Taylor Swift has won millions of hearts worldwide with her talent and performances. She is also successful and popular among fans for her songwriting skills. People love her and feel connected because she writes about her life in her songs.
Lately, Taylor has been making headlines for her Eras Tour. On July 13-14, she performed at San Siro Stadium in Milan, Italy.
For the uninitiated, the Eras Tour began on March 17, 2023, in Arizona (US) and will end on December 8, 2024, in Vancouver (Canada). Apparently, ticket sales were met with record-setting demand, and at every venue, tickets were sold out in hours!
Before you hit the theatres or watch her next performance, read on to learn some fun facts about the pop superstar.
Real Name, Pseudonym & Nicknames
Let’s start the list with her name! The superstar pop singer’s real name is Taylor Alison Swift, inspired by the singer-songwriter and Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame member James Taylor. Her mother believed that having a gender-neutral name would be helpful for her business career.
Did you know that she also picked a pseudonym, Nils Sjoberg, which is the two most popular names in Sweden? She has written several songs under this name. She co-wrote the song “This Is What You Came For” with Calvin Harris, which featured Rihanna. Calvin won the MTV Video Music Award for Best Male Video in 2016. Taylor confirmed about this pseudonym in an interview with Rolling Stone in November 2020.
Some of her nicknames are Tay Tay, Swifty and T-Swizzle. Her fans are known as “Swifties”.
Taylor’s Initial Days
In a media interview, Tay revealed that she grew up on a Christmas tree farm – Pine Ridge Farm (Pennsylvania) from ages five to 10. Her father apparently bought the farm from one of his clients. Since she spent her favourite Christmas holidays there, the farm was an important part of her childhood. She wrote a Christmas song about it “Christmas Tree Farm” in 2019, as it was special experience for her.
Below is the song, including footage of her childhood on the farm.
She Won National Poetry Contest
She wrote a poem in her fourth grade, “A Monster in My Closet”, for which she won a national poetry contest held by Creative Communication.
Taylor Followed Her Grandmother’s Footsteps
Taylor followed in her grandmother Marjorie Finlay’s footsteps, who was a professional opera singer. By age 10, she sang at several local events, such as fairs and contests. She won a local talent competition, where she sang LeAnn Rimes’ “Big Deal.”
Bagged Contract At The Age Of 14
When she was 11, she sang “The Star-Spangled Banner” at a Philadelphia 76ers game. At the age of 12, she started writing her own songs. She often visited Nashville, Tennessee, to pursue her music career. She not only co-wrote songs but also tried to get record contracts. At the age of 14, a mind-blowing performance at The Bluebird Café in Nashville helped her bag a contract with Scott Borchetta’s Big Machine Records.
How She Started Developing Fanbase?
To develop her fan base, she started using Myspace during her initial years, which was considered unique in country music.
Taylor’s Firsts
In 2006, she released her first single, “Tim McGraw”, which was among the top ten songs on the country charts. Her first album, released in October 2006, sold over 2.5 million copies.
13 Is Her Lucky Number, You Will Be Amazed To Know Why!
Taylor is not triskaidekaphobic and has a cosmic connection with “13”. She was born on December 13 (1989) and turned 13 on Friday, the 13th. She doodled 13 on her hand before each performance. She revealed the reason for this in an interview, wherein she said that her first album went gold in 13 weeks, and her first No. 1 song had a 13-second introduction. Every time she won an award, she was seated either on the 13th seat or 13th row or row M- which is the 13th letter. Her song “The Lucky One” is the 13th track on her album Red.
Even the number reversed holds a special place in her heart. She revealed that numbers rule her world. The numbers 13 and 89 are big ones. It has to be recalled that she released her album “1989” in 2014. When she turned 31, she released “Folklore” and “Evermore.” The albums had 16 and 15 songs, adding up to 31 tracks (13 backwards).
Treasure Hunt For Fans- Decode Taylor’s Secrets Through Her Songs
In the lyrics of her songs, she includes secret messages for her fans. These “codes” or “hints” are not tough to break. The lyrics of her songs are usually written in lowercase, but a few random letters are capitalised. You can decode or find the hint by noting these capital letters. For instance, she revealed the name of the guy (SAM) who cheated on her in her song “Should’ve Said No.” Isn’t that amazing?
These coded lyrics cannot be found online, as they are only available in her CD jackets or official lyric sheets.
Taylor Knows To Play THESE Musical Instruments
Despite being told that her fingers were small, she didn’t get discouraged and learned to play the guitar at the age of 12. Her local computer repairman and musician Ronnie Cremer taught her how to play a few guitar chords, which is when she penned her first song, “Lucky You.” She can also play the banjo, piano, and ukulele.
Taylor Learnt Horseback Riding
In an interview with Vogue, Taylor revealed that her mother wanted her to be a horseback rider. Although she worked on it until she was 12, she gave up on it. She told her mother she didn’t love it like her mother did!
She loves horses; interestingly, we can see horses in many of her music videos.
Wrote A Novel At The Age Of 14
At the age of 14, she wrote a novel “A Girl Named Girl”. Her parents have the last remaining copy. Taylor enjoyed horseback riding, which was her mother’s thing!
She Is A Great Actress
Apart from singing and writing songs, Taylor is also a great actress. She made her acting debut on television with CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, wherein she played the role of a rebellious teenager, Haley Jones. She had a cameo appearance in Hannah Montana: The Movie. She was seen in the American romantic comedy Valentine’s Day, in which she played the role of Felicia Miller. She appeared in the American dystopian drama film The Giver, where she was seen as Rosemary.
Hosting & Voice Actress
As a musical guest, she hosted and performed on Saturday Night Live. With this, she became the first host to write their opening monologue. She voiced Audrey in the American animated musical fantasy comedy film The Lorax.
Taylor Is Obsessed With Cats
Taylor is obsessed with cats and has often explained why she loves them. In an interview with TIME, she revealed that cats are very dignified, independent, and “very capable” of dealing with their own lives.
Her oldest cats are Olivia Benson and Meredith Grey, named after the Law and Order: Special Victims Unit and Grey’s Anatomy characters, respectively. Her third cat, Benjamin Button, is named after Brad Pitt’s character from the film The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.
Wrote Songs For Other Artists
Not just writing her own songs, she has written songs for other artists too. She has written songs for Calvin Harris and Little Big Town. For Miley Cyrus, she wrote, “You’ll Always Find Your Way Back Home”. She collaborated with Kellie Pickler and Swift on the song “Best Days of Your Life”.
Songs Had Lines That She Wished She Could Text Message!
The pop superstar expressed her emotions by writing it in her songs, and in a 2014 interview with Rolling Stone, she revealed that her song had lines that she wished she “could text-message somebody in real life”. While she is usually tight-lipped about those she speaks about in her songs, sometimes she does mention a few names (like in her “folklore” and “evermore”, to name a few).
Helps A Fan To Fulfil Her Last Wish
Swift helped a 4-year-old fan battling terminal brain cancer fulfil her final wish from her bucket list: “to dance to ‘Shake It Off’ with Tay Tay.” The singer spent 20 minutes on the phone with her to make this wish come true. Swift sends flowers after the girl passes away, wishing them all love.
Swift’s Philanthropic Efforts
She has donated to various relief funds following natural disasters and to cancer research. Since she supports arts, she donated $75,000 to Nashville’s Hendersonville High School to help refurbish the school auditorium. She teamed up with the Tennessee Association of Chiefs of Police to launch a campaign that focused on protecting children from online predators. She donated $15,500 to a fan whose mother had been in a coma for three years and $10,000 to the service dog of a boy with autism. These are just a few instances of her philanthropic acts and kindness. She has made many such donations at many places and helped many of her fans in some way or the other.
For her dedication to helping others, Taylor was awarded “The Big Help Award,” which Lady Michelle Obama presented in 2012.
Biggest Musical Influence
Popular female country singers influenced Taylor during the 90’s. Shania Twain and Faith Hill were her big musical influencers. She is devoted to Britney Spears.
Taylor’s BFF Squad
Some of the names from her BFF squad are Selena Gomez, Abigail Anderson Lucier, Gigi Hadid, Martha Hunt and Karlie Kloss. Selena and Taylor share a decade-long friendship. They have been friends since 2008. On the other hand, Abigail and Taylor have known each other since high school and have been friends since then. Gigi Hadid, who has been her “girl squad” since 2014, shows up to Taylor’s shows to support her. Martha and Swift met each other at the 2013 Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show and have been friends since then.
Starbucks Selling Taylor’s Favorite Drink
Grande Caramel Nonfat Latte is her go-to Starbucks drink. Fans can order their favourite drink at Starbucks by just asking for “Taylor’s Latte” or “Taylor’s Version.”
Taylor’s 8-Bedroom House In Rhode Island
She owns an eight-bedroom summer house in coastal Watch Hill, Rhode Island, worth $17.75 million. The 11,000-square-foot estate has eight fireplaces, ten bathrooms, and a sprawling back patio with a massive pool.
Owns A Private Jet
She owns a Dassault Falcon 900 private jet, registered as N898TS, which has her initials and reflects her personal connection to her lucky number 13.
Fans Star In Her Music Video “Shake It off”
Many of her fans were reportedly seen in her music video “Shake It Off.” The production team took extreme measures to keep this a secret. This music video holds a major YouTube record—it has crossed 3 billion views. Even after nine years of its release, it was one of the top 20 most-watched videos of all time.
Invited Fans To Her House & Baked Cookies
For a listening party of “1989”, 89 of her fans were invited to her Rhode Island house. She apparently even baked cookies for them. Beating Disney’s Frozen soundtrack, 1989, became the top-selling album of 2014.
She Likes Baking & Cooking
She loves baking and often speaks about her passion for the same. She loves cooking for her friends and made cinnamon rolls for her boyfriend, Travis Kelce, before one of his games. Taylor’s cowriter, Aaron Dessner, revealed to People that she cooked breakfast and dinner for everyone.
Her 3 Comfort Food
In 2010, she told WebMD that her comfort foods are burgers, fries, ice cream, and homemade cookies.
Favorite Alcoholic Beverage
When having brunch with friends, her favourite alcoholic beverage is chilled vodka with diet Coke.
Her Favorite Show
Swift is obsessed with Phoebe Waller-Bridge and the sitcom Friends. In an interview with GQ, she said that after performing and meeting fans, she likes to go home and watch the American sitcom. In an interview with Vogue, when she was asked if there was any song that she wished she had written, she mentioned it would be the theme song of Friends, “I’ll Be There For You”.
Apparently, her favourite episode is when everyone learns that Monica and Chandler are dating. She even enacted Phoebe’s hilarious expression, “Monica, Chandler! My eyes!?” in a magazine shoot’s behind-the-scenes.
Taylor’s Favorite Books
Her all-time favourites, regardless of genre, are The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald, and To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. Some of her favourite mystery books are Murder on the Orient Express and And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie.
She has taken inspiration from several books for her music videos. “Evermore” was inspired by Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier. During the 2022 Nashville Songwriter Awards, she revealed how her songwriting process connects with literature.
She’s Sacred Of…
In an interview with Ellen DeGeneres, she revealed that her number one fear is sea urchins. She said that while snorkelling in Australia, she stepped on one and had to pull out the spikes from her foot. She also revealed that because of sea urchins, she is afraid of swimming in the ocean.
She is also scared of earwigs, as they are creepy and gross. She mentioned that she had freaked out when she found it (earwigs) in her bathroom.
She also avoids reading online comments and articles about her, as they might affect her mood and self-esteem. She prefers to focus on her music and fans. She fears getting arrested and is afraid of cynics, as she feels that they can make her doubt herself and her dreams. The singer is also afraid of death, not having happy endings, and is terrified of spiders and snakes.
Things You Find In Her Fridge
Six things can be found in one’s refrigerator: Diet Coke, orange juice, eggs, thinly sliced ham and chicken, binge food like cookie dough or a tube of cinnamon rolls, and Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese.
Song On Her Mother’s Cancer Battle
Her music video, “Soon You’ll Get Better”, is about her mother’s cancer battle. She revealed that she might never perform for this song again. In August 2019, during a Q&A session as part of a SiriusXM Town Hall special, she revealed that this song was “hard to write, hard to sing, hard to listen” for her, but added that sometimes music is like that.
Other Interesting Facts
The Grammy-winning artist has an aquarium in her living room filled with vintage baseballs. Her Tribeca apartment in New York has a separate guest bedroom for her best friend, Karlie Kloss. In her Nashville home, she has framed a photograph of her infamous onstage encounter with Kanye West with the caption, “Life is full of little interruptions.”
Have arrived in the land of cat cafes and eternal cuteness TOKYO HI 💕🌸🍭🍬🎆 I’m off to stare into pastel aquariums and hug all the people CAN’T WAIT TO SEE YOU GUYS LATER! pic.twitter.com/M2uvgIHe4i
— Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) November 6, 2019
