Following the release of Midnights, Taylor Swift’s career has skyrocketed to new heights. A billion-dollar tour, an immensely successful concert movie, and the re-release of two of her most critically acclaimed albums moved her from an extremely successful pop star to a pop icon in a matter of months. This crazy amount of success and media coverage has brewed up some hate against the artist, which shows that no success goes without resentment and jealousy from others.
Eras Tour
Starting on March 17, The Eras Tour took the world by storm. Swift sold 4.35 million tickets on 6 continents, amassing just over 1 billion dollars, making it the highest-grossing tour of all time.
Throughout the tour, many major events have affected Swift as well as fans. In April, rumors of Swift and her long-time boyfriend Joe Alwyn ran rampant and were eventually confirmed by sources close to Swift. On May 5, Swift surprised fans in Nashville with the announcement of Speak Now (Taylor’s Version). On May 26, Swift released an extended version of the hit album Midnights featuring a new song called “Hits Different,” a new version of “Karma” that features Ice Spice, and a new version of “Snow on the Beach” featuring Lana Del Rey. During her time in Seattle, fans caused seismic activity because of their apparently ‘earthquake-inducing’ dancing. On August 3rd in Los Angeles, California, Bianka Bryant, Kobe Bryant’s six-year-old daughter, received the signed 22 hat. On August 9, the last night of the first U.S. tour, which also took place in Los Angeles, Swift announced her next re-release, 1989 (Taylor’s Version). In September, more rumors spread about Swift’s possible relationship with football player Travis Kelce, which were later confirmed by the couple.
Awards
Swift won nine VMAs this year, setting a record for the most wins in one night and the second-most overall wins with 23 VMAs. She has passed by Madonna and now is three awards behind Beyonce. At the 2023 Grammys, Swift won a Grammy for “All Too Well: The Short Film,” making Grammy history as the first artist to win this category as the sole director on the project. In November, Swift was named Apple Music Artist of the Year. She also won 10 Billboard Music Awards and 6 iHeartRadio Awards.
Eras Tour Movie
On October 13, Swift released a concert film for her 2023 tour, The Eras Tour. In its first weekend, the movie grossed over 92 million dollars and made over 250 million in total. This is Swift’s sixth concert film and is the highest-grossing concert film of 2023. Filmed during her 6-day mini-residency at Sofi-stadium in Los Angeles, the film takes parts from three of the six nights. On Swift’s birthday, December 13th, the extended version of the film came out, featuring three songs that weren’t on the original version, “Long Live,” “The Archer,” and “Wildest Dreams.”
Taylor’s Version
On July 7th, 2023, the long-awaited Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) came out, Swift’s third re-release. It is a re-release of Swift’s third album, Speak Now, which was originally released in 2010. The re-release features six never-heard-before songs from the vault, “Electric Touch,” “Timeless,” “I Can See You,” “Foolish One,” “Castles Crumbling,” and “When Emma Falls in Love.” 
Later this year, 1989 (Taylor’s Version), was released on October 27, nine years after the album’s initial release. This album has five vault tracks, “Is It Over Now?,” “Now That We Don’t Talk,” “Say Don’t Go,” “Suburban Legends,” and “Slut!” The song “Is It Over Now?,” reached number one on the Billboard Top 100, dethroning one of her songs off of the album Lover, “Cruel Summer.” She has topped the charts for seven weeks this year. This was Swift’s fourth re-release. The final two albums waiting to be re-released are Reputation and her debut album, Taylor Swift.
Time Magazine Person of the Year
Posed with her cat Benjamin Button, Taylor Swift took on the title of Time Magazine Person of the Year. In the article, Swift talks about the start of her career and the twists and turns that have taken her to this exact moment. Fans and non-fans alike were shocked by Swift’s training ahead of the Eras Tour. Swift would recite the entire three-hour set list while running on a treadmill, she would also strength train and take many dance lessons. Swift also brought up the Kanye West and Kim Kardashian drama that inspired her hit album Reputation. This title being given to Taylor Swift did not go without criticism. Many noted that there were much more influential candidates in terms of political influence. Some possibilities for the title were Barbie, Hollywood Strikers, Xi Jinping, Vladimir Putin, King Charles, Jerome Powell, Trump Prosecutors, and Sam Altman.
Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_awards_and_nominations_received_by_Taylor_Swift
https://time.com/6342806/person-of-the-year-2023-taylor-swift/
