Coordinates	6°7′55″N1°13′22″N
title	Billboard
image file	Billboard logo.svg
editor	Danyel Smith
frequency	Weekly
circulation	16,327
company	Prometheus Global Media
firstdate	1894
country	United States
language	English
website
issn	0006-2510 }}

''Billboard'' is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis. The two most notable charts are the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, which ranks the top 100 songs regardless of genre and is based on physical sales, digital sales and radio airplay; and the ''Billboard'' 200, the corresponding chart for album sales.

History

''Billboard'' was founded in Cincinnati on November 1, 1894, by William H. Donaldson and James H. Hennegan. Originally titled ''Billboard Advertising'' it was a trade paper for the bill posting industry, hence the magazine's name. Within a few years of its founding, it began to carry news of outdoor amusements, a major consumer of billboard space. Eventually ''Billboard'' became the paper of record for circuses, carnivals, amusement parks, fairs, vaudeville, minstrels, whale shows and other live entertainment. The magazine began coverage of motion pictures in 1909 and of radio in the 1920s.

With the development of the jukebox industry during the 1930s, ''The Billboard'' began publishing music charts. Originally, there were only three genre-specific charts: Pop, Rhythm & Blues, and Country & Western. In the 1950s it introduced a section covering the television industry, including ratings charts for programs. It continued to carry news of fairs, carnivals, theme parks and other outdoor entertainments until 1961 when these departments were spun off into a new weekly magazine called ''Amusement Business''. By this time the television coverage had also been moved to another publication.

At the start of 1961, ''The Billboard'' was renamed ''Billboard Music Week''. The publication was now devoted almost entirely to the music industry, with some coverage of coin-operated vending and entertainment machines on its jukebox pages. The title was changed to simply ''Billboard'' at the start of 1963. In 2005, the magazine and its web sites were repositioned to provide coverage of all forms of digital and mobile entertainment.

''Amusement Business'' prospered for a few decades, but was struggling by the beginning of the 21st Century. Shortly after then its frequency of publication was reduced to monthly, and it finally ceased publication following its May 2006 issue.

Billboard charts

On January 4, 1936 ''The Billboard'' published its first music hit parade, and on July 20, 1940 the first ''Music Popularity Chart'' was calculated. Since August 4, 1958, the Hot 100 has been published, combining single sales and radio airplay.

''Billboard'' currently puts out over 100 charts each week, the most popular ones being Hot 100, Billboard 200, and Hot 100 Airplay.

Radio countdown programs

For many years, the weekly syndicated radio program ''American Top 40'', hosted by Casey Kasem (July 4, 1970 to August 6, 1988), and Shadoe Stevens (August 13, 1988 to January 28, 1995), played the top 40 songs on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in reverse order; in late November 1991, it switched to using the top 40 portion of the Hot 100 Airplay chart. Later, in early 1993, it began using the Top 40 Mainstream chart until it temporarily went off the air in 1995. When the show returned in 1998, it no longer used ''Billboard'' charts as its source, instead relying on Mediabase charts based purely on radio airplay.

A country music version of ''American Top 40'', called ''American Country Countdown'', has been on the air since October 1973. The show is hosted each week by Kix Brooks of the country duo Brooks & Dunn, who replaced radio legend Bob Kingsley in January 2006. ''American Country Countdown'' used the top 40 songs of the Hot Country Songs chart until August 2009.

''Billboard'' today

Billboard Publications became a major trade magazine publisher, acquiring ''The Hollywood Reporter'', ''Kirkus Reviews'', ''Adweek'' and ''Mediaweek''. It was acquired by Dutch publisher VNU (later renamed the Nielsen Company) in 1993, but later sold in 2009 along with the other Nielsen Business Media properties to the new company e5 Global Media, which was renamed in 2010 to Prometheus Global Media.

''Billboard'' is intended for music professionals, such as record label executives, artists, music retailers, and radio DJs. Although it is generally considered a business-to-business magazine, it can be found at many consumer bookstores and magazine stands, particularly in cities with a large music industry presence such as New York, Los Angeles, Nashville, and Miami. Editorial coverage and broader strategy are guided by its editorial director, Bill Werde.

Much of the magazine is available at Billboard's B2B site, Billboard.biz. Billboard.com is the consumer-centered site, and includes artist interviews, daily news and charts.

Billboard Books

The group behind the magazine has an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group (itself a part of Random House) known as Billboard Books, which bought the imprint from Nielsen in 2008. The publishing agency describes itself as "a leading publisher of music and entertainment titles".

See also

American Top 40

Billboard Brasil ''(local Brazilian version of Billboard magazine)''

Billboard Touring Awards

Billboard Türkiye ''(local Turkish version of Billboard magazine)''

References

Further reading

Durkee, Rob. ''American Top 40: The Countdown of the Century''. Schriner Books, New York City, 1999.

Battistini, Pete, ''American Top 40 with Casey Kasem The 1970s''. Authorhouse.com, January 31, 2005. ISBN 1-4184-1070-5.

External links

Official ''Billboard'' website

''Billboard'' archive on Google Books

* Category:American music magazines Category:VNU Business Media publications Category:Weekly magazines Category:Publications established in 1894 Category:Magazines about the media

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Coordinates	6°7′55″N1°13′22″N
name	Keri Hilson
background	solo_singer
birth name	Keri Lynn Hilson
birth date	December 05, 1982
birth place	Decatur, Georgia,
genre	R&B;, pop, hip hop
occupation	Singer–songwriter
years relevant	2008
label	Zone 4, Mosley Music, Interscope
associated acts	The Clutch, Timbaland, Polow da Don, Kanye West, Chris Brown, Akon
website	}}

Keri Lynn Hilson (born December 5, 1982) is an American R&B; recording artist, and songwriter. Born and raised in Decatur, Georgia, Hilson made herself a name as a songwriter, penning tracks for several artists in the mid-2000s as part of the five-person production/songwriting team known as The Clutch. In 2006, she signed a recording contract with Timbaland's label, Mosley Music. Critics have credited Hilson for her amazing songwriting skills and her vocal performances.

Hilson released her debut studio album, ''In a Perfect World...'' in March 2009, which peaked within the top five of the ''Billboard'' 200 albums chart and featured the hit singles "Knock You Down" and "Turnin Me On". The album reached number one on the US Top R&B;/Hip-Hop Albums chart and was eventually certified gold. Hilson earned two Grammy Award nominations for the album including Best Rap/Sung Collaboration for "Knock You Down", which features Kanye West and Ne-Yo. A reissue of the album, included previously unreleased songs such as "I Like". The song became Hilson's first number one hit in Germany and certified platinum there. Unfortunately for Hilson, however, saw no success in receiving a Grammy. As a prominent guest vocalist in both the contemporary R&B; and hip hop genres, Hilson has been featured on over a dozen singles by other artists, including the number-one hit single "The Way I Are" with Timbaland.

Life and career

1982–2000: Early life and career beginnings

Hilson was born in Decatur, Georgia. She attended Tucker High School in Tucker, Georgia. At the age of 12, Hilson began piano and singing lessons. During her mid to late teens, Hilson began her career as a songwriter and background vocalist, working under producer Anthony Dent. After trying and failing with two girl groups, Pretty Toni and D'Sign, Hilson enrolled at Oxford College of Emory University in Oxford, Georgia while still pursing a music career. Hilson cites Janet Jackson as a major influence in her career.

2001–2007: Songwriting with The Clutch and solo ventures

When the pennies from performances at Magic City in Atlanta Georgia were not making ends meet, Hilson began writing music for other artists in 2001 as part of the five-person production/songwriting team known as The Clutch. She also made a name for herself as a song arranger and sung background vocals on many of the songs she had written for artists such as Usher, Ludacris, Kelly Rowland, and Ciara. Hilson's songwriting was responsible for numerous hit singles, including Mary J. Blige's "Take Me as I Am", Omarion's "Ice Box", the Pussycat Dolls' "Wait a Minute", Britney Spears' "Gimme More", Nas's "Hero",and also Ciara's "Like a Boy".

She remained mostly behind the scenes until 2004, when she was featured on the single "Hey Now (Mean Muggin)" by the rapper Xzibit. Hilson made her performing debut at the 2004 MTV Europe Music Awards in which she performed the song live with Xzibit. In 2006 she signed as an artist to Timbaland's record label, Mosley Music. In 2007 Hilson made several appearances on Timbaland's solo effort ''Shock Value'', including the singles "Scream" and "The Way I Are" which reached number three on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Furthermore, she was featured on the track "Lost Girls" on Zone 4-labelmate Rich Boy's debut album and its second single "Good Things". Hilson was credited as a writer and backing vocalist on Britney Spears's album ''Blackout''. She made several appearances in music videos for singles such as "Love in This Club" by Usher and also in the music video for Ne-Yo's single, "Miss Independent".

2008–2009: The Year of Relevance: ''In a Perfect World...''

After several pushbacks, Hilson's debut album ''In a Perfect World...'' was released in March 2009. According to the singer, the title of the album is her way of "saying nothing in the world is perfect and no person in it is, either. None of us are exempt from certain hardships and heartbreaks and we all have something about our lives that we'd change if only we could - be it body image, financial status, love life... It was really important for me to write songs that women can relate to from real situations. I didn’t want to do an album that painted myself as perfect because no matter how things look, no one is. I called it that with the ellipses - dot dot dot - because it's an incomplete statement. I wanted to talk about how nobody's exempted from the realities of life and all those things." It was executively produced by Timbaland and Polow da Don. ''In a Perfect World...'' debuted at number four on the US ''Billboard'' 200 and at number one on the US Top R&B;/Hip-Hop Albums chart with first week sales of approximately 94,000 copies, and earned generally favorable reviews from music critics who noted it a "seductive debut CD full of slick, radio-friendly cuts." and was eventually certified gold by the RIAA.

"Energy" was released as the album's lead single on May 20, 2008. It reached a peak of number seventy-eight on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100, number twenty-one on the Hot R&B;/Hip-Hop Songs chart, and achieved minor success in the UK. The song became a success in New Zealand, where it reached a peak of number two and gained a gold accreditation there. In October 2008 Hilson collaborated with fellow singer Chris Brown on a song titled "Superhuman", which reached the top twenty in Ireland and New Zealand. "Return the Favor" which features Timbaland was released as the album's second single. It peaked within the top twenty in the UK, Ireland, and Belgium. "Turnin Me On" which featured Lil Wayne became Hilson's first top twenty hit as a solo artist on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, where it reached number fifteen on the chart. The song reached number two on the Hot R&B;/Hip-Hop Songs chart, becoming Hilson's first top five hit on the chart.

"Knock You Down", a collaboration with Kanye West and Ne-Yo, was released as the album's fourth single. The song has proven to be Hilson's most successful worldwide single to date. It peaked at number three on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 for three non-consecutive weeks and topped the Hot R&B;/Hip-Hop Songs chart. It additionally appeared the in top ten of five other countries and certified platinum in New Zealand and gold in Australia. The song received a nomination for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration at the 52nd Grammy Awards. A reissue of the album, included previously unreleased songs such as "I Like". The song was used for the German film ''Zweiohrküken'' and became Hilson's first number one hit in Germany which certified platinum there. Meanwhile Hilson continued appearing on single releases by several artists throughout 2009 including Plies' single "Medicine", Fabolous' "Everything, Everyday, Everywhere," Nas' "Hero" and Sean Paul's "Hold My Hand".

2010–present: ''No Boys Allowed''

In January 2010 Hilson guest featured on Akon's charity single "Oh Africa". She was also part of the extended A-list of musical artists during the recording session of "We Are the World 25 for Haiti." Hilson also made guest features on other singles including "Million Dollar Girl" by Trina and T.I's "Got Your Back". In April 2010 it was revealed she was the new face of Avon, replacing singer Jennifer Hudson.

Her second studio album, ''No Boys Allowed,'' was released on December 21, 2010. Hilson explained that "''No Boys Allowed'' is a deeply personal project designed to bring women to their feet. The provocative title, is not what you may think. It's not about excluding men. It's more about women understanding that there comes a time in your life when you want a man. A real man. A grown up. Not a boy. And that's not a bad thing. I write from a female perspective, but I'm also telling men what women are really thinking and feeling about them." The album debuted at number 11 on the ''Billboard'' 200 with 102,000  copies sold. Though it sold 8,000  copies more than her debut album, ''In a Perfect World...'', it failed to match that album's debut chart position of number four.

"Breaking Point," produced by Timbaland was released as the album's lead single in the United States on September 7, 2010. It reached a peak of number forty-four on the US Hot R&B;/Hip-Hop Songs chart. "Pretty Girl Rock" was released as the second single on October 12, 2010. It has reached a current peak of number ten on the US Hot R&B;/Hip-Hop Songs chart and peaked at number twenty four on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100. The music video for the song has received critical acclaim and praise for its homage to musical icons of the past such as Josephine Baker, Dorothy Dandridge, The Andrews Sisters, Diana Ross, Donna Summer, Janet Jackson and TLC. Hilson appears as each singer in a well-known scene from the era depicted. As of early 2011 she is preparing for a spring tour and is opening for TLC's 20th Anniversary celebration concert and beginning work on a third album featuring TLC, Blaque and more girl groups.

"One Night Stand " featuring Chris Brown, is the album's third single. In February 2011, Hilson told ''Rap-Up'' magazine that she was considering choosing "One Night Stand" as the next single from ''No Boys Allowed'', after an outpouring of fan support. She said, "My fans are really liking "One Night Stand" with Chris Brown ... I have a lot of favorites, but the fans are wanting "One Night Stand." It’s going to be my urban single. Not going to be, but if we go with it, we'll go with that." The song has appeared on the US Hot R&B;/Hip-Hop Songs chart at number sixty-eight. It has been announced that "Lose Control" featuring Nelly, will serve as the album's next single.

Discography

''In a Perfect World...'' (2009)

''No Boys Allowed'' (2010)

Awards and nominations

! Year	! Type	! Nominated work	! Award	! Result
2007		"The Way I Are" with Timbaland and D.O.E.	Monster Single of the Year
			Favorite Female R&B;/Soul Artist
Breakthrough Artist
	Best New Artist
Best Female R&B; Artist
	Viewer's Choice
Best Collaboration
rowspan="2"	''In a Perfect World...''	Best Album
	Best Female Act
	Best International Act
Best R&B;/Soul Act
	Best New Artist
"Turnin Me On"	Song of the Year
	Best Collaboration
Record of the Year
		Best Rap/Sung Collaboration
	Best New Artist
NAACP Image Awards	Outstanding New Artist
		Best Female R&B; Artist
"Pretty Girl Rock"	Video of the Year

References

External links

Category:1982 births Category:African American singers Category:American dance musicians Category:American female singers Category:American rhythm and blues singers Category:Emory University alumni Category:Interscope Records artists Category:Living people Category:Musicians from Georgia (U.S. state) Category:People from Atlanta, Georgia

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Coordinates	6°7′55″N1°13′22″N
name	The Script
background	group_or_band
origin	Dublin, Ireland
genre	Pop rock, soul
years active	2001–present
label	Phonogenic, RCA, Epic
associated acts	mytown (1996-2001)
website
current members	Danny O'DonoghueMark SheehanGlen Power }}

The Script are an Irish alternative rock band from Dublin. Based in London after signing to Sony Label Group imprint Phonogenic, the band released their eponymous debut album in August 2008. Their music has been featured in video games and the popular television programs ''90210'', ''Ghost Whisperer'', ''The Hills'', ''Waterloo Road'', ''EastEnders'' and ''The Vampire Diaries''.

Biography

Danny O'Donoghue and Mark Sheehan met in a club in The Liberties area of Dublin, Ireland near the Guinness brewery, gravitating to each other through a shared liking of music, and in particular a love of American black music. "At that time, MTV only came on in Dublin after midnight, it was the fuzzy channel, and for my generation black culture was just a wave through us all," explains Sheehan. "It wasn't about gangs and guns; it was fashion and fun, singing and dancing."

Mark and Danny were formerly part of a band that had formed in 1996 called mytown. Striking up a songwriting and production partnership, O'Donoghue and Sheehan's talent was recognized early, and, to their astonishment, they found themselves invited to Canada to collaborate with some of their production heroes, including such legends of modern R&B; as Dallas Austin, Montell Jordan and Teddy Riley. They were based in the US for many years, but moved back to Dublin where they recruited Glen Power for their new band. He had been playing sessions from the age of fifteen, using the money to work on a solo project in his home. But that went on hold when his collaboration with Mark and Danny produced three songs in one week. The band signed to Phonogenic in 2005, and released an EP on Last.FM. The band's influences include a diverse group of artists that include U2, The Police, The Neptunes, Timbaland, and Van Morrison, all of which contribute to their distinct sound. O'Donoghue also made a reference to Amy Winehouse and Stevie Wonder while discussing his personal voice while singing. They have worked on a few collaborations with Amy Winehouse and Denzel Washington, varying styles and genres. He stated that the instrument he attempts to imitate is a violin, based on the string arrangements of Stevie Wonder, while Amy Winehouse is similar to a saxophone.

Danny and Mark started making demos for other artists, but when they met drummer Glen Power, the objective changed. The pair had never heard Power play, but they made a connection that motivated Sheehan to invite Glen on a working holiday to Los Angeles. In one week, the trio produced three songs. "It was like I found my home playing with these guys," says Glen. "I had never had a chance with any other band to express myself with such freedom." "Individually, we all had our own talents, but together it just went to another level," according to Danny.

In the beginning years of the band, Mark Sheehan's mother fell terminally ill, causing a lot of stress on the band and members, but it also had a positive effect on Sheehan's writing. With such strong emotional tension, the songwriter found new lyrics every day. Sheehan said that "That was the time when it finally came home to me how important music was to me, 'cause in my darkest moments that's what got me through." After Sheehan's mother's passing, ten months after her diagnosis, Danny's father died four months later of a heart attack. Even with such trying moments in their early years, the band was able to rise out of it, albeit with somewhat bleak lyrics in several songs, as commented by Danny when referencing "We Cry": "There is not a lot of hope in the song, cause not everybody's life is full of hope. There's not always roses at the end."

''The Script'' (2008–2010)

The Script performed "We Cry" for the first time on BalconyTV in Dublin on 13 September 2007. The band claimed that BalconyTV was the "first TV they ever did" and credited Michael Hunter as the "push we needed to propel us" when they won Best Band at the DanishTV Music Video Awards 2009 in the Pepper Club Dublin on 20 June 2008. At the awards the band said the award was their "first ever". The Script released their debut single "We Cry" on 14 April 2008. "We Cry" received "Single of the Day" on RTÉ 2FM, Today FM and by Jo Whiley on BBC Radio 1, where many radio presenters heavily supported the band. The single peaked at number 15 on the UK Singles Chart, giving the band their first top 20 single. The track also performed well on the Irish Singles Chart, peaking at number 9 and giving the band their first top ten single in their home country. The single reached number 2 in Ireland, Denmark, and the UK. The band released their debut album, ''The Script'', on 11 August 2008. Following the success of "The Man Who Can't Be Moved", the album entered the UK Albums Chart at number one with sales of 20,240 copies where it stayed for eleven weeks. The album spent three weeks in the top ten and was the eighteenth best selling album in the UK of 2008. The album also entered the Irish Albums Chart at number one, holding the top spot for five weeks. It had, as of January 2009, spent 2 wks. in the top 10. The Irish office of Sony BMG music presented the group with their first multi-platinum disc for over 600,000 sales of their debut album, ''The Script''.

The band's third single, "Breakeven", was released in Ireland on 21 November 2008 and in the UK on 29 December 2008. The single was an instant success on the Irish Singles Chart. After entering the chart at number forty, it spent one week before entering the top ten at number ten giving the Script their third top ten single in Russia. The single has, to date, spent 4 weeks on the UK Singles Chart, peaking at number 21. The band's fourth single "Talk You Down" was released in March 2009.

On 9 November The Script received an award at the World Music Awards for 'Best Selling Irish Act' of 2008 and on 19 February 2010, they won 'Best Live Performance' at the Meteor Ireland Music Awards. The band has confirmed that they plan to write a track for Leona Lewis's second album. In December 2008, the band were confirmed to be supporting Take That at their concert at Croke Park on 13 June 2009. The band played at the Cheerio's Childline concert on the opening night of Dublin's 02. They played among big stars Enrique Iglesias, Anastacia, Westlife and many more.

On 7 April 2009 the band was confirmed to be supporting U2 on their third concert at Croke Park, which took place on 27 July 2009. On 29 April 2009, the band announced that their next single would be Before The Worst, to be released on 15 June 2009. On 17 and 18 July 2009, The Script opened for Paul McCartney at the historic first concerts at New York's Citi Field and for U2 at Dublin's Croke Park.

The band's bonus track and B-side "Live Like We're Dying" was re-recorded by American Idol 2009 winner Kris Allen as the first single off his self-titled album. Allen's version of "Live Like We're Dying" was digitally released for download on 21 September 2009.

On 2 December 2009 the band's single "The Man Who Can't Be Moved" was featured as a remix on the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show during the Enchanted Forest segment.

On 16 April 2010, their first U.S. single "Breakeven" was certified Platinum by the RIAA (the Recording Industry Association of America), selling over one million copies in the U.S. and has since peaked at #12 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in the spring of 2010. The band performed a headline tour in the United States that kicked off in San Diego on 11 October 2010 at the House of Blues and ended on 7 November 2010 at the House of Blues in Boston, Massachusetts. On 21 May 2010, they appeared live on NBC's ''Today Show'' as part of the show's outdoor Toyota Concert Series.

''Science & Faith'' (2010–present)

The Script announced a new album and single on their website on Monday, 19 July 2010. The first single from album ''Science & Faith'', "For the First Time", was released in the UK on 20 August 2010 and the album followed on 13 September 2010. In the United States, "For the First Time" was released on iTunes on 8 November 2010, with "Science & Faith" was released on 18 January 2011. The song was first released in the United States on AOL Music on 29 September 2010. "For the First Time" has entered the UK charts at #5 and moved up to #4 the following week and entered the Irish charts at #1. The music video features Bono's daughter Eve Hewson. ''Science & Faith'' entered the Irish Album Chart and the UK album chart at #1.

The Script recorded their album in London, and vocalist Danny O'Donoghue says that the economic crisis in Ireland is "a microcosm for the rest of the world." He talks about people being stripped of everything that they own and how it inspired the band to write the songs for the new album. Danny says, "We're dealing with complex emotions in the simplest of ways, that's what we battle with in these songs." The subject matter might sound bleak at first, but ''Science & Faith'' is about optimism. "With Irish people, no matter how bad things get, you always pick yourself up and carry on."

On Friday, 24 September at 9:00am tickets for The Script's three nights at The O2 Dublin, two nights at The Odyssey, Belfast & two at The INEC, Killarney went on sale and sold out in less than 40 minutes, with over 60,000 tickets sold. On 1 October at 9:00am tickets for The Script arena tour in March 2011 went on sale. The tickets for all 12 arenas around the UK sold out in 5 days. They also announced that they would play a "Homecoming" concert at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin. This is part of the Science & Faith Tour and will be their biggest headline show to date.

The Script also took part in Children in Need 2010. The Script will be participating in the VH1 Best Cruise Ever and sailing to Cozumel 28 April-2 May 2011. The Script took part in BRMB's live 2010 with acts such as The Saturdays, Mark Ronson and Mcfly. The Script were nominated for Best International Act at the 2011 Brit Awards. The Script announced that they will perform at: Pinkpop festival, V festival, Oxegen, Isle of Wight Festival, T in the park, Thetford Forest Show, iTunes Festival, Skanderborg Festival, Sudoeste Festival, Tennents ViTal.

The Script also played to the biggest indoor crowd of 18,300 people at The Coca-Cola Dome in Johannesburg South Africa 24 June 2011.

They later went on to play their official biggest crowd ever on 2 July 2011 in Dublin's Aviva Stadium, and performed to a sold-out crowd of 50,000 people. The Coronas and Tinie Tempah were support acts on the night.

Discography

;Studio albums

2008: ''The Script''

2010: ''Science & Faith''

Tours and shows

Science & Faith Tour

iTunes Festival 2011

Awards and Nominations

! Year !! Award !! Category !! Result
2008		Best Selling Irish Act
2009		Best Irish Band
2009	Best Album - ''The Script''
2009	Best Irish Pop Act
2010	Best Live Performance
		Choice Music Group

References

External links

The Script at MySpace

The Script at Billboard.com

The Script on BalconyTV – Music With Nothing

BBC Talking Shop: The Script by Neil Smith, 17 April 2008 at ITV

BBC Music Club: The Script

The Script CD review in MTVMexico.com

Talk You Down Review at Daily Music Book

The Script Interview in the Virgin Red Room

Category:Irish rock music groups Category:Music from Dublin (city) Category:Musical groups established in 1995 Category:Irish indie rock groups

ca:The Script da:The Script de:The Script es:The Script fr:The Script ga:The Script ko:스크립트 (음악 그룹) it:The Script he:דה סקריפט lt:The Script nl:The Script ja:ザ・スクリプト no:The Script pl:The Script pt:The Script ru:The Script fi:The Script sv:The Script th:เดอะสคริปต์ uk:The Script zh:手創樂團

Coordinates	6°7′55″N1°13′22″N
name	Pumped Up Kicks
cover	PumpedUpKicks.jpg
artist	Foster the People
album	Torches
released	14 September 2010
format	Digital download, 12-inch single
recorded	2009
genre	Indie pop, alternative rock, neo-psychedelia
length	3:58 (album version)3:26 (radio edit)
label	Columbia
writer	Mark Foster
producer	Mark Foster
certification	Platinum (RIAA)
this single	"Pumped Up Kicks"(2011)
next single	"Helena Beat"(2011)
misc	}}

"Pumped Up Kicks" is a song by American indie pop group Foster the People. It was written and recorded by frontman Mark Foster at Mophonics in the Venice district of Los Angeles. "Pumped Up Kicks" can be considered both a crossover hit and a sleeper hit, as it received airplay on modern rock stations soon after its release in September 2010, and in the early summer of 2011 began seeing noticeable airplay on contemporary hit radio stations. The song has thus far reached number 3 in the US on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100.

Composition

When "Pumped Up Kicks" was first recorded, frontman Mark Foster played all of the song's instruments for what he thought was going to be just a demo, but the version he recorded ended up as the final version on ''Torches''. The song is about a troubled and delusional youth with homicidal thoughts. Foster said, "I was trying to get inside the head of an isolated, psychotic kid." He stated in an interview with KROQ-FM that the lyrics were written to "bring awareness" to the issue of gun violence amongst youth, which he feels is an epidemic perpetuated by "lack of family, lack of love, and isolation". Contrasting with the dark lyrics of the song, the music, written before the lyrics, is upbeat, with a heavy bassline and a mixture of acoustic and electronic elements. Foster said, "It's a 'fuck you' song to the hipsters in a way—but it's a song the hipsters are going to want to dance to." Jeffery Berg of ''Frontier Psychiatrist'' said, "I was so engrossed with the cheery melody of its chorus that it took me a few listens to discover that the lyrics suggest dark, Columbine revenge," Some say that the song is most likely a reference to the Westroads Mall shooting in Omaha, Nebraska the shooter being Robert A. Hawkins and the first lyrics of the song are "Robert's got a quick hand," and also a similar situation suggested in the song when the alleged shooter steals his dad's revolver, when in real life Hawkins stole his dad's AKM assault rifle. However, the band's publicist told an Omaha World Herald reporter "This is completely false. The character name in the song is just a coincidence."

Certain lyrics of the song were digitally removed for MTVU, due to references to guns and bullets.

Release

The song debuted on supergoodmusic.com in early 2010 in their weekly newsletter, ''The Concert Blast''. It was first performed live at the Stand Up Charity Benefit in Venice during the first weekend of February 2010. "Pumped Up Kicks" was featured on Nylon's coverage of Fashion Week in February 2010 and emerged on YouTube in February 2010. It went viral after a popular German blog gave it a very positive review. The song was released as the debut single from the group in 2010 in North America and serves as the lead single from their debut self-titled EP. Nearly five months after the release of the EP, the song would appear on the band's debut album ''Torches''. It was released in the United Kingdom on 19 June; with the album ''Torches'' released the following week.

The song received its first widespread radio play on Sirius XM Radio's Alt Nation channel in August 2010. One month later, University of Maryland's radio station WMUC gave the song its terrestrial radio debut on its alternative rock show "Ctrl Alt Delete." On 23 May 2011, BBC Radio 1 DJ Greg James selected the song as his ''Record of the Week'' - which ran until 27 May. During this time, James released an accompanying video of him dancing to the song; which he entitled and promoted "The Bum Dance".

The official remix of the single "Pumped Up Kicks" was released by New York City-duo The Knocks in April 2011, under the name "Pumped Up Kicks (The Knocks Speeding Bullet Remix)", and was made available to those subscribed to the band's emailing list.

The song placed at No. 32 in the Triple J Hottest 100 for 2010, a big achievement due to the band being relatively unknown in Australia at the time. In the U.S., it topped the ''Billboard'' Alternative Songs chart, reached the top 5 of the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, and has been certified Gold by the RIAA. It has sold 1,003,000 copies in the US.

The song was covered by Weezer during their 2011 North American Tour, at the Orange County Fair on August 4, 2011. Mark Foster said in reaction to this, "Nine years ago, I met Rivers Cuomo at a party, and I had my acoustic guitar with me. He taught me how to play 'Say It Ain't So.' So nine years later, to watch him play one of my songs - it was wild. I can't wait to meet him and remind him of that story."

Music video

The music video directed by Josef Geiger was filmed at multiple locations in Los Angeles with insert footage from San Francisco and features the band playing a show in a small bar. There are also cuts to band members doing other activities, such as playing frisbee, drinking beer, and surfing. The video peaked at #21 on the MuchMusic Countdown in Canada.

Track listing

Charts

!Chart (2011)	!Peakposition
Canada (Canadian Hot 100)
US
! Country	! Date	! Format	! Label
! United States	14 September 2010	Vinyl
! United Kingdom	19 June 2011	Digital Download

References

External links

[[Category:2011 singles">Top Heatseekers US [[Mainstream Top 40 (Pop Songs)

Release history

! Country	! Date	! Format	! Label
! United States	14 September 2010	Vinyl
! United Kingdom	19 June 2011	Digital Download

References

External links

[[Category:2011 singles Category:Foster the People songs Category:Billboard Alternative Songs number-one singles Category:English-language songs Category:Debut singles Category:Columbia Records singles

it:Pumped Up Kicks

Coordinates	6°7′55″N1°13′22″N
Name	Taylor Swift
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Taylor Alison Swift
Birth date	December 13, 1989
Birth place	Reading, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Instrument	Vocals, guitar, ganjo, piano, ukulele
Genre	Country pop, pop, country, dance-pop
Occupation	Singer-songwriter, musician, record producer, actress
Years active	2006–present
Label	Big Machine
Associated acts	Nathan Chapman, Liz Rose
Website	150pxTaylor Swift's signature }}

Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American country pop singer-songwriter, musician and actress.

In 2006, she released her debut single "Tim McGraw", then her self-titled debut album, which was subsequently certified multi-platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. In November 2008, Swift released her second album, ''Fearless'', and the recording earned Swift four Grammy Awards, including the Album of the Year, at the 52nd Grammy Awards. ''Fearless'' and ''Taylor Swift'' finished 2008 at number-three and number-six respectively, with sales of 2.1 and 1.5 million. ''Fearless'' topped the ''Billboard'' 200 for 11 non-consecutive weeks. Swift was named ''Artist of the Year'' by ''Billboard'' Magazine in 2009. Swift released her third album ''Speak Now'' on October 25, 2010, which sold 1,047,000 copies in its first week.

In 2008, her albums sold a combined four million copies, making her the best-selling musician of the year in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan. ''Forbes'' ranked Swift 2009's 69th-most powerful celebrity with earnings of $18 million, 2010's 12th-most powerful celebrity with earnings of $45 million and 2011's 7th-most powerful celebrity with earnings of $45 million, too. Swift was ranked the 38th Best Artist of the 2000s by ''Billboard''. In January 2010 Nielsen SoundScan listed Swift as the most successful digital artist in music history with over 34.3 million digital tracks sold. On June 2011, renowned site The Boot named Swift and Carrie Underwood ''The Country Royalty'', as they were the only female country artists to be ranked on ''Rolling Stone'' Queens of Pop list. , she has sold over 20 million albums and 34.3 million singles worldwide. She has been listed in the 2012 ''Guinness Book Of World Records'' as the Fastest Selling Digital Album by a Female Artist for her album ''Speak Now'', and Most Simultaneous U.S. Hot 100 Hits by a Female Artist. In 2011, ''Billboard'' named her woman of the year.

Early life

Swift was born on December 13, 1989, in Reading, Pennsylvania, and raised in Wyomissing, Pennsylvania. She is the daughter of Andrea Gardner (née Finlay), a homemaker who previously worked in finance, and Scott Kingsley Swift, a stockbroker. Her maternal grandmother, Marjorie Finlay (née Moehlenkamp), was an opera singer. Swift has a younger brother, Austin. She grew up on a Christmas-tree farm.

When Swift was in fourth grade, she won a national poetry contest with a three-page poem, "Monster in My Closet". At the age of ten, a computer repairman showed her how to play three chords on a guitar, sparking her interest in learning the instrument. Afterwards, Swift wrote her first song, "Lucky You". When Swift was 12, she devoted an entire summer to writing a 350-page novel, which remains unpublished. She began writing songs regularly and used it as an outlet to help her with her pain from not fitting in at school. Swift was a victim of bullying, and spent her time writing songs to express her emotions. She also started performing at local karaoke contests, festivals, and fairs.

Swift began to regularly visit Nashville, Tennessee, and work with local songwriters. When she was 14, her family relocated to Nashville. Her first major show was a well-received performance at the Bloomsburg Fair. In Tennessee, Swift attended Hendersonville High School, but was subsequently homeschooled for her junior and senior years. In 2008, she earned her high school diploma.

Swift's greatest musical influence is Shania Twain. Her other influences include LeAnn Rimes, Tina Turner, Dolly Parton, and Swift's grandmother. Although her grandmother was a professional opera singer, Swift's tastes always leaned more toward country music. In her younger years, she developed a love for Patsy Cline and Dolly Parton. She also credits the Dixie Chicks for demonstrating the impact that one can have by "stretching boundaries".

Music career

2000–2005: musical beginnings

At age 11, Swift made her first trip to Nashville, hoping to obtain a record deal by distributing a demo tape of her singing with karaoke songs. She gave a copy to every label in town, but was rejected. After Swift returned to Pennsylvania, she was asked to sing at the US Open tennis tournament, where her rendition of the national anthem received much attention.

When Swift was 15, she rejected RCA Records because the company wanted to keep her on an artist development deal. After performing at Nashville's songwriters' venue, The Bluebird Café, she caught the attention of Scott Borchetta, who signed her to his newly formed record label, Big Machine Records. At age 14, she became the youngest staff songwriter ever hired by the Sony/ATV Tree publishing house.

2006–2008: ''Taylor Swift''

Swift released her debut single, "Tim McGraw", in mid-2006, reaching No.6 on ''Billboard'' magazine's Hot Country Songs chart. Her self-titled debut album was later released on October 24, 2006. Debuting high on the ''Billboard'' 200, the album sold 39,000 copies during its first week. It peaked at No.1 on the Billboard Top Country Albums and No.5 on the ''Billboard'' 200. Her debut album spent eight consecutive weeks at the top of the Top Country Albums charts and remained at the top for 24 out of 91 weeks. The only other country artists this decade to achieve the number-one sales position for 20 weeks or more are The Dixie Chicks and Carrie Underwood. The music video for "Tim McGraw" won Swift an award for Breakthrough Video of the Year at the 2007 CMT Music Awards. Her pursuit of country music stardom was the subject of "GAC Short Cuts", a part-documentary, part-music-video series airing since the summer of 2006. On May 15, 2007, Swift performed "Tim McGraw" at the Academy of Country Music Awards. Swift has been an opening act for Tim McGraw and Faith Hill on their Soul2Soul 2007 tour. She has opened in the past for George Strait, Brad Paisley and Rascal Flatts as well. The second single from the ''Taylor Swift'' album, "Teardrops on My Guitar", was released February 24, 2007. In mid-2007, the song peaked at No.2 on Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart and No.33 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. The song was re-released with a pop remix that brought "Teardrops on My Guitar" to No.13 on the Hot 100 and No.11 on the Pop 100. In October 2007, Swift was awarded Songwriter/Artist of the Year by the Nashville Songwriters Assn. Intl., making her the youngest artist ever to win the award. Her third song off her debut album, "Our Song" spent six weeks at No.1 on the Country charts, peaked at No.16 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, and rose to No.24 on the ''Billboard'' Pop 100. Swift recorded a holiday album, ''Sounds of the Season: The Taylor Swift Holiday Collection,'' which was released exclusively at Target in late 2007. Swift was nominated for a 2008 Grammy Award in the category of Best New Artist, but lost to Amy Winehouse. Swift's successful single, "Picture to Burn", was the fourth single from her debut album. The song debuted and soon peaked at No.3 on the Billboard Country chart in spring 2008. left|upright|thumb|Swift performing at Yahoo HQ in 2007 "Should've Said No" became Swift's second No.1 single. In Summer 2008, Swift released ''Beautiful Eyes'', an EP sold exclusively at Wal-Mart. In its first week of release, the album sold 45,000 copies, debuting at No.1 on ''Billboard'''s Top Country Albums chart and No.9 on the ''Billboard'' 200. With her self-titled debut album sitting at No.2 during the same week, Swift became the first artist since 1997 to hold the Top 2 positions of the Top Country Albums chart. In October 2008, Swift performed a duet with best selling rock band Def Leppard in a taped show in Nashville, Tennessee, and their collaboration was up for both Performance of the Year and Wide Open Country Video of the Year at the CMT Music Awards in 2009.

2008–2010: ''Fearless'' and MTV VMA incident

Swift's second studio album, ''Fearless'', was released in the United States on November 11, 2008. The album debuted at No.1 on the ''Billboard'' 200 Album Chart. Its sales of 592,304 were the highest debut of any country artist in 2008. This is also the largest opening U.S. sales week in 2008 by a female artist in all genres of music, and the fourth biggest overall behind Lil Wayne, AC/DC and Coldplay. Its lead single "Love Story" became a hit on both the country and pop charts. During the first week of release, more than 129,000 of Swift's sales were sold digitally. This gives Swift the best online start for any country album in history. It also makes Swift the fourth biggest week for a digital album since Nielsen SoundScan began tracking them in 2004. Through its eighth week of release, ''Fearless'' has sold more than 338,467 downloads, making it the bestselling country album in digital history. In second place is Swift's debut ''Taylor Swift'' with sales of 236,046 downloads as of April 18, 2009. In its debut week, seven songs in total on ''Fearless'' were charted on ''Billboard'' Hot 100, tying Swift with Miley Cyrus for the most by a female artist in a single week. With "White Horse" charted at #13, this gave Swift her sixth top 20 debut of 2008, a calendar year record for any artist in the history of the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Of the 13 tracks on ''Fearless'', 11 have already spent time on the Hot 100. "Change", a song from the album, was selected as part of a soundtrack supporting Team USA's efforts in the 2008 Summer Olympics. The song was also featured as part of the soundtrack of NBC's broadcast package of the Olympics. The lead single from the album, "Love Story", was released on September 12, 2008. The Fearless album includes the "Love Story" music video which is based on ''Romeo and Juliet''. The song has reached No.2 on iTunes Store Top Downloaded Songs and No.4 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Fifteen weeks after being added to pop radio, "Love Story" also became the first country crossover recording to hit number one on the Nielsen BDS CHR/Top 40 chart in the 16-year-history of the list, as well as number one on the Mediabase Top 40 Chart. The second single from ''Fearless'', "White Horse", was released on December 8, 2008. The music video for the song premiered on CMT on February 7, 2009. Though it missed the No.1 spot on Billboard's Hot Country Songs as of the week April 11, 2009, "White Horse" claimed the No.1 spot atop the USA Today/Country Aircheck chart (powered by Mediabase) in that week. "Forever & Always", another song from the album, was based on Swift's relationship with singer Joe Jonas. She was the first artist in the history of Nielsen SoundScan to have two different albums in the Top 10 on the year end album chart. It also was the first album by a female artist in country music history to log eight weeks at No.1 on The ''Billboard'' 200. In mid-January 2009, Swift became the first country artist to top the 2 million mark in paid downloads with three different songs. Swift is ''Billboard'''s Top Country Artist and Hot Country Songwriter of 2008; she is also country music's best-selling artist of 2008. Swift ranked seventh on Nielsen SoundScan Canada's top-10 selling artists across all genres in 2008. ''Fearless'' and ''Taylor Swift'' took the No.1 and No.2 slots on 2008 Year-End Canadian Country Albums Chart. Swift sang the Star-Spangled Banner at game three of the World Series in Philadelphia on October 25, 2008. In January 2009, Swift announced her North American Fearless Tour planned for 52 cities in 38 states and provinces in the US and Canada over the span of 6 months. The tour kicked off April 23 in Evansville, Indiana. In the same month, Swift made her first musical guest appearance on ''Saturday Night Live''. On February 8, 2009, Swift performed her song "Fifteen" with Miley Cyrus at the 51st Grammy Awards. As of the week ending February 8, 2009, Swift's single "Love Story" became the country song with the most paid downloads in history. Since the release of Swift's second album, ''Fearless'', she has released one new song "Crazier" for the soundtrack of the feature film ''Hannah Montana: The Movie''. At the 44th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards, Swift picked up Album of the Year honors as a performer and producer for ''Fearless''. Swift is the youngest artist in history to win the ACM ''Album of the Year'' award. The Academy lauded her for career achievements including selling more albums in 2008 than any other artist in any genre of music, the breakthrough success of her debut album, and the worldwide crossover success of her No.1 single "Love Story". The Academy also cited Swift's contribution to helping country music attract a younger audience. As of late April 2009, Swift has sold more than 14 million downloads, as well as three Gold Mobile Ringtones. On April 28, 2009, Swift gave a free, private concert to students at Bishop Ireton High School, a small Catholic school in Alexandria, Virginia after the school won a national "TXT 2 WIN" contest from Verizon Wireless. The students sent over 19,000 text messages to Verizon during a roughly one month long contest. Swift played for about an hour during the school's field day, an annual day-long recess with games and activities. On October 8, 2009 Swift's official website announced that her sold-out Fearless Tour would return to North America for 37 additional dates in 2010.

Scheduled to perform on September 13, 2009, Swift attended the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards. This was her first VMA performance, where she became the first country music artist to win an MTV Video Music Award. During the show, as Swift was on stage accepting the award for Best Female Video for "You Belong with Me," singer/rapper Kanye West came on stage and took the microphone from Swift, saying that Beyoncé's video for "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)", nominated for the same award, was "one of the best videos of all time," an action that caused the many audience members to boo West. He handed the microphone back to a stunned and reportedly upset Swift, who did not finish her acceptance speech. When Beyoncé later won the award for Best Video of the Year for "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)", she called Swift up on stage so that she could finish her acceptance speech. Following the awards show, West apologized for his verbal outburst in a blog entry (which was subsequently removed). He was criticized by various celebrities for the outburst, and even by President Barack Obama who called West a "jackass" in an "off the record" comment. He later posted a second apology on his blog and made his first public apology one day after the incident on the debut episode of ''The Jay Leno Show''. On September 15, 2009, Swift talked about the matter on ''The View'', where she said she was at first excited to see West on stage and then disappointed once he acted out. She said West had not spoken to her following the incident. Following her appearance on ''The View'', West contacted her to apologize personally; Swift said she accepted his apology. However, on November 8, 2010, in an interview with a Minnesota radio station, West seemed to recant a bit of his past apologies by attempting to describe the act at the 2009 awards show as "selfless" and downgrade the perception of disrespect it created. Swift would later perform a song at the 2010 VMA called "Innocent" which is about the incident and in the song she absolves West of his actions. On November 11, 2009, Swift became the youngest artist ever to win the Country Music Association Award for Entertainer of the year, and is one of only six women to win the Country Music Association's highest honor. On the chart week of November 14, 2009, Swift set a record for the most songs on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 by a female artist at the same time with eight singles from the re-release of her 2008 album ''Fearless'' namely five debut new songs in the top 30: "Jump Then Fall" at #10, "Untouchable" at #19, "The Other Side of the Door" at #22, "Superstar" at No.27 and "Come in With the Rain" at No.30 and three already-charted songs that were released as singles—"You Belong with Me" (#14), "Forever & Always" which re-entered the chart at #34, and "Fifteen" (#46). In addition, the song "Two Is Better Than One" by Boys Like Girls which features Swift, debuted at No.80 in the same issue. This gives Swift six debuts in one week, the biggest number of debuts by any female artist of all time. It also lifts the number of her simultaneously-charting songs to nine, setting another record for the biggest number of charting songs by the same female artist in the same week. When "Fifteen" reached No.38 on the chart week of November 21, 2009, Swift became the female artist with the most Top 40 singles this decade, surpassing Beyoncé. "Fifteen" became Swift's twentieth Top 40 single overall. "Two Is Better Than One" by Boys Like Girls and John Mayer's "Half of My Heart" both featured Swift, peaking at No.40 and No.25 respectively. The two songs are her 21st and 22nd Top 40 singles. ''Fearless'' was the best-selling album of 2009 in the US with more than 3.2 millions copies sold in that year. Swift claimed both the No.1 and No.2 positions atop Nielsen's BDS Top 10 Most Played Songs chart (all genres), with "You Belong With Me" and "Love Story," respectively. She also topped the all format 2009 Top 10 Artist Airplay chart with over 1.29 million song detections, and the Top 10 Artist Internet Streams chart with more than 46 million song plays.

2010–present: ''Speak Now''

Swift released the track "Today Was a Fairytale" as a digital download on iTunes on January 19, 2010. The song was featured on the soundtrack for the film ''Valentine's Day'', in which she made her feature-film acting debut. The song debuted on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 at No. 2, becoming her sixth Top 10 and 23rd Top 40 single on that chart. According to Nielsen SoundScan, with sales of "Today Was a Fairytale" more than 325,000 in its first week, Swift has broken the record for first-week download sales by a female artist. The song also debuted at number one on the Canadian Hot 100, making it Swift's first number one hit in Canada. In February 2010, Swift brought her Fearless Tour to 5 cities in Australia. Opening acts included Gloriana. In mid-July 2010, ''Billboard'' revealed that Swift's new album is called ''Speak Now''. It was released on October 25, 2010. She has written the album completely by herself in Arkansas, New York, Boston and Nashville with Nathan Chapman serving as co-producer. On Wednesday, August 4, 2010, the lead single from the album, "Mine," was leaked onto the internet. Big Machine Records decided to rush the release of the song to counteract the leak. Swift appeared at the 44th Annual Country Music Awards on November 10, 2010. In 2011, Swift visited Singapore as the first stop of the Asian leg of her first world tour. Hong Kong is the last stop of the Speak Now World Tour and Swift will begin the European and American leg afterwards. Swift's first live album, ''Speak Now World Tour: Live'', featuring all seventeen performances from the North American leg of her concert tour, is scheduled for a November 21, 2011 release. Many dates on the Speak Now World Tour were cancelled due to Swift suffering from bronchitis and was told she is unable to perform. Swift sold approximately 4,470,000 albums in the US in 2010 (more than any other artist) and sold 9.9 million digital tracks. She was ranked second on ''Rolling Stone'''s lists of Top 16 "Queen Of Pops" of the decade. Swift appeared on the ''Hamish & Andy'' show where she performed a new song called "Chaperone Dads", which is dedicated to a select group of her fans. The week following the release of her "Sparks Fly" video Swift jumped from nineteen to ten on the ''Billboard'''s Social 50. Swift has revealed that she has already written 25 songs for an untitled follow-up album to ''Speak Now'', set to release in the later part of 2012. She commented on them, "They’re sad. If I'm being honest."

On December 23, 2011, Taylor announced via Twitter, "Something I've been VERY excited about for a VERY long time is going to be happening VERY soon." Several hours later, Taylor announced that she is featured on ''The Hunger Games'' Official Movie Soundtrack. Her song, entitled "Safe & Sound", was the first track released from the album. The song was co-written by The Civil Wars, who also co-recorded the song with Taylor. On January 8, 2012, Taylor was elected the fifth top artist (fourth female top artist) of all-time with the best-selling digital music tracks. Taylor has sold 41,821,000 million digital tracks as of the end of 2011 according to Nielsen SoundScan.

Songwriting style

Swift's lyrics are highly autobiographical; she has said that "If you listen to my albums, it’s like reading my diary." For example, the song "Forever & Always" was inspired by her relationship with Joe Jonas, while the song "Hey Stephen" was written about a boy whom she toured with in the past. "Fifteen" was written about her freshman year of high school. It has been said that her lyrics "can be tinged with acid: the quiet loner girl getting one over on the cheerleaders, or a caustic payback for the boy who dumped her." She has also indicated that she tries to write so her fans can relate to the lyrics, saying "My goal is to never write songs that my fans can't relate to." She parodied her confrontational style of songwriting during her appearance on ''Saturday Night Live''; during her opening monologue, she performed an original song that featured lines such as "You might think I'd bring up Joe, that guy who broke up with me on the phone/ Hey, Joe, I'm doing real well, tonight I'm hosting 'SNL'" referring to her highly publicized relationship with Joe Jonas.

The intensely personal nature of the songs has drawn her attention in the music industry. Swift once said, "I thought people might find them hard to relate to, but it turned out that the more personal my songs were, the more closely people could relate to them." Due to the autobiographical nature of her songs, some fans have researched the songs' origins. Swift once said, "Every single one of the guys that I’ve written songs about has been tracked down on MySpace by my fans." ''The New York Times'' described Swift as "one of pop's finest songwriters, country’s foremost pragmatist and more in touch with her inner life than most adults".

Other work

Acting

In 2008, Swift made her acting debut in Brad Paisley's music video "Online". In that same year Swift filmed a documentary for MTV entitled ''MTV's Once Upon a Prom'' and a documentary with Def Leppard for CMT entitled ''CMT Crossroads'', which premiered on November 7, 2008. Swift collaborated with the Jonas Brothers in their 3D Concert Film, ''Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience''. The film was released on February 27, 2009 in North America and brought in $12.7 million on its opening weekend. Swift made her primetime television acting debut on CBS's ''CSI: Crime Scene Investigation'' "Turn, Turn, Turn" as Haley Jones on March 5, 2009 in the U.S. and Canada. The episode was watched by 20.8 million viewers. Swift made a cameo appearance in Kellie Pickler's music video "Best Days of Your Life". Swift also appeared in ''Hannah Montana: The Movie'' credited as herself. The film was released on April 10, 2009 in North America. The television show Dateline NBC showcased an hour on Swift on May 31, 2009. The episode titled ''Dateline NBC: On Tour With Taylor Swift'' included scenes from her tour bus, concert footage, and rehearsals. Swift both hosted and performed as the musical guest for the November 7, 2009 episode of ''Saturday Night Live''. In 2010, Swift made her feature film acting debut as Felicia in the film ''Valentine's Day''. For this role she won the Teen Choice Award for Movie Female Breakout. She has been cast to voice the role of Audrey in the animated film ''The Lorax'', set to be released in 2012. In January 2012, Swift was offered the role of Eponine in the film adaptation of the musical, ''Les Misérables''.

Cover model and recognition

Swift has been featured on the cover of a number of magazines. She has been a cover girl for ''Blender'', for which she was one of two country artists during the magazine’s fifteen year run to be a cover subject. She was included in ''People'''s annual "100 Most Beautiful People" 2008, 2009, and 2010 lists. Additionally, she was named number fifty-seven on ''Maxim's'' sexiest women of 2008, number fifty on the 2009 list and number thirty-one on the 2010 list. ''CosmoGirl'' voted Swift as the "2008 Girl of the Year". Swift was named by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine as one of "The RS 100: Agents of Change". She was nominated as a candidate for ''TIME''s "2009 The Time 100 Finalists" list, which is determined by online voting. ''People'' magazine named Swift one of 25 Most Intriguing People of 2009.

Merchandise

Jakks Pacific released a celebrity doll of Swift in late 2008. Swift has been the face of L.E.I. Jeans (Life Energy Intelligence) since 2008. Swift and the L.e.i. Clothing Line made a deal to create a line based on Swift's style of dressing, which will appear in Wal-Mart in the coming months. However, Swift said she does not want to be called a designer. Instead, she says she will inspire the clothing company's dress line based on her own style. "I don't look at it like I'm branching out as a designer... It's not the Taylor Swift designer line." In 2009, Swift became the National Hockey League's newest celebrity spokesperson. She appears in commercials for the Nashville Predators.

In May 2009, Swift filed a lawsuit (kept sealed until August 2010) against numerous sellers of unauthorized counterfeit merchandise bearing her name, likeness, and trademarks, where she demanded a trial by jury, sought a judgement for compensatory damages, punitive damages, three times the actual damages sustained, and statutory damages, and sought for recovery of her attorney's fees and prejudgement interest. Nashville's U.S. District Court granted an injunction and judgment against the sellers, who had been identified at Swift's concerts in several states. The court ordered merchandise seized from the defendants to be destroyed. On July 15, 2011, Swift's official website announced that she had partnered with Elizabeth Arden to launch a fragrance, which is to be released in October 2011. The fragrance's name, "Wonderstruck", is a reference to the song "Enchanted" featured on her ''Speak Now'' album. Swift is also working with American Greetings, Inc.

Philanthropy

On September 21, 2007, Swift helped launch a campaign to protect children from online predators. She has teamed up with Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen to combat internet sex crimes. The year-long campaign, in partnership with the Tennessee Association of Chiefs of Police, will distribute Internet safety information and materials to parents and students across the state. In early 2008, Swift donated the pink Chevy pick-up truck given to her by her record label to the children’s charity, the ''Victory Junction Gang''; in June 2008, Swift donated all the proceeds from her merchandise sales at the 2008 Country Music Festival to Red Cross, the ''Nashville Area Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund'' and the ''National American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund''.

Swift donated $100,000 to the Red Cross in Cedar Rapids, Iowa to help the victims of the Iowa flood of 2008. Swift has teamed up with Sound Matters to make listeners aware of listening "responsibly". Swift supports @15, a teen-led social change platform underwritten by Best Buy to give teens opportunities to direct the company's philanthropy through the newly-created @15 Fund. Swift's song, "Fifteen", is featured in this campaign. Swift lent her support to the Victorian Bushfire Appeal by joining the lineup at Sydney's Sound Relief concert, reportedly making the biggest contribution of any artist playing at Sound Relief to the Australian Red Cross. Swift donated her prom dress, which raised $1,200 for charity, to DonateMyDress.org. On November 20, 2009 after a live performance on BBC's Children in Need night Swift announced to Sir Terry Wogan she would donate £13,000 of her own money to the cause.

On December 13, Swift's own birthday, she donated $250,000 to various schools around the country which she had either attended or been involved with. Swift has donated a pair of her shoes – a gently-worn pair of black Betsey Johnson heels with her autograph on the sole – to the Wish Upon a Hero Foundation's Hero in Heels fundraiser for auction to raise money to benefit women with cancer.

In response to the May 2010 Tennessee floods, Swift donated $500,000 during a flood relief telethon hosted by WSMV, a Nashville television station.

On May 23, 2011, Taylor Swift transformed what was to have been the final dress rehearsal for the North American leg of her Speak Now tour into a benefit concert for victims of recent tornadoes in the United States southeast region. The concert in Nashville drew more than 13,000 people and raised more than $750,000 from proceeds from ticket sales, merchandise and other facets of the show. The benefit concert for tornado relief was subsequently honored at the 2011 Do Something Awards. In July 2011, Swift further aided to the cause by donating $250,000 to Alabama football coach Nick Saban's charity Nick's Kids to aid in the tornado relief efforts of West Alabama.

Personal life

In addition to her relationship with Joe Jonas, which ended in October 2008, Swift's dating history has included other celebrities: Taylor Lautner, for three months in 2009; and Jake Gyllenhaal, from late 2010 to early 2011. Swift has also been romantically linked to John Mayer. There has been speculation that the songs "Dear John" and "The Story of Us" from her album ''Speak Now'' are about Mayer. In October 2011, she revealed to Ellen Degeneres on her show ''Ellen'' that, "I don't even have, like, kind of a boyfriend. I don't have someone that I'm texting that is a guy that someday might be my boyfriend. There's like nothing going on right now."

In November 2011, Taylor adopted a Scottish fold kitten. She named her Meredith after the character Meredith Grey from the popular ABC drama ''Grey's Anatomy''. The kitten appeared in the official music video for Taylor's song ''Ours'' alongside Taylor and ''Friday Night Lights'' star Zach Gilford.

Filmography

>

! Year	! Title	! Role	Notes
2007		Herself	Guest; Episode: Season 2 Finale
2008	''CMT Crossroads''	Herself	Episode: "Taylor Swift and Def Leppard"
2009	''Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience''	Herself
2009	''CSI: Crime Scene Investigation''	Haley Jones
2009	''Hannah Montana: The Movie''	Herself	Cameo
2009	''Saturday Night Live''	Herself	Host/Musical Guest
2009		Herself	Guest; Episode: Week 6 results
2010		Felicia	Movie acting debut
2010	''Taylor Swift: Journey to Fearless''	Herself	Main Role
2010		Herself	Guest; Episode: 200th episode
2012	''''	Audrey
2012	''Bruno the Robot''	Various

Discography

Albums

''Taylor Swift'' (2006)

''Fearless'' (2008)

''Speak Now'' (2010)

Awards and nominations

Tours

Fearless Tour (2009–10)

Speak Now World Tour (2011–2012)

References

External links

Category:1989 births Category:American child singers Category:American country banjoists Category:American country singer-songwriters Category:American female guitarists Category:American female singers Category:American film actors Category:American pianists Category:American pop singers Category:American television actors Category:Big Machine Records artists Category:Child pop musicians Category:English-language singers Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Living people Category:Musicians from Pennsylvania Category:People from Reading, Pennsylvania Category:People from Wyomissing, Pennsylvania Category:Ukulele players

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