Taylor Swift (Taylor Alison Swift, born 13 December 1989) is an American singer-songwriter who has become one of the best-selling and most influential musicians in the world. She has won 14 Grammy Awards, including a record four for Album of the Year, and her Eras Tour was the first tour to gross more than $2 billion. In July 2026 she married the American football player Travis Kelce. This biography follows her life and career up to November 2026.
Taylor Swift at a Glance
| Full name | Taylor Alison Swift |
| Born | 13 December 1989, West Reading, Pennsylvania, United States |
| Age | 36 (as of November 2026) |
| Profession | Singer-songwriter and record producer |
| Debut album | Taylor Swift (24 October 2006) |
| Latest album | The Life of a Showgirl (3 October 2025) |
| Grammy Awards | 14, including four for Album of the Year |
| Biggest tour | The Eras Tour (2023-2024), about $2.08 billion gross across 149 shows |
| Spouse | Travis Kelce (married 3 July 2026) |
Early Life and Move to Nashville
Swift was born in West Reading, Pennsylvania, to Scott Swift, a stockbroker, and Andrea Swift, a marketing executive, and has a younger brother, Austin. She was named after the singer James Taylor. When she was 14 her father transferred to the Nashville office of his firm and the family moved to Hendersonville, Tennessee, so that she could pursue a country music career. In 2004 she signed a publishing deal with Sony/ATV Tree Music Publishing at 14, making her the youngest songwriter the company had signed, and she then signed a recording contract with Big Machine Records.
From Country Beginnings to Pop
Her debut album, Taylor Swift, was released on 24 October 2006. She followed it with Fearless (2008), which won the first of her Album of the Year Grammys, Speak Now (2010) and Red (2012). She moved into pop with 1989 (2014), and later released Reputation (2017), Lover (2019), the surprise albums Folklore and Evermore (both 2020), Midnights (2022) and The Tortured Poets Department (2024).
Grammys and Records
Swift has won 14 Grammy Awards. Midnights won Album of the Year at the ceremony on 4 February 2024, making her the first artist to win the award four times. Her earlier Album of the Year wins were for Fearless, 1989 and Folklore. She is also the solo artist with the most number-one albums on the Billboard 200, with 15. Her twelfth studio album, The Life of a Showgirl, sold 4.002 million equivalent album units in its first week in the United States according to Luminate, the biggest first week in modern music history.
The Eras Tour and Owning Her Masters
The Eras Tour began in March 2023 and ended in December 2024 after 149 shows. Her production company reported a gross of $2,077,618,725 and 10,168,008 attendees, making it the highest-grossing tour ever. In 2019 Big Machine Records, which owned the recordings of her first six albums, was sold to Scooter Braun, and in 2020 she began re-recording the albums as the "Taylor's Version" releases. In May 2025 she completed the purchase of the masters of those six albums.
Personal Life
Swift began dating Travis Kelce of the Kansas City Chiefs in 2023 and they became engaged in August 2025. They were married at Madison Square Garden in New York City on 3 July 2026 in a ceremony officiated by the comedian Adam Sandler. She was named Time Person of the Year in 2023.
Legacy
Swift has become known for writing her own songs and for taking control of her own catalogue, and her fan base has made her a rare artist who can influence tourism, retail and sport as well as the charts. The number of records she has already set makes her career one of the most closely followed in modern music.
