By Keely Mills, Volunteer Writer
Though it does not always seem like it, Taylor Swift is America’s sweetheart. She is a famous icon of the current music industry. Some might call Swift the model of modern American femininity.
Swift has been climbing the ranks of fame and fortune ever since her career began practically 17 years ago. With the Dixie Chicks (now the Chicks) and Shania Twain as her songwriting inspiration, Swift got her start running in and out of country music record labels all around Nashville, asking them to sign with her. At this time, she was only 13 years old (Ray, Britannica). Soon enough, she was signed with RCA Records and then with Big Machine label. Swift released her first hit single, “Tim McGraw” during the summer of 2006. This hit the Billboard country music single charts with a smashing success. Swift was only 16 years old when she released her debut album as a country music artist.
Her first two albums, her debut and her next album, Fearless were put into the country genre. However, when she came out with her third album, Speak Now, her music had morphed into the pop category of contemporary music. Since this shift from country to pop, her music has reached new heights and because of this, it has also touched much broader audiences. For example, audiences ranging from young elementary school age girls to women in their thirties now listen to her music. Her breakthrough with this genre change has caused her considerable success in the music industry. Not only this, but she has rerecorded almost all of her older albums with new songs added to them. This has opened the door for her fame and net worth to expand enormously.
What originally started as playing at country music festivals in Tennessee and opening for George Strait (country music king) at rodeos and tours has turned into a billion dollar career, with sold out stadium tours and everyone screaming her song lyrics.
Never was a female artist more well known than Taylor Swift. Furthermore, never were people more invested in and enamored with a celebrity’s life than Swift’s fans, otherwise known as “Swifties”. Her love life has been put on display for all the world to see because of the type of songs she writes. Every time she is seen out with a new man, the press jumps on it immediately. With this being stated, right now, this new beau is hot NFL star Travis Kelce, a tight end for the Kansas City Chiefs.
The two have been publicly “dating” or at least seen out together now for a couple months. Photos of her at a Chiefs home game in September went absolutely viral on news outlets and social media.
The NFL is seemingly becoming Swiftionized, and it is as if young women have this sudden newfound love and interest for professional football. As the “swifties'' would call him, Kelce was just an average Chiefs player, a normal highly paid athlete. However now, he has become incredibly popular and nationally famous practically overnight. It is all thanks to Swift’s big reputation.
An article from the Hollywood Reporter about Swift’s engagement with the NFL states, “The NFL’s official apparel partner, Fanatics, saw a 400 percent spike in sales of Kelce jerseys on Sept. 24, the day Swift attended her first Chiefs game, a company spokesperson said, while Kelce has gained half a million new followers on Instagram” (Weprin, Porter, “The NFL’s Taylor Swift Era: Who Wins the Most?”).
Moreover, the article also notes that the NBC station for Sunday Night Football has seen a large increase in female viewers since Swift’s appearance in Kansas City on September 24. “The bump among women ages 18-24 and over 35, the network said, resulted in an increase of more than 2 million female viewers.”
According to a recent Bloomberg analysis, Taylor Swift is now a national billionaire due to her fantastic success in the Eras Tour.
