Taylor Swift

At age 14 she was the youngest staff songwriter ever hired by the Sony/ATV Tree publishing house. Now, at 22 Taylor Swift is one of the most famous country music starlets.

Her journey has begun in 2000, when she sent a demo tape of her singing with karaoke songs to every label in Nashville only to be rejected and six years later to receive multi-platinum for her debut album. Then, in 2008, with the release of her second album, Fearless, her name was on everybody’s lips. She nabbed four Grammy Awards, including the Album of the Year, at the 52nd Grammy Awards and the album topped the Billboard 200 for 11 non-consecutive weeks, a record for such a young artist. A year later, she was named Artist of the Year by Billboard Magazine and with each year that has gone by, her bank account got thicker and thicker. If in 2009 she was on No. 69 in Forbes magazine with earnings of $18 million, in 2010 she was on the 12th position in the top of most powerful celebrities, with earnings of $45 million. Besides, this year, Nielsen Sound Scan declared her as the most commercially successful country artist in music history with over 33 million digital tracks and over 20 million albums sold in the entire world.

But how did she manage to become so successful at such a green age? The answer is simple: a lot of talent and a drop of luck. She took the best from the musical legacy of Shania Twain, Tina Turner, Patsy Cline and Dolly Parton, she added her own unique voice and songwriting skills and so she managed to stretch boundaries and impose herself as a true artist.

Her tracks are always offering something new and refreshing and the media keeps on fueling her aura with all sorts of details. For instance, a British magazine recently wrote that our beloved star has written a song in an airport bathroom on a paper towel. True or not, the key of her success is her army of fans. Taylor Swift knows that without them she wouldn’t be on top 10, nor sell so much. And in order to show her gratitude for her supporters, Swift is going to embark this week on a US tour. “Speak Now Tour” is dedicated to them, as the singer wants to thank them personally and show them who their idol really is, because, after all, without her fans, her latest album Speak Now wouldn’t have gone triple platinum.

“We get to have such groovy, cool stuff happening… I’ve never had pyro before. I’ve never had aerialists before. It’s got this grand staircase,” she said. “The stage in itself looks like an old-world theater. I can’t believe we get to play stadiums. I’m so excited about this tour. I want to live on that stage. I hope people leave the concert feeling like they know [me] better. I’m so blown away. That’s why I can’t wait to go out on tour and thank [my fans] personally.”