TIME Magazine proclaimed Taylor Swift as 2023 Person Of The Year and became the first woman to appear twice on the prestigious title cover, her first one being in 2017.
Taylor Swift ends the year with yet another accomplishment as she was declared as TIME’s 2023 Person Of The Year. This is her second time being on the cover, the first one being in 2017.
The prestigious title from TIME becomes awarded to a person or an event regarded to have had the most influence on global events collated over the year.
“This is the proudest and happiest I’ve ever felt, and the most creatively fulfilled and free I’ve ever been,” Swift told TIME.
Modern era’s master storyteller
Swift continues to tell stories the way she best knows how, and that is through her riveting lyrics. She learned to rope in the power of traditional and new media in addition to creating her narrative world, aside from writing songs.
TIME mentioned that 2023 is the year where the singer perfected her craft. It’s not just with music, but also through her position as “the master storyteller of the modern era.”
Most daunting thing Swift ever did
The singer went on tour across America for the most part of the year, with 66 sold-out shows where she sang 40-plus songs. Swift told TIME that in the past she “toured like a frat guy” but started training six months ahead of the first show for the Eras Tour.
She explained that part of her tour regimen is singing the songs she slated on tour on the treadmill. “Fast for fast songs, and a jog or a fast walk for slow songs,” she added. She went on to dance training for three months so that she could immerse completely in the routines.
Swift continued on saying the tour was harder than anything she had ever done before. The Eras Tour spanned through at least nine albums and ran for more than 180 minutes. The concert involved 16 costume changes, pyrotechnics, optical illusions like her “stage dive” after the surprise songs, and two cottagecore worlds.
“Modeling radical self-acceptance”
The beauty of Swift’s onstage performances is not only her intimate lyricism, but she also shows many sides of her: “vulnerable and triumphant, playful and sad.”
The singer goes through her different eras on tour but she doesn’t change her music as per TIME, but embraces them anew. The publication wrote that the singer is modeling “radical self-acceptance” in a huge stage and a global audience.
“You should celebrate who you are now, where you’re going, and where you’ve been,” Swift remarked.
Reputation and re-owning her masters
The singer mentioned her most vulnerable moments in the course of her career, which involved the infamous recorded phone call with Kanye West and Kim Kardashian.
Swift did not mince her words and said the incident took her down “psychologically to a place” she’s never been before. She narrated that she moved to another country, pushed people away, and lost trust. It gave birth to reputation, her sixth studio album.
The album received skepticism and backlash and the singer thought those would define her negatively in the long run. She mentioned as well that her old label second-guessed every creative choice she wanted to implement in her music.
Scott Borchetta sold Swift’s old label, Big Machine, to Ithaca Holdings owner Scooter Braun in 2019. Braun sold her original masters for more than $300 million.
TIME reported that Swift met with Universal Music Group’s chief executive Lucian Grainge and Republic Records’ Monte Lipman about a deal that would allow her more creative freedom. Grainge told the singer that they’ll be proud to put out whatever she creates.
Swift then ventured to own her music through re-recording her first six albums. Singer Kelly Clarkson coaxed and told her to “just redo it.”
She rerecorded her music and dubbed them as “(Taylor’s Version)” with subtle differences to the originals. She released the rerecords with unheard tracks to redirect the albums’ listenership. “It’s all in how you deal with loss,” she told TIME. “I respond to extreme pain with defiance.”
Addressing her dating life
Swift briefly talked about dating NFL star Travis Kelce and that they’ve been dating for quite a while and she’s grateful for it. They had time to get to know each other.
She expressed her opinion about a public relationship, where she said they’re showing up for each other in public and they don’t care. The singer said they’re just proud of each other.
2023 Person Of The Year for arts
Swift became the first person selected due to her accomplishment in the arts. She is also the first woman to be recognized more than once.
People reported that Swift shattered expectations in the last three years, blazing a path for the next generation of female artists.
Chinese President Xi Jinping, Vladimir Putin, Barbie and the striking Hollywood actors and writers joined Swift in TIME‘s candidates for the title, according to BBC.
Banner photo via Instagram @taylorswift.