALLY MAKES YOU FUCKING THINK AND FEEL. WOW. I CAN’T BELIEVE THIS FILM IS REAL. THIS IS CINEMA AT IT’S ABSOLUTE FUCKING PEAK I AM IN COMPLETE AND UTTER AWE NOTHING FOR THE REST OF TIME WILL EVER REPLICATE THIS FEELING OR EVER TOP THIS MOMENT RIGHT HERE. THIS IS SO SPECIAL AND I AM BEYOND GRATEFUL TO BE ALIVE RIGHT NOW AND BE SO LUCKY ENOUGH TO EXPERIENCE SUCH RAW POWER AND BEAUTY AND EMOTION. THANK YOU SO MUCH TO EVERYBODY INVOLVED. CYNTHIA AND ARIANA I CRY FOR YOU AND WILL KEEP CRYING FOR YOU, I’M NOT EVEN BEING HYPERBOLIC YOU HAVE CHANGED THE WORLD FOREVER AND DESERVE EVERY ACCOLADE THIS WORLD HAS TO OFFER. EVERY EGOT IS YOURE. AND EVEN THAT ISN’T ENOUGH. THANK YOU SO MUCH. THIS IS REAL IMPACT. I DON’T EVEN KNOW WHAT ELSE TO SAY OTHER THAN THANK YOU. NO PERFORMANCE HAS EVER MATTERED MORE. THE TWO MOST TALENTED BEAUTIFUL MAGNIFICENT PERFECT IMPORTANT PEOPLE IN THE WORLD I AM FOREVER INDEBTED TO YOU THANK YOU. NO WORD IN THE ENGLISH DICTIONARY COULD EVEN BEGIN TO POSSIBLY DESCRIBE THE SHEER LEVEL OF GREATNESS AND POWER I JUST WITNESSED. SOMETHING HAS TRULY CHANGED IN ME AND I WILL NEVER BE THE SAME. I HAVE NOT ONE SINGLE NOTE. EVERY SINGLE THING EXCEEDED PERFECTION. THE ACTING. THE SINGING. THE MUSIC. THE STORY. THE CINEMATOGRAPHY. THE ENTIRE WORLD THAT HAS BEEN CREATED IS SO ONE OF A KIND AND COULD NEVER BE REPLICATED TO THIS SPECTACULAR AGAIN. I HAVE NEVER FELT THIS SPECIFIC FUSION OF EVERY SINGLE EMOTION AT ONCE THISSSS INTENSELY I CAN’T CONTROL MY BODY THERE IS SO MUCH FUCKING ELECTRIC RUNNING PULSATING ME I FEEL LIKE I CAN FLY AND ALSO RUN 50 MILES AND ALSO CHANGE THE ENTIRE WORLD I DON’T KNOW HOW TO CONTROL IT OTHER THAN TO JUST START CRYING AGAIN. I WILL NEVER SHUT UP ABOUT THIS EVER AND THE SECOND I PRESS SEND ON THIS I AM BUYING A TICKET FOR TOMORROW. I HAVE NEVER FELT SO HAPPY AND SO EMOTIONAL AND SO PROUD AND SO BLESSED AND SO READY FOR EVERYTHING AHEAD OF ME IN LIFE. I AM GOING TO BE OKAY :’))) LIFE IS SO FUCKING PRECIOUS AND ALL OF YOU ARE SO SPECIAL AND IMPORTANT AND BEAUTIFUL!!!!! THANK YOU FOR BEING YOU!!!! I AM SO PROUD OF YOU AND I LOVE YOU SO MUCH, YOU ARE DOING SUCH AN AMAZING JOB AND ARE CAPABLE OF LITERALLY ANYTHING!!!!!! THE OPTIONS FOR YOUR FUTURE ARE UNLIMITED!!!!!! KEEP BEING GOOD!!!!!!!! 5/5
Tonight all these lives converge here
The mosaics of laughter and cocktails of tears
Where fraternal souls sing identical things
And it’s beautiful
It’s rapturous.
It is frightening.
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I can’t tell you how proud I am to share this with you, an album that just feels so right. A forever thank you goes out to my mentors and friends Max and Shellback for helping me paint this self portrait.
If you thought the big show was wild, perhaps you should come and take a look behind the curtain...
The Life of a Showgirl is out now.
https://t.co/VetltwlcoJ
Album Producers: Max Martin, Shellback and Taylor Swift
📸: Mert Alas & Marcus Piggott