A drum produces sound via a vibrating membrane.

Sound is a mechanical wave that is an oscillation of pressure transmitted through a solid, liquid, or gas, composed of frequencies within the range of hearing and of a level sufficiently strong to be heard, or the sensation stimulated in organs of hearing by such vibrations.^[1]

Propagation of sound[link]

Sound is a sequence of waves of pressure that propagates through compressible media such as air or water. (Sound can propagate through solids as well, but there are additional modes of propagation). During propagation, waves can be reflected, refracted, or attenuated by the medium.^[2]

The behavior of sound propagation is generally affected by three things:

• A relationship between density and pressure. This relationship, affected by temperature, determines the speed of sound within the medium.
• The propagation is also affected by the motion of the medium itself. For example, sound moving through wind. Independent of the motion of sound through the medium, if the medium is moving, the sound is further transported.
• The viscosity of the medium also affects the motion of sound waves. It determines the rate at which sound is attenuated. For many media, such as air or water, attenuation due to viscosity is negligible.

When sound is moving through a medium that does not have constant physical properties, it may be refracted (either dispersed or focused).^[2]

Perception of sound[link]

Human ear

The perception of sound in any organism is limited to a certain range of frequencies. For humans, hearing is normally limited to frequencies between about 20 Hz and 20,000 Hz (20 kHz)^[3], although these limits are not definite. The upper limit generally decreases with age. Other species have a different range of hearing. For example, dogs can perceive vibrations higher than 20 kHz, but are deaf to anything below 40 Hz. As a signal perceived by one of the major senses, sound is used by many species for detecting danger, navigation, predation, and communication. Earth's atmosphere, water, and virtually any physical phenomenon, such as fire, rain, wind, surf, or earthquake, produces (and is characterized by) its unique sounds. Many species, such as frogs, birds, marine and terrestrial mammals, have also developed special organs to produce sound. In some species, these produce song and speech. Furthermore, humans have developed culture and technology (such as music, telephone and radio) that allows them to generate, record, transmit, and broadcast sound. The scientific study of human sound perception is known as psychoacoustics.

Physics of sound[link]

Spherical compression waves

The mechanical vibrations that can be interpreted as sound are able to travel through all forms of matter: gases, liquids, solids, and plasmas. The matter that supports the sound is called the medium. Sound cannot travel through a vacuum.

Longitudinal and transverse waves[link]

Sound is transmitted through gases, plasma, and liquids as longitudinal waves, also called compression waves. Through solids, however, it can be transmitted as both longitudinal waves and transverse waves. Longitudinal sound waves are waves of alternating pressure deviations from the equilibrium pressure, causing local regions of compression and rarefaction, while transverse waves (in solids) are waves of alternating shear stress at right angle to the direction of propagation.

Matter in the medium is periodically displaced by a sound wave, and thus oscillates. The energy carried by the sound wave converts back and forth between the potential energy of the extra compression (in case of longitudinal waves) or lateral displacement strain (in case of transverse waves) of the matter and the kinetic energy of the oscillations of the medium.

Sound wave properties and characteristics[link]

Sinusoidal waves of various frequencies; the bottom waves have higher frequencies than those above. The horizontal axis represents time.

Sound waves are often simplified to a description in terms of sinusoidal plane waves, which are characterized by these generic properties:

• Frequency, or its inverse, the period
• Wavelength
• Wavenumber
• Amplitude
• Sound pressure
• Sound intensity
• Speed of sound
• Direction

Sometimes speed and direction are combined as a velocity vector; wavenumber and direction are combined as a wave vector.

Transverse waves, also known as shear waves, have the additional property, polarization, and are not a characteristic of sound waves.

Speed of sound[link]

U.S. Navy F/A-18 breaking the sound barrier. The white halo is formed by condensed water droplets thought to result from a drop in air pressure around the aircraft (see Prandtl-Glauert Singularity).^[4][5]

The speed of sound depends on the medium the waves pass through, and is a fundamental property of the material. In general, the speed of sound is proportional to the square root of the ratio of the elastic modulus (stiffness) of the medium to its density. Those physical properties and the speed of sound change with ambient conditions. For example, the speed of sound in gases depends on temperature. In 20 °C (68 °F) air at the sea level, the speed of sound is approximately 343 m/s (1,230 km/h; 767 mph) using the formula "v = (331 + 0.6 T) m/s". In fresh water, also at 20 °C, the speed of sound is approximately 1,482 m/s (5,335 km/h; 3,315 mph). In steel, the speed of sound is about 5,960 m/s (21,460 km/h; 13,330 mph).^[6] The speed of sound is also slightly sensitive (a second-order anharmonic effect) to the sound amplitude, which means that there are nonlinear propagation effects, such as the production of harmonics and mixed tones not present in the original sound (see parametric array).

Acoustics[link]

Acoustics is the interdisciplinary science that deals with the study of all mechanical waves in gases, liquids, and solids including vibration, sound, ultrasound and infrasound. A scientist who works in the field of acoustics is an acoustician while someone working in the field of acoustics technology may be called an acoustical or audio engineer. The application of acoustics can be seen in almost all aspects of modern society with the most obvious being the audio and noise control industries.

Noise[link]

Noise is a term often used to refer to an unwanted sound. In science and engineering, noise is an undesirable component that obscures a wanted signal.

Sound pressure level[link]

Sound pressure is the difference, in a given medium, between average local pressure and the pressure in the sound wave. A square of this difference (i.e., a square of the deviation from the equilibrium pressure) is usually averaged over time and/or space, and a square root of this average provides a root mean square (RMS) value. For example, 1 Pa RMS sound pressure (94 dBSPL) in atmospheric air implies that the actual pressure in the sound wave oscillates between (1 atm Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): -\sqrt{2}

Pa) and (1 atm Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): +\sqrt{2}
Pa), that is between 101323.6 and 101326.4 Pa. Such a tiny (relative to atmospheric) variation in air pressure at an audio frequency is perceived as a deafening sound, and can cause hearing damage, according to the table below.

As the human ear can detect sounds with a wide range of amplitudes, sound pressure is often measured as a level on a logarithmic decibel scale. The sound pressure level (SPL) or L_p is defined as

Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): L_\mathrm{p}=10\, \log_{10}\left(\frac{{p}^2}{{p_\mathrm{ref}}^2}\right) =20\, \log_{10}\left(\frac{p}{p_\mathrm{ref}}\right)\mbox{ dB}\,

where p is the root-mean-square sound pressure and Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): p_\mathrm{ref}

is a reference sound pressure. Commonly used reference sound pressures, defined in the standard ANSI S1.1-1994, are 20 µPa in air and 1 µPa in water. Without a specified reference sound pressure, a value expressed in decibels cannot represent a sound pressure level.

Since the human ear does not have a flat spectral response, sound pressures are often frequency weighted so that the measured level matches perceived levels more closely. The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) has defined several weighting schemes. A-weighting attempts to match the response of the human ear to noise and A-weighted sound pressure levels are labeled dBA. C-weighting is used to measure peak levels.

Equipment for dealing with sound[link]

Equipment for generating or using sound includes musical instruments, hearing aids, sonar systems and sound reproduction and broadcasting equipment. Many of these use electro-acoustic transducers such as microphones and loudspeakers.

Sound measurement[link]

• Decibel, Sone, mel, Phon, Hertz
• Sound pressure level, Sound pressure
• Particle velocity, Acoustic velocity
• Particle displacement, Particle amplitude, Particle acceleration
• Sound power, Acoustic power, Sound power level
• Sound energy flux
• Sound intensity, Acoustic intensity, Sound intensity level
• Acoustic impedance, Sound impedance, Characteristic impedance
• Speed of sound, Amplitude

See also[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Sound

Wikibooks has more on the topic of Sound

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Sound

Wikisource has original text related to this article: Sound

• Sounds Amazing; a KS3/4 learning resource for sound and waves
• HyperPhysics: Sound and Hearing
• Introduction to the Physics of Sound
• Hearing curves and on-line hearing test
• Audio for the 21st Century
• Conversion of sound units and levels
• Sound calculations
• Audio Check: a free collection of audio tests and test tones playable on-line
• More Sounds Amazing; a sixth-form learning resource about sound waves

Adrian Borland (6 December 1957 – 26 April 1999) was an English singer, songwriter, guitarist and record producer, best known as the lead singer of post-punk band The Sound (1979–87). Following a substantial solo career spanning five albums he succumbed to the symptoms of schizoid-affective disorder ^[1] and committed suicide in April 1999.

Early career[link]

Adrian Kelvin Borland was born in England in 1957, the son of Bob and Win Borland, an English teacher.^[2] At primary school the young Adrian Borland was already friends with future Sound bassist (and Second Layer collaborator) Graham "Green" Bailey,^[3] and would meet Steve Budd, closely involved with his band "The Sound" in their early years, in his early teens. Budd would later recall, "We met when we were both 14. He was the only other kid I knew with an electric guitar. Even at 14 you could see he was a genius.".^[4] His first band, the Wimbledon-based punk rock trio The Outsiders, was formed with Borland at its nucleus, manning vocals and guitar. Bob Lawrence was on bass, and Adrian 'Jan' Janes manned the drums. Their debut LP, Calling On Youth, was self-released on their Raw Edge label, and became the first UK self-released punk album^[5] and won them their first unfavourable reviews: "apple-cheeked Ade has a complexion that would turn a Devon milkmaid green with envy", reported the NME.^[6][7] An EP that November, One To Infinity, was labelled as "Tuneless, gormless, gutless" (again by the NME)^[8] but was praised elsewhere.^[9] It was followed by a second album Close Up in 1979. This received better (but cautious) reviews from the press.^[10][11]

It was after this album that important changes took place that would decide the band's future: Lawrence left to be replaced by Borland's old friend Graham 'Greene' Bailey, and Adrian Janes' departure to go to college^[12] allowed Geoffrey Cummant-Wood (the band's manager), to suggest 28 year-old Mike Dudley in his stead.^[13] The Outsiders trio became The Sound, a quartet, with the arrival of Bi Marshall (real name Benita Biltoo),^[14] an acquaintance of Bailey's and the band from around 1977.^[12] The new sound was augmented by her use of the clarinet (later saxophone) and synthesizer.

The Sound: 1979–1987[link]

Borland became the kernel of The Sound, being the songwriter, main vocalist and guitarist, penning tracks for the early Propaganda sessions and the Jeopardy recordings (the latter to become The Sound's debut release).^[15] From this point on he would become critically acclaimed,^[16][17][18] if never a household name. The Sound's second album, From The Lion's Mouth was even more enthusiatically received,^{[19][20][21][22]} selling over 100,000 units worldwide.^[23] Borland's personal productivity was enhanced even more with two collaborations that year, one with Jello Biafra in "The Witch Trials" ^[24] and another with Sound bassist Grahem Bailey in "Second Layer", which spawned the electronic album World of Rubber. The Sound were caught on a downcurve, however, the following year with the release of All Fall Down (1982), an experimental and bitter album that represented the band's refusal to make more commercial music in order to satisfy their label (Korova, a Warner Bros. subsidiary). Korova responded by dropping them,^[25] while the music press rapidly disowned them; a Sounds review called the album "virtually worthless".^[26] The Sound never recovered from this setback, although they did release a mini album (Shock of Daylight), a live album (In The Hothouse) and two further albums (Heads and Hearts and Thunder Up) over the next five years. These were all released on small independent labels, and never reversed the band's vanishing profile.

Although it is unclear as to when Borland was diagnosed with his condition, from 1985 onwards the symptoms of his depression became more and more apparent.^[27] His problems would manifest themselves in many of the songs on The Sound's final album, Thunder Up, as well as in the schizophrenic layout of the piece; while the initial tracks deal with confronting issues (for example "Acceleration Group", "Barria Alta") the second half proceeds at an entirely different tangent, becoming either tortuous ("Shot Up And Shut Down"), frenetic ("I Give You Pain") or mournful ("You've Got A way"). The touring for Thunder Up culminated in disaster for the band when Borland left halfway through a set at Zoetermeer, Netherlands. It would be the last Sound gig.^[28] Dudley described the breakup in 2004:

"We had decided the three of us, Colvin, Graham and myself, to tell Adrian that the Sound needed a break and that he should get some rest and some help,

and that in the meantime we would go off and look at other things...but when it came down to it I sat there and listened to the others say “Yes, Adrian. No, Adrian” to Adrian, who wanted despite everything to go on, and I just said at that point “I’m leaving the band”, my intention being that the band would

come to an end there and then, forcing Adrian into the position where he would get some rest, for his sake." ^[29]

The band continued without Mike Dudley into 1988, but soon collapsed. The Big Takeover lamented that it was "Like an old friend losing a long fight with a disease".^[30] Borland would later blame himself for the breakup of The Sound.^[23]

After The Sound: 1988–1999[link]

Early solo career[link]

While his former bandmates discontinued their musical careers, Borland moved to the Netherlands in 1988 in order to found yet another band, after initially going there on holiday and to meet his manager (Rob Acda) .^[31] Adrian Borland and The Citizens was formed there, taking advantage of the popularity of The Sound on the continent, and the relative inexpense of venues in the Low Countries.^[32] Musically, this was a period of unprecedented collaboration for Borland; for instance, he worked (albeit under the pseudonym "Joachim Pimento") with the Honolulu Mountain Daffodils right up until their final release Psychic Hit List Victim in 1991 .^[33]

In 1989 Adrian Borland and The Citizens released Alexandria, a huge departure musically from Thunder Up and featuring four backing vocalists, bass, cello, clarinet, drums and kettle drums, piano, saxophone, harmonica, tambourine, viola, violin and guitar. Some continuity was provided by former Sound bandmate Colvin 'Max' Mayers collaborating by reprising his role of keyboardist, while Nick Robbins again engineered and co-produced the album with Borland.^[34] The album featured much calmer, lighter tracks than those on Thunder Up, such as "Light The Sky" and "Rogue Beauty". As always, some tracks deal with Borland's own precarious emotional state, such as "No Ethereal" and "Deep Deep Blue". In an interview with Melody Maker the same year, Borland said of the title:

"I think The Sound suffered from this image of being blunt and straightforward and hitting you in the face with what we wanted to say, right from "who the hell makes those missiles?" So I wanted something more vague, something almost without reason."^[35]

The album, however, suffered from poor sales, selling an estimated 10,000 copies on the continent and a mere 1000 in England. Borland attributed this to poor distribution.^[23] Although Borland expressed an interest in re-forming his old band, The Sound never re-formed: bassist Graham Bailey moved to the United States in the early 90s; keyboardist Max died on Boxing Day 1993 from an AIDs-related illness; and an undisclosed antagonism had caused an irreparable rift between Borland and drummer Mike Dudley. Speaking of a possible reformation in 1992, Borland said:

"it's my fault 'cos I started this rumour at an Iggy or Kraftwerk gig earlier this year, it's definitely not happening, for a start the person who probably won't do it is the drummer. But even Graham & Max have gone off the idea now. Graham & I are going to do something in the future, but we're so busy you know? When I'm not busy he's busy, we never find the right moment." ^[23]

1992 saw the release of Brittle Heaven, which would later lend its name to the (now official) Adrian Borland website. With a menagerie of 14 songs with little difference in style to those of his previous release, the real difference now lay in the composition of the Citizens, which was by now almost exclusively Dutch. Don Victor now co-produced with Borland.^[36] The album benefits from lavish investment in production, although this puts it in a similar position to The Sound's Heads and Hearts album in that it is much more polished than Borland's other solo material. Critical reception ranged from the noncomittal to welcoming; Allmusic described it as 'one hour of finely woven tapestry, of gorgeous music', albeit 'Not quite as good as 1989's Alexandria', handing it three stars out of five,^[37] while David Cavanagh gave it four, praising the atmosphere of 'a strange, dizzy optimism' pervading the album.^[38] As one critic argued: '[Borland's] reflective writing remains as good as ever',^[39] and The Big Takeover went further, proclaiming it 'inspired'.^[40]

With some critical endorsement Borland continued to work on new material throughout the year. At some point in 1992 he traveled to Amsterdam to record a session with Victor Heeremans, re-recorded and released many years later as the posthumous The Amsterdam Tapes album.^[41] Recorded in a crossover point in his career, it represents a shift in both musical and mental directions: while tracks like "Ordinary Angel" show some continuity with the tone of Brittle Heaven, the forcefulness of tracks such as "Fast Blue World", "Darkest Heart" and "Via Satellite" clearly preclude Borland's later, harder style as seen on 5:00AM and Harmony and Destruction. On the other hand, the acoustic-based fragility of tracks such as "Happen" and "White Room" represents a more immediate turn to lighter, less ambitious music -the latter would be re-recorded to feature on the 1994 album Beautiful Ammunition.

Around this time also Borland began working on music production; he produced albums by Felt, Into Paradise and Waiting Sound. ^[23]

Mid-nineties[link]

In 1994 Borland returned to the UK to record his third album, Beautiful Ammunition, at the Acton Survival Studios on Resolve Records.^[42] Whether because of meagre investment or because of his desire to explore a more acoustic sound, the new album displayed a simpler format, largely devoid of any discernible concept: "Beautiful Ammunition" is very simply put together, only acoustic guitar, synthesiser and a few drum machines. Everything is very basic, which I like", Borland said later.^[43] One notable change from Brittle Heaven is presence of dark, introspective songs, particularly "Lone Late Nighter" and "White Room", emphasised somewhat by the empty, lonely musical framework. This is not to say, however, that more confident tracks are banished from the album: "Reunited States of Love" and "Someone Will Love You Today" are perfect examples of this, and yet still exemplify in their tentativeness a decisive split from Brittle Heaven-era songs. Critical reception was as muted as always, and mixed where evident; Big Takeover complained that it was 'too light and airy', but vaguely appraised the work as 'finely honed and pleasant'.^[44]

The following year, 1995, was to be an important year for Borland; not only was the album Cinematic written and released, but his work with Carlo van Putten, Claudia Uman, Florian Brattman and David Maria Gramse in The White Rose Transmission came to fruition, with the side-project's self-titled debut appearing that year. They would continue to perform intermittently throughout the 1990s, Borland being a major contributor.^[45]

Cinematic was a stablemate of Beautiful Ammunition in that it was also created in the Survival Studios and under the Resolve label,^[46] yet demonstrated a further evolution in Borland's musical career. Despite being in a similar situation as regards funding, Cinematic benefited from much better, integrated production as well as punchy tracks such as "Bright White Light". With the psychological opener "Dreamfuel" a dream-like atmosphere pervaded the album, establishing itself in indolent, moody tracks like "Cinematic" and "When Can I Be Me?". It was, overall, a more coherent attempt than its predecessor, but -predictably- did not win over the public. Critical reception, however, was even more welcoming. With an Allmusic.com ranking of 4 stars the album was lauded:

"Generally quieter but no less intense than much of his '80s work, Cinematic lives up to its name more than once, with mysterious atmospheres matched by often understated but still sharply realized songs and lyrics." ^[47]

Simon Heavisides stated: 'Isn't it great when your old favourites don't let you down?...[it] leaves you with the feeling at the end that you want to hear the whole damn thing over again." ^[48] Mitch Myers wrote in 1997: 'Everybody is a star, but Borland's cinematic life is well worth watching.' ^[49] Glenn McDonald, however, offered up a less enthusiastic summation: 'The music had an impressive sweep to it, but the production seemed to me to emphasize the mechanical repetitiveness of the arrangements'.^[50] The album also lent its name to Cinematic Overview the following year, a compilation album of Borland's work stretching all the way back to the mid seventies.

Also in 1996 the newly-formed Renascent Records label reissued Sound records Heads and Hearts (with Shock of Daylight) ^[51] and In The Hothouse,^[52] complete with new packaging, and liner notes by Borland himself.

Later years[link]

Borland's last release during his lifetime was the album 5:00AM. A switch to Earth Records and a slight change of crew -Tim Smith of Cardiacs now co-produced with Borland ^{[53] [54]} - were the only ostensible differences between the new work and Cinematic. However, the money invested in the album allowed for much better production, a direct result of which was the recording and inclusion of "Baby Moon", a song which Borland had held onto since 1993 but did not want to waste 'on a lo-fi production' .^[55] The songs are generally punchier and more radio-friendly, such as opener "Stray Bullets", "City Speed" and "Redemption's Knees", but containing powerful, dark, indolent tracks which, at this point, Borland had made his solo trademark: "Vampiric" is arguably the best example of this in all of his discography. The album is also representative of earlier work in that it does not fail to neglect his mental state, dealing with it in an optimistic, confrontational fashion in "Over The Under": 'Under this roof, under the sky/I want to live, at least I'm going to try/But I'm over the under now'.^[56] That song would prove to be Borland's last single release. The critical reception was, perhaps, the best of any in his lifetime. Glenn McDonald produced the following glowing review:

"5:00am turns out to sound exactly the way I wanted Cinematic to. Borland's voice, when he sings like he means it, is a glorious amalgam of

Burgess, Ian McNabb, Ian McCulloch, Mike Peters, Jim Kerr and Then Jerico's Mark Shaw, the breathy intimacy that for me misfired on Cinematic here filling, elegantly, the roll that hoarse fervor played in his singing with the Sound."

^[57]

Allmusic.com list the album at 3 stars, but give no explanation.^[58] Borland himself was excited by 5:00AM, and was keen to draw lines between it and his most successful period: '"5:00 A.M" takes up, where "Thunder Up" - which was the last Sound album - left off...It's still the same person, who writes the songs, only a little bit less in love with himself and more worldview orientated.".^[59]

Before attending to what would become his last solo recordings, Borland wrote twelve of the fourteen tracks on The White Rose Transmission's second release, 500 Miles of Desert, recording them with the band between November 1998 and January 1999 and producing the album himself. ^[60] Borland was proud of the work, and said so in his last public writing, dated March 18, 1999:

"Everybody involved worked hard but enjoyed themselves immensely and the end result is better than any of us expected. It's hard to be objective but I' II just say the final mastered slice of silver has rarely left my CD player." ^[61]

Death[link]

By 1999 Borland had lived with severe depression for about 14 years.^[62] He had still been denied commercial success or widespread popularity outside of continental Europe, and he had tried to commit suicide at least three times, the third (according to his mother Win Borland) when he jumped in front of a car. He had also developed a drinking problem.^[63]

His plans for that year were staggering. Not content with merely anticipating the release of 500 Miles of Desert he expressed the intention to record a sixth solo album with Heads and Hearts producer Wally Brill, a tour of Europe that June to promote the WRT album, a further tour later in the year to promote the new solo release, and 'a 12 song acoustic record with Wally Brill using percussion, trumpet, violin, viola and atmospheric electric guitar' for 2000.^[64] Meanwhile the remastering of several The Sound recordings, created at the very start of their career in 1976/77, was underway by Wally Brill. The finished product, Propaganda, was released by Renascent and featured linernotes by Borland, like all previous releases .^[65] It would be officially released on the 26th of April - the very day Borland would commit suicide.^[66] Of the plans drawn up by Borland over the winter, only his solo album was undertaken. It was recorded at The Premises, London over a number of months, although Borland himself recorded guide vocals and guitar in the space of about a fortnight.^[67] After this point his disposition changed. In a letter he wrote to his parents shortly before his death he expressed fear at being sectioned in Springfield mental hospital .^[68] 'He was returning home distraught and anxious...he had ignored the medical advice to pace himself', his mother, Win Borland, wrote.^[69] At evidence given at Westminster Coroner's Court it was revealed that he had visited an ex-girlfriend in the days before his death and that his condition had worsened thereafter. The Wimbledon Guardian reported:

"She said: "His thoughts were coming out loud and at one point he said there's always the railway line". She called 999 but by the time police arrived he had disappeared and was reported as a high risk missing person.

That night Mr Borland turned up at Kennington Police Station claiming he was being chased. Later he rang his mother to say he was in a curry house in Kennington. She alerted police and following a series of phone calls and hold-ups he was eventually dropped off at his mother's home at around 3.15 am

by officers who described his state of mind as "lucid"." ^[68]

The night of the 25th Borland slipped away to Wimbledon Station. In the early hours of the 26th horrified commuters watched as Borland committed suicide by throwing himself under a train. He was 41 years of age,^[2] and was interred at the Merton & Sutton Joint Cemetery, London. In an account given by drummer Mike Dudley his funeral was attended by his parents, Bob Lawrence and Adrian Janes of The Outsiders, original Sound keyboardist Bi Marshall, early Sound manager Steve Budd and Wally Brill, co-producer of Heads and Hearts and Harmony and Destruction, among a multitude of others.^[70]

Legacy[link]

Although 700 Miles of Desert was released to minimal critical acclaim (but with three stars on Allmusic.com^[71] and four stars on eMusic.com^[72]) Borland's work has enjoyed an appreciative critical reception and a lasting fanbase, with sites such as brittleheaven.com and renascent.co.uk providing an online outlet for information and sales. In the Millennium a book of anecdotes written by his friend and colleagues was compiled and published, entitled "Book of Happy Memories,^[73] after the Brittle Heaven song "Box of Happy Memories". 2001 saw in a tribute album, titled In Passing - A Tribute To Adrian Borland and The Sound ,^[74] as well as Renascent reissues of Sound albums Jeopardy, From The Lion's Mouth and All Fall Down . 2002 saw the release of Harmony & Destruction, the remnants of his sixth solo album patched up by Wally Brill and the session musicians. The BBC recordings of Sound sessions from the 1980s were released with linernotes by Mike Dudley in 2004.^[75] 2006 saw The Amsterdam Tapes,^[76] a demo album from 1992 that was rejected by his label also remastered and rerecorded by his friends; a band of them grouped together later that year under the moniker 'The Sound of Adrian Borland' in order to promote it. That same year five live albums, collectively known as The Dutch Radio Recordings, were released by Renascent. These garnered overwhelmingly positive reviews ^[77] .^[78] His collaborative project with Graham Bailey in Second Layer was also resurrected in 2009 by Red Sun Records; their 1981 album World of Rubber was remastered and expanded ^[79] and received fan support.^[80]

Musical style[link]

Influences[link]

Borland's initial influences can be traced through his work with The Outsiders into punk bands of the 70s, such as the Sex Pistols. However, it is clear that he had a broader appreciation for other forms of rock parallel to this; his admiration for The Stooges and Iggy Pop was reaffirmed on several occasions ^[81] .^[82] Other influences included The Velvet Underground,^[83] Lou Reed,^[84] Jim Morrison and Joy Division ^[85] and David Bowie.^[86] In terms of admiration for contemporaries, mid-show interview in 1984, he cited New Order, Soft Cell and Eurythmics .^[87] His favourite bands from the eighties were The Waterboys and Talk Talk.^[81] He also lauded Ride in the early 90s.^[88]

Popular themes[link]

Borland's earliest lyrics with The Sound showed a tendency toward introspection, even before their music was really influenced by Joy Division .^[89] The song "Words Fail Me", was the earliest clear example of this. Many songs simply portray general themes of urban squalor, and political lyrics such as "Cost of Living", "Music Business" and the track "Missiles", which would reach infamy when included on their debut release, Jeopardy. The songs on Jeopardy would largely reflect inward tensions rather than political ones: a curious compromise is reached on "Unwritten Law", an attack on religious dogma surrounding suicide: 'A hand is a hand/A knife is a knife/Blood is blood/And life is life'. From The Lion's Mouth would also contain another reference to religion with "Judgement". Political songs would be largely absent from most further releases; only "Golden Soldiers" ("And I will drink to those who sacrifice and die for me/So I could be so golden") and "Shot Up And Shot Down" ("Most of England is sleeping in the sun/But not me") suggest political topics. In his solo work there are more stark examples, such as "Beneath The Big Wheel" and "The Other Side of The World" on Alexandria and the quasi-religious song "Station of The Cross" on Beautiful Ammunition. As Borland's condition got worse in the latter half on the 90s political themes were dropped as introspective ones once more took precedent.

While Borland denied that music helped him (he claimed it "doesn't make any difference" in an interview in 1992 ^[23] ), after his death his mother wrote that they were at least a cathartic form of therapy and "helped him to come to terms with his problems" .^[90] Thus it is that we can frequently infer from the body of work he left what his state of mind may have been at various stages of his life. The Jeopardy opener "I Can't Escape Myself" would project Borland's dissatisfaction with himself, and serves as an early example of his more depressive lyrics. "Fatal Flaw", from the generally more confident album From The Lion's Mouth explores mental weakness, a theme repeated more frequently on All Fall Down in the schizophrenic "Party of The Mind" and "As Feeling Dies"; on Heads and Hearts the crazed "Whirlpool" and "Burning Part of Me"; on "Thunder Up" the whole second half of the album. In his solo career songs such as "Deep Deep Blue", "Lonely Late Nighter" and "Stranger In The Soul" parallel Borland's suffering with his condition - by "Harmony & Destruction" it is merely easier to pick out upbeat songs from the multitude of depressed ones.

"Night Versus Day", a Jeopardy song that had also been part of the Propaganda sessions, is an example of Borland's fascination with dichotomy and the themes of light and dark, which were usually used as a metaphor for the polarizing effects of his condition. "New Dark Age" and "Winter" both link the night with fear or slowness. The most obvious Sound song with this idea is "You've Got A Way", the closing track on Thunder Up: "You've got a way/To shoot my night right through with the light of day". It is noteworthy that Borland's first solo single was "Light The Sky", the lyrics of which ae echoed in "Shadow of Your Grace": "You lit up my life and work/It was falling into place". The dichotomy is reversed on the 5:00am track Vampiric: "Before the dawn draws its first breath/Before the Sun destroys what's left/Of us". The album title should also be noted for being the time that dawn usually rises around the equinox. The theme of night and day is brought in as a central concept on the album Harmony & Destruction: the bright opener is "Solar", for instance, while "Startime" and "Heart Goes Down Like The Sun" are dark-named songs about depression. It may be significant that in "Last Train Out of Shatterville", which may be an act of suicide ideation, describes a train pulling out "in the cold morning light", and describes a previous suicide attempt as happening "last dawn as you slipped from curb to bonnet". The final track "Living On The Edge of God" contains the lyric "Strip me down, expose the man/Not a pretty sight in the morning light".

Trivia[link]

• Once claimed his favorite song of all time was The Waterboys' "The Whole Of The Moon".^[91]
• The B-movie Psychomania from 1971 is said to have been a favorite of his.
• Once stated that The Smiths 'are shit'.^[92]
• During his time with The Outsiders he played on stage with Iggy Pop.^[5][23]
• Mark Burgess' song "Adrian Be" is dedicated to him.
• To commemorate his death ten years on, the Facebook group for Adrian Borland organised an 'event', and wrote condolences.^[93] In addition, members created an unofficial tribute album.^[94]
• Played guitar left-handed.

Discography[link]

The Outsiders albums[link]

• Calling On Youth (1977) Raw Edge
• Close Up (1978) Raw Edge

Second Layer albums[link]

• World of Rubber (1981) Cherry Red (reissued 2009, Pop One)

The Sound albums[link]

• Jeopardy (1980) Korova (reissued 2001, Renascent)
• From The Lion's Mouth (1981) Korova (reissued 2001, Renascent)
• All Fall Down (1982) WEA Records (reissued 2002, Renascent)
• Heads and Hearts (1985) Statik (reissued 1996 with Shock of Daylight, Renascent)
• In the Hothouse (1985) Statik (reissued 1996, Renascent)
• Thunder Up (1987) PIAS

Solo albums[link]

• Alexandria (1989) PIAS
• Brittle Heaven (1992) PIAS
• Beautiful Ammunition (1994) Resolve
• Cinematic (1995) Resolve
• 5:00 AM (1997) Earth
• The Last Days of the Rain Machine (2000) Red Sun (Posthumous)
• Harmony & Destruction (2002) Red Sun (Posthumous)
• The Amsterdam Tapes (2006) Pop One (Posthumous)

Compilations[link]

• Counting the Days (1986) Statik
• Second Layer (1987) LD Records
• Vital Years (1993) Gift of Life
• Cinematic Overview (1995) Setanta
• Propaganda (1999) Renascent
• BBC Recordings (2004) Renascent
• The Dutch Radio Recordings, vol 1-5 (2006) Renascent

Singles and EPs[link]

• One to Infinity 7" EP (1977) Raw Edge
• Physical World 7" EP (1979) Tortch
• Flesh as Property EP (1979) Tortch
• State of Emergency EP (1980) Tortch
• "Heyday" Single (1980) Korova
• Live Instinct Maxi (1981) WEA Records BV
• "Sense of Purpose" Single (1981) Korova
• "Hot House" Single (1982) Korova
• "Party of the Mind" Single (1982) WEA Records BV
• "Mining dor Heart" Flexi (1983) Vinyl Magazine
• "Counting the Days" Single (1984) Statik
• "Golden Soldiers" Single (1984) Victoria
• Shock of Daylight Mini-album (1984) Statik
• "Temperature Drop" Single (1985) Statik
• "Under You" Single (1985) Statik
• "Hand of Love" Single (1987) PIAS
• "Iron Years" Single (1987) PIAS
• Light the Sky (1989) PIAS
• Beneath the Big Wheel (1989) PIAS
• All the Words (1992) PIAS
• Over the Under (1997) Earth

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• Kellman, Andy. Biography of Adrian Borland at Allmusic
• Renascent Sound site

Sound the Alarm may refer to:

• Sound the Alarm (band), an American rock band
• Sound the Alarm (The Dawn album), released in 2009
• Sound the Alarm (Howie Day album), released in 2009
• Sound the Alarm (Saves the Day album), released in 2006

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

Taylor Swift
Swift performing during the Australian leg of her Speak Now Tour in 2012
Background information
Birth name	Taylor Alison Swift
Born	(1989-12-13) December 13, 1989 (age 22) Reading, Pennsylvania, United States
Genres	Country-pop, pop, country, alternative rock
Occupations	Singer-songwriter, actress
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, banjo, ukulele, piano
Years active	2006–present
Labels	Big Machine
Website	TaylorSwift.com

Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter and occasional actress. Raised in Wyomissing, Pennsylvania, Swift moved to Nashville, Tennessee at the age of fourteen to pursue a career in country music. She signed to the independent label Big Machine Records and became the youngest songwriter ever hired by the Sony/ATV Music publishing house. The release of Swift's self-titled debut album in 2006 established her as a country music star. "Our Song", her third single, made her the youngest sole writer and singer of a number one song on the country chart. She received a Best New Artist nomination at the 50th Grammy Awards.

Swift's second album, Fearless, was released in late 2008. Buoyed by the chart success of the singles "Love Story" and "You Belong with Me", Fearless attracted a crossover audience and became the top-selling album of 2009. The record won four Grammy Awards, with Swift becoming the youngest ever Album of the Year winner. Fearless also received Album of the Year plaudits at the American Music Awards, Academy of Country Music Awards and Country Music Association Awards, making it the most awarded album in country music history. In 2010, Swift released her third album, Speak Now, which sold over one million copies in its first week. She then embarked on the 111-date Speak Now World Tour, which was attended by over 1.6 million fans and has become one of the highest-grossing concert tours of all time. The album's third single, "Mean", won two Grammy Awards for Best Country Song and Best Country Solo Performance. Swift is currently recording her fourth studio album, due for release in the fall of 2012.

Swift's work has earned her numerous accolades, including six Grammy Awards, ten AMAs, seven CMAs, six ACMs and 13 BMI Awards. She has sold over 22 million albums and 50 million song downloads worldwide, making her one of the best-selling music artists of all time. Swift has endorsement deals with Target, CoverGirl, Sony, Elizabeth Arden, Walmart and American Greetings. As a philanthropist, Swift has placed particular emphasis on arts education, children's literacy and natural disaster relief funds. In addition to her music career, Swift has appeared as an actress in the crime drama CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (2009), the romantic comedy Valentine's Day (2010) and the animated film The Lorax (2012).

Early life[link]

Taylor Alison Swift was born on December 13, 1989 in Reading, Pennsylvania.^[1] She is the daughter of Scott Swift, a Merrill Lynch financial adviser,^[2][3] and Andrea (née Gardner), a homemaker who previously worked as a mutual fund marketing executive.^[1][4] Swift was named after singer James Taylor; her mother believed a gender-neutral name would help her forge a successful business career.^[5][6] She has a younger brother, Austin, who attends Vanderbilt University.^[7] She spent the early years of her life on an eleven-acre Christmas tree farm in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania and was educated at the fee-paying Wyndcroft School.^[8] When Swift was nine years old, the family moved to Wyomissing, Pennsylvania,^[9][10] where she attended Wyomissing Area Junior/Senior High School.^[11] Swift spent her summers at her parent's vacation home in Stone Harbor, New Jersey^[12] and has described it as the place "where most of my childhood memories were formed".^[10]

Swift's first hobby was English horse riding. Her mother Andrea put her in a saddle when Swift was nine months old and she later competed in horse shows.^[13][14] Her family owned several Quarter horses and a Shetland pony.^[14] At the age of nine, Swift turned her attention to musical theatre and performed in Berks Youth Theatre Academy productions of Grease, Annie, Bye Bye Birdie and The Sound of Music.^[15][8] She travelled regularly to Broadway, New York for vocal and acting lessons. However, "after a few years of auditioning in New York and not getting anything”, Swift became interested in country music.^[16] She was inspired by LeAnn Rimes's Blue^[17] and her maternal grandmother, Marjorie Finlay, an opera singer.^[8] When she was in fourth grade, Swift won a national poetry contest with a three-page poem, "Monster in My Closet".^[18] At the age of eleven, after many attempts,^[19] Swift won a local talent competition by singing a rendition of LeAnn Rimes’s “Big Deal”, and was given the opportunity to appear as the opening act for Charlie Daniels at a Strausstown amphitheater.^[15] She spent her weekends performing at local festivals, fairs, coffeehouses, karaoke contests, garden clubs and Boy Scout meetings.^[20][4] This interest in country music isolated Swift from her middle school peers.^[21][22]

After watching a Behind the Music episode about Faith Hill,^[23] Swift recorded a demo of karaoke covers, and travelled with her mother to Nashville, Tennessee for spring break to leave a copy of the demo with record labels along Music Row. She received label rejections and realized that "everyone in that town wanted to do what I wanted to do. So, I kept thinking to myself, I need to figure out a way to be different".^[23] Swift began performing the "The Star Spangled Banner" at many sporting events, hoping she would be offered a recording contract. On one occasion, an eleven-year-old Swift high-fived Jay-Z after singing the national anthem at a 76ers game in Philadelphia.^[24] At the age of twelve, Swift was shown by a computer repairman how to play three chords on a guitar, inspiring her to write her first song, "Lucky You".^[25][26] She then recorded a second demo of original songs.^[15] In 2003, Swift and her parents began working with music manager Dan Dymtrow, after he spotted her singing at the US Open.^[27] Swift's second demo then caught the attention of RCA Records, who offered the eight-grader an artist development deal. In 2004, Swift modelled for Abercrombie and Fitch as part of their "Rising Stars" campaign and had an original song included in a Maybelline Cosmetics compilation CD.^[28]

When Swift was fourteen, her father transferred to the Nashville office of Merrill Lynch and the family relocated to a lake-shore house in Hendersonville, Tennessee.^[1] Swift has said her parents "presented it as a move to a nice community" rather than as her chance to become a star.^[29] Her mother has said, "We've always told her that this is not about putting food on our table or making our dreams come true."^[30] In Tennessee, Swift attended Hendersonville High School for her freshman and sophomore years.^[31] Later, to accommodate her touring schedule, Swift transferred to the Aaron Academy, a private Christian school which offered homeschooling services, and earned her high school diploma in 2008.^[32]

Music career[link]

[edit] 2004–08: Nashville songwriting sessions and Taylor Swift release

Swift moved to Nashville at the age of fourteen, having secured an artist development deal with RCA Records. Her musical influences included the Dixie Chicks, Shania Twain, LeAnn Rimes, Faith Hill,^[29] Tom Petty,^[33] Sheryl Crow,^[34] Melissa Etheridge, Pat Benatar,^[35] Reba McEntire, Garth Brooks,^[36] Patsy Cline, Loretta Lynn and Tammy Wynette.^[37] Swift had writing sessions with experienced songwriters such as Troy Verges, Brett Beavers, Brett James, Mac McAnally and the Warren Brothers,^[38][39] but eventually formed a lasting working relationship with Liz Rose.^[40] Swift saw Rose performing at an RCA songwriter event and suggested that they write together.^[41] They began meeting for two-hour writing sessions every Tuesday afternoon after school.^[42] Rose has said that the sessions were "some of the easiest I've ever done. Basically, I was just her editor. She'd write about what happened in school that day. She had such a clear vision of what she was trying to say. And she'd come in with the most incredible hooks".^[43][42] Swift also began recording demos with producer Nathan Chapman.^[41] After performing at a BMI Songwriter's Circle showcase at The Bitter End, New York,^[39] Swift became the youngest songwriter ever hired by the Sony/ATV Tree publishing house.^[44]

Swift performing at the Maverick Saloon & Grill in Santa Maria, California in 2006

Swift left RCA Records when she was fifteeen; the company wanted her to record the work of other songwriters and wait until she was eighteen to release an album, but she felt ready to launch her career with her own material.^[45][19] She also parted ways with manager Dan Dymtrow, who later took legal action against Swift and her parents.^[28] At an industry showcase at Nashville's The Bluebird Café in 2005, Swift caught the attention of Scott Borchetta, a Dreamworks Records executive who was preparing to form his own independent record label, Big Machine Records.^[40] Swift was one of the new label's first signings.^[40] As an introduction to the country music business, Borchetta arranged for Swift to intern at the CMA Music Festival; she acted as the artist escort for Darryl Worley.^[46][47]

Swift began working on her self-titled debut album shortly after signing her record deal. After experimenting with veteran Nashville producers, Swift persuaded Big Machine to hire her demo producer Nathan Chapman.^[19] It was his first time to record a studio album but Swift felt they had the right "chemistry".^[19] In the end, Chapman produced all but one of the tracks on Taylor Swift.^[19] She has described the album as the "diary" of her early teens^[48] and most songs were written during her freshman year of high school.^[19] As a result, the songs describe coming of age experiences such as insecurity, young love, and teenage angst.^[19] She has said that, although "it sounds like I've had 500 boyfriends", a lot of the songs are observational.^[19] Swift wrote three of the album's songs alone, including two singles, and co-wrote the remaining eight with writers such as Liz Rose, Robert Ellis Orrall and Angelo Petraglia.^[49] Musically, the album has been described as "a mix of trad-country instruments and spry rock guitars".^[50]

Taylor Swift was released in October 2006 and received generally positive reviews from music critics.^[51] PopMatters hoped Swift would be "able to find an accomodation between the country tradition and her very obvious pop sensibilities, because Taylor Swift suggests she has much to offer".^[52] The New Yorker's Sasha Frere-Jones described Swift as a "prodigy". She noted that "Our Song" "stop[ed] me in my tracks" and praised the lyrics: “He’s got a one-hand feel on the steering wheel, the other on my heart".^[53] Country Weekly felt Swift demonstrated "an honesty, intelligence and idealism with which listeners of any age will be able to connect" and noted that "the more thoughtful material suggests a talent poised to last well past high school".^[54] AllMusic stated that, while listening to the album, it was "never in doubt" that "Swift is a talent to be reckoned with".^[55] Rolling Stone described Swift as "bright-eyed but remarkably seasoned", and admired "Our Song"'s "insanely hooky sing-song melody that's as Britney as it is Patsy".^[50]

Swift performing at Yahoo HQ in Sunnyvale, California in 2007

Big Machine Records was still in its infancy upon the release of the lead single "Tim McGraw" in June 2006, and Swift and her mother helped "stuff the CD singles into envelopes to send to radio".^[30] She spent much of 2006 promoting Taylor Swift in a radio tour and later commented, "Radio tours for most artists last six weeks. Mine lasted six months."^[19] Swift painted canvases (inspired by Jackson Pollock) to gift to radio station managers who played her music.^[56] She took part in "GAC Short Cuts", a part-documentary, part-music-video series designed to introduce her to country music fans.^[57][58] She also made television appearances on Good Morning America,^[59] The Megan Mullally Show,^[59] America's Got Talent,^[60] and TRL.^[61] Swift, a self-described "kid of the internet",^[62] used MySpace to build a fanbase. She wrote her own blog posts, left comments on her fans' accounts and personally respond to the messages that were sent to her.^[63] This was, at the time, "revolutionary in country music".^[64][57] Borchetta has said that his decision to sign a sixteen year old singer-songwriter initially raised eyebrows among his record industry peers^[57] but Swift tapped into a previously unknown market: teenage girls who listen to country music.^[1][57]

Following "Tim McGraw", four further singles were released throughout 2007 and 2008: "Teardrops on My Guitar", "Our Song", "Picture to Burn" and "Should've Said No". All were highly successful on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, with "Our Song" and "Should've Said No" both reaching number one. "Our Song" made Swift the youngest sole writer and singer of a number one country song.^[65] "Teardrops on My Guitar" became a minor pop hit; it reached number thirteen on the Billboard Hot 100.^[66][67] The album sold 39,000 copies during its first week^[68] and, as of March 2011, has sold over 5.5 million copies worldwide.^[69] Swift also released a holiday album, Sounds of the Season: The Taylor Swift Holiday Collection, in October 2007 and an EP, Beautiful Eyes, in July 2008.^[70][71]

Swift toured extensively in support of Taylor Swift. In addition to festival and theater dates, Swift performed as an opening act for several country artists' concert tours. She opened for Rascal Flatts on several dates in late 2006.^[59][72] In 2007, she served as the opening act on twenty dates for George Strait's 2007 United States tour,^[73] several dates on Kenny Chesney's tour^[74] and selected dates on Brad Paisley's Bonfires & Amplifiers Tour.^[75][76] Also in 2007, Swift appeared as the opening act on several dates for Tim McGraw and Faith Hill's joint Soul2Soul II Tour.^[77] Swift again opened for Flatts for their Still Feels Good Tour in 2008.^[78] In addition to performing her own material, Swift played covers of songs by Beyoncé and Rihanna.^[79] She conducted meet-and-greet sessions with fans before and after her concerts; these lasted for up to four hours.^[80][81]

In 2007, Swift and Alan Jackson were jointly named the Nashville Songwriters Association's "Songwriter/Artists of the Year". Swift was the youngest person ever to be honored with the title.^[82] She also won the Country Music Association’s Horizon Award for Best New Artist.^[83] In 2008, she won Top New Female Vocalist at the Academy of Country Music Awards^[84] and Favorite Country Female Artist at the American Music Awards.^[85] She won seven BMI Awards for songs featured on Taylor Swift.^[86] Swift was also nominated for a 2008 Grammy Award in the category of Best New Artist, but lost to Amy Winehouse.^[87]

[edit] 2008–10: Fearless release, MTV VMA incident and media backlash

Swift's second studio album, Fearless, was released in November 2008.^[88] She wrote seven of the album's songs alone, including two singles, and co-wrote the remaining six with songwriters Liz Rose, John Rich, Colbie Caillat and Hillary Lindsey.^[49] While Swift wrote many of the songs on tour, she made a conscious effort not to include "road songs": "As a 16-year-old girl, I could never relate to those songs about playing a different city every night. I want to write about feelings and love and the lack of love".^[89] She has said that the album title "means you’re afraid of a lot of things, but you jump anyway".^[90] She co-produced the album with Nathan Chapman.^[49] Musically, the record is characterized by "loud, lean guitars and rousing choruses", with the occasional "bit of fiddle and banjo tucked into the mix".^[91]

Swift performing at the 2010 Cavendish Beach Music Festival in Canada

Fearless received generally positive reviews from music critics.^[92] 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".^[93] The Village Voice felt she displayed "preternatural wisdom and inclusiveness", "masterfully avoiding the typical diarist's pitfalls of trite banality and pseudo-profound bullshit".^[94] Rolling Stone described her as "a songwriting savant with an intuitive gift for verse-chorus-bridge architecture" whose "squirmingly intimate and true" songs seemed to be "literally ripped from a suburban girl's diary".^[95] USA Today found it "a pleasure to hear a gifted teenager who sounds like a gifted teenager, rather than a mouthpiece for a bunch of older pros' collective notion of adolescent yearning."^[96] The New Yorker described it as an album "without a bad track", adding that "the album’s finest effort, "Fifteen", will feature in yearbook quotes for years".^[97] Entertainment Weekly noted that the album would appeal mainly to young girls – "she sounds like a real teen, not some manufactured vixen-Lolita" – but predicted it would be "exciting to watch her precocious talent grow".^[98] Music critic Robert Christgau described Swift as "an uncommonly-to-impossibly strong and gifted teenage girl".^[99]

Swift promoted Fearless heavily upon its release. An episode of The Ellen DeGeneres Show was dedicated to the album launch^[57] and Swift appeared on many other chat shows.^[100] She communicated with fans using social media platforms such as twitter and personal video blogs.^[57] In October 2008, she appeared at the CMT Giants: Alan Jackson event, performing a cover of Jackson's "Drive (For Daddy Gene)".^[101] In November 2008, Swift took part in a joint, televised concert with rock band Def Leppard in Nashville.^[102][103] She performed her song "Fifteen" with Miley Cyrus at the 51st Grammy Awards in February 2009.^[104] In April 2009, she performed a cover of George Strait's "Run" at a televised ACM event honoring Strait as Artist of the Decade.^[105] Swift hosted and appeared as the musical guest on Saturday Night Live in November 2009.^[106] The lead single from the album, "Love Story", was released in September 2008 and became the second best-selling country single of all time, peaking at number four on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.^[67][107] Four more singles were released throughout 2008 and 2009: "White Horse", "You Belong with Me", "Fifteen" and "Fearless". "You Belong with Me" was the album's highest-charting single, peaking at number two on the Billboard Hot 100.^[108] The album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 Album Chart with sales of 592,304 and has since sold over 8.6 million copies worldwide.^[109][110] It was the top-selling album of 2009 and brought Swift much crossover success.^[111]

Swift carried out her first headlining tour from April 2009 to June 2010. As part of the 105-date Fearless Tour, Swift played 90 dates in North America, six dates in Europe, eight dates in Australia and one date in Asia.^[112] The stage show included multiple costume changes, dancers and a fairy-tale castle set.^[113] She sang a cover of Justin Timberlake's "What Goes Around... Comes Around" nightly, intertwined with her own "You're Not Sorry".^[114] Swift invited John Mayer, Faith Hill and Katy Perry to perform one-off duets with her at various dates during the North American tour.^{[115][116][117]} Justin Bieber, Kelly Pickler and Gloriana were the support acts.^[118] The tour was attended by more than 1.1 million fans and has grossed over $63 million.^[119] Taylor Swift: Journey to Fearless, a concert film, was aired on television and later released on DVD and Blu-ray.^[120] Also in 2009, Swift performed as a supporting act for Keith Urban.^[121]

In September 2009, Swift became the first country music artist to win an MTV Video Music Award when "You Belong with Me" was named Best Female Video.^[122] Her acceptance speech was interrupted by rapper Kanye West, who had been involved in a number of other award show incidents.^[123] West declared Beyoncé's video for "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)", nominated in the same category, to be "one of the best videos of all time." Many audience members booed West,^[124][125] prompting him to flip off the crowd.^[126][124] He then handed the microphone back to a speechless Swift.^[124][127] Backstage, Swift was seen "hysterically crying".^[124] According to Rolling Stone, when Swift's mother confronted West, he gave "a half-hearted apology in which he added he still thought Beyoncé's video was superior".^[128] West was removed from the event.^{[124][126][129]} When Beyoncé later won the award for Video of the Year, she invited Swift onstage to finish her speech.^[124][130] In the event's press room, Swift, who in 2008 had expressed a desire to sing a hook on a Kanye West rap song,^[131] was asked if she had "any hard feelings" towards West: "I don’t know him, and I’ve never met him, so... I don’t want to start anything because I had a great night tonight."^[128][132]

The incident received much media attention and inspired many Internet memes.^[133] President Barack Obama, in an "off the record" comment, called West a "jackass".^[134] Former US President Jimmy Carter said West's interruption was "completely uncalled for".^[135] West's behavior was criticized by celebrities, including Eminem, Snoop Dogg and Lady Gaga.^{[126][136][137][128]} The following day, West apologized for his verbal outburst both in a blog entry and during an appearance on The Jay Leno Show.^[124][125] He maintained that, while Swift was "very talented", "Beyoncé's video was the best of this decade!!!! ... I gave my awards to Outkast when they deserved it over me ... I'm not crazy y'all, I'm just real."^[138] Two days after the VMAs, Swift told an interviewer that West had not spoken to her since the ceremony.^[139] West then contacted her to offer a personal apology, which Swift accepted: "Kanye did call me, and he was very sincere in his apology."^[122][139] It has been said that the incident and subsequent media attention turned Swift into "a bona-fide mainstream celebrity".^[140]

Swift released a cover of Tom Petty's "American Girl", exclusively through Rhapsody in June 2009^[141] and continues to make her stage entrance to Petty's recording of the song.^[142] Swift contributed backing vocals to John Mayer's "Half of My Heart", featured on his fourth album, in November 2009.^[143] Mayer wrote the song as a tribute to Tom Petty and Fleetwood Mac: "I thought, 'Well, if this is going to be my love letter to that style of music, who's going to be the Stevie Nicks in this equation?' And I thought, 'This Taylor Swift girl is going to be around for a long time."^[144] The song received positive reviews from music critics.^{[145][146][147]} Swift and Mayer performed the song live at Madison Square Garden, New York in December 2009.^[148] It was released as the album's third single in June 2010 and peaked at number 25 on the Billboard Hot 100.^[149] Swift collaborated with a number of other artists in 2008 and 2009. She co-wrote and recorded "Best Days of Your Life" with Kelly Pickler.^[150] She co-wrote two songs for the Hannah Montana: The Movie soundtrack – "You'll Always Find Your Way Back Home" and "Crazier" – with Martin Johnson and Robert Ellis Orrall, respectively.^[151] Swift also provided vocals for Boys Like Girls's "Two Is Better Than One", written by Martin Johnson.^{[152][153][154][155]} In January 2010, Swift contributed two songs – including "Today Was a Fairytale" – to the Valentine's Day soundtrack^[156] and recorded a cover of Better Than Ezra's "Breathless" for the Hope for Haiti Now album.^[157]

Swift at the 2010 Time 100 Gala, where she was honored

In November 2009, Swift became the youngest ever artist, and one of only six women, to be named Entertainer of the Year by the Country Music Association.^[158] Fearless also won the Association's Album of the Year award.^[158] The album won many other accolades and has become the most awarded album in country music history.^[159] Swift was the youngest ever artist to win the Academy of Country Music's Album of the Year honor.^[160] The American Music Awards honored Swift with Artist of the Year and Favorite Country Album plaudits.^[161] She was awarded the Hal David Starlight Award by the Songwriters Hall of Fame^[162] and was named Songwriter/Artists of the Year by the Nashville Songwriters Association.^[163] She won four BMI Awards.^[164] Billboard named her 2009's Artist of the Year.^[165] Swift was included in Time's annual list of the 100 Most Influential People in 2010.^[166]

In January 2010, Swift won four Grammy Awards for Album of the Year, Best Country Album, Best Female Country Vocal Performance and Best Country Song, from a total of eight nominations.^[167][168] She was the youngest ever artist to win Album of the Year.^[169] During the ceremony, Swift sang "Rhiannon" and "You Belong with Me" with Stevie Nicks. Her vocal performance received negative reviews and sparked a widespread media backlash.^[140][170] Her vocals were described variously as "badly off-key", "strikingly bad" and "incredibly wretched".^[171][172] While The New York Times found it "refreshing to see someone so gifted make the occasional flub" and described Swift as "the most important new pop star of the past few years",^[169] music critic Bob Lefsetz predicted that her career would end "overnight".^[173][174] In April 2010, Stevie Nicks, writing in Time, defended the singer: "Taylor reminds me of myself in her determination and her childlike nature. It's an innocence that's so special and so rare. This girl writes the songs that make the whole world sing, like Neil Diamond or Elton John ... The female rock-'n'-roll-country-pop songwriter is back, and her name is Taylor Swift. And it's women like her who are going to save the music business."^[166]

[edit] 2010–12: Speak Now release, 13-month world tour and collaborations

Swift released her third studio album, Speak Now, in October 2010.^[175] She wrote all twelve songs alone: "I'd get my best ideas at 3 a.m. in Arkansas and I didn't have a co-writer around."^[176] Album recording sessions took place in California, Tennessee and Kentucky over a two year period.^[177][178] Swift, who co-produced the record with longtime collaborator Nathan Chapman,^[179] has described it as "a collection of confessions—things I wish I had said when I was in the moment".^[180] She originally intended to call the album Enchanted but Scott Borchetta, her record label's CEO, felt the title did not reflect the album's more adult themes: "She had played me a bunch of the new songs. I looked at her and I'm like, 'Taylor, this record isn't about fairy tales and high school anymore. That's not where you're at'".^[181] Musically, it has been said that the album "expands beyond country-pop to border both alternative rock and dirty bubblegum pop".^[182]

Speak Now received generally positive reviews from music critics.^[183] USA Today felt that Swift's songwriting skills would remind listeners "what all the fuss was about in the first place", with the album capturing "the sweet ache of becoming an adult".^[184] The Los Angeles Times praised her ability as a songwriter to "hit on common experiences that feel unique".^[182] The New York Times described the album as savage, musically diverse and "excellent too, possibly her best".^[179] The Village Voice found that the album demanded "a true appreciation of Swift's talent, which is not confessional, but dramatic: Like a procession of country songwriters before her, she creates characters and situations—some from life—and finds potent ways to describe them."^[185] Entertainment Weekly noted that while love may confound her, "the art of expert songcraft clearly doesn't".^[186] Music critic John Christgau found the album's songs "overlong and overworked" but remarked that "they evince an effort that bears a remarkable resemblance to care—that is, to caring in the best, broadest, and most emotional sense".^[99] Rolling Stone described Swift as one of the best songwriters in "pop, rock or country": "Swift might be a clever Nashville pro who knows all the hitmaking tricks, but she's also a high-strung, hyper-romantic gal with a melodramatic streak the size of the Atchafalaya Swamp".^[187]

Swift performing during the Speak Now World Tour in July 2011

Swift carried out an extensive promotional campaign prior to Speak Now's release.^[188] She appeared on various talk shows and morning shows, and gave free mini-concerts in unusual locations, including an open-decker bus on Hollywood Boulevard and a departure lounge at JFK airport.^[189][190] She took part in a "guitar pull" alongside Kris Kristofferson, Emmylou Harris, Vince Gill and Lionel Ritchie at LA's Club Nokia; the musicians shared the stage and took turns introducing and playing acoutic versions of their songs to raise money for the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.^[191][192] The album's lead single, "Mine", was released in August 2010 and five further singles were released throughout 2010 and 2011: "Back to December", "Mean", "The Story of Us", "Sparks Fly" and "Ours".^[193] Speak Now was a major commercial success, debuting at number one on the US Billboard 200 chart. Its sales of 1,047,000 copies made it the sixteenth album in United States history to sell one million copies in a single week.^[194] As of February 2012, Speak Now has sold over four million copies in the US^[195] and over 5.7 million copies worldwide.^[196][197] In her career, as of May 2012, Swift has sold over 22 million albums^[198] and 50 million digital tracks worldwide.^[199]

In September 2010, Kanye West's 2009 VMA interruption once again became newsworthy when West used his twitter account to apologize to Swift, referring to her as "just a lil girl with dreams like the rest of us": ""I wrote a song for Taylor Swift that's so beautiful and I want her to have it. If she won't take it then I'll perform it for her." Later that month, both artists performed at the 2010 VMAs. Swift sang "Innocent", a song widely believed to be about West, which The Washington Post has described as "a small masterpiece of passive aggressiveness, a vivisection dressed up as a peace offering".^[200] Music critics found Swift's performance overly serious and "petty".^[201][202] Speaking in November 2010, West said he failed to see what was "so arrogant about that moment" and described his actions as "selfless". He added that "if it was the other way around" and Swift were an established artist who had "made the video of her career, do you think she would have lost to a brand new artist? Hell no!"^[203][204] Also that month, he claimed that, "If I wasn't drunk, I would have been on stage longer ... Taylor never came to my defense at any interview. And rode the waves and rode it and rode it".^[205][206] At the Costume Institute Gala in May 2011, Swift and West came face-to-face on the red carpet. West was observed to hold "a hand out, and the two exchanged a studiedly casual, “down low” high five".^[1]

Swift toured throughout 2011 and early 2012 in support of Speak Now. As part of the thirteen-month, 111-date world tour, Swift played seven shows in Asia, twelve shows in Europe, 80 shows in North America and twelve shows in Australasia.^[207] Three dates on the US tour were rescheduled after Swift fell ill with bronchitis.^[208] The stage show was inspired by Broadway musical theatre, with choreographed routines, elaborate set-pieces, pyrotechnics and numerous costume changes.^[209][210] Swift invited many musicians to join her for one-off duets during the North American tour. Appearances were made by James Taylor, Jason Mraz, Shawn Colvin, Johnny Rzeznik, Andy Grammer, Tal Bachman, Justin Bieber, Selena Gomez, Nicki Minaj, Nelly, B.o.B., Usher, Flo Rida, T.I., Jon Foreman, Jim Adkins, Hayley Williams, Hot Chelle Rae, Ronnie Dunn, Darius Rucker, Tim McGraw and Kenny Chesney.^[211][212] The tour was attended by over 1.6 million fans and has grossed over $123 million, becoming one of the highest-grossing concert tours of all time.^[207] Swift's first live album, Speak Now World Tour: Live, featuring all seventeen performances from the North American leg of the tour, was released in November 2011.^[213]

Swift speaking during a Youtube interview in September 2011

During the North American and Australasian tour legs, Swift wrote different song lyrics on her left arm for each performance. She has said that the lyrics should be viewed as a nightly "mood ring"^[214] and The New Yorker has cited the practice as an example of Swift's "keen understanding of what fuels fan obsession in the first place: a desire for intimacy between singer and listener".^[1] Artists quoted include Tom Petty, Carole King, Neil Young, Bruce Springsteen, Elton John, Joni Mitchell, Ryan Adams, Patty Griffin, Band of Horses, Jimmy Eat World, Death Cab For Cutie, Alanis Morrissette, Rachael Yamagata, Erin McCarley, Mindy Smith and Martina McBride.^[215][216] Swift also performed many acoustic cover versions during her North American tour. In each city, she paid tribute to a homegrown artist.^[217] She has said the cover versions allowed her to be "spontaneous" in an otherwise well-rehearsed show: "You'll have a lot of people who will come to more than one show, and I want them to get a different experience every time."^[218] Artists covered include Justin Timberlake, Tori Amos, TLC, Pink, Fall Out Boy, Dave Matthews Band, Michelle Branch, Jordin Sparks, Maroon 5, Train, John Mellencamp, Kim Carnes, Avril Lavigne, The Jackson 5, Carolyn Dawn Johnson, Gwen Stefani, All American Rejects, Britney Spears and Eminem.^[219]

At the 54th Grammy Awards in February 2012, Swift's song "Mean" won Best Country Song and Best Country Solo Performance.^[220] She also performed "Mean" during the ceremony. The song is believed to be a rebuttal to Bob Lefsetz, one of the most vocal critics of her 2010 Grammy performance.^[174] Lefsetz had previously been a supporter of the singer's career,^[221] and Swift and Lefsetz had corresponded occasionally by email and telephone.^[174] Time felt she "delivered her comeback on-key and with a vengeance"^[222] while USA Today remarked that the criticism in 2010 seemed to have "made her a better songwriter and live performer".^[223]

Swift was named Songwriter/Artist of the Year by the Nashville Songwriters Association in both 2010 and 2011. During the 2011 ceremony, she played an acoustic version of "Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning)" in honor of Alan Jackson, a Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame inductee,^[224] who later thanked Swift in his speech for "the prettiest version I've ever heard".^[225] Swift won various other awards for Speak Now. She was named Entertainer of the Year by the Academy of Country Music in both 2011 and 2012^[226] and was named Entertainer of the Year by the Country Music Association in 2011.^[227] Swift was the American Music Awards's Artist of the Year in 2011, and Speak Now was named Favorite Country Album.^[228] She was also the recipient of two BMI Awards.^[229] Billboard named Swift 2011's Woman of the Year.^[230] Also that year, Billboard ranked her at number 15 in a list of the Top 20 Hot 100 Songwriters 2000–2011; she was the second highest ranking woman.^[231] Swift was ranked second on Rolling Stone's list of the Top 16 "Queen Of Pops" of the decade.^[232]

Swift contributed two original songs to The Hunger Games soundtrack album in March 2012. "Safe & Sound" was co-written and recorded with The Civil Wars and T-Bone Burnett.^[233] John Paul White has said working with Swift was "a revelation. She had some great ideas. We had complete freedom. It truly was a collaboration. We brought the melancholy and the darker angle. Taylor was bringing the melody and the chords."^[234] Rolling Stone described the song as "Swift's prettiest ballad" and wondered whether the alt-country folk song was "a one-off novelty, a trial balloon cred-move, or the stirrings of a "grown-up" style".^[235] Swift and The Civil Wars debuted a live version of the song at the Ryman Auditorium, Nashville in January 2012.^[236] It was released as the album's lead single and, as of April 2012, has sold 970,000 copies in the United States.^[237] Swift's second contribution to the album, "Eyes Open", was written solely by the singer and produced by Nathan Chapman.^[238] In May 2012, Swift contributed vocals to "Both of Us", a Dr. Luke-produced song on B.o.B's second album Strange Clouds.^{[239][240][241][242]}

2012–present: Untitled fourth studio album[link]

Swift is currently working on her fourth album with producer Nathan Chapman.^[243][244] It is scheduled for release in the fall of 2012.^[245] Swift intends to keep writing and recording throughout 2012 "because I'm having so much fun".^[246] After writing her third album alone, Swift is now collaborating with people "from all different places in music",^[246] including songwriters Lori McKenna,^[247][248] Butch Walker,^[249][250] Ed Sheeran,^[251] and Dan Wilson.^[252] The album will detail "the rise and fall of a relationship",^[253] as well as the resulting "absolute crash-and-burn heartbreak".^[254] She has described the album's mood as "sad, if I'm being honest."^[255]

Artistry[link]

Songwriting style[link]

Swift has said she writes songs as an "open letter".^[256] She has said songwriting is "is a way of verbalizing those things that I feel that I can’t say".^[47] Swift has said she is "very interested in any writing from a child's perspective" and has cited To Kill a Mockingbird as one of her favorite books.^[257] Neil Young has described Swift as "a great writer" and follows her career.^[258][259] Kris Kristofferson has said that "she blows me away. It's amazing to me that someone so young is writing such great songs. She's got a great career ahead of her".^[260][261] Dolly Parton has said her songs are "great" and that she has "the qualities that could last a long time".^[262] Stevie Nicks has said Swift writes "songs that make the whole world sing, like Neil Diamond or Elton John".^[166]

Vocal abilities[link]

In studio recordings, the Los Angeles Times identifies Swift's "defining" vocal gesture as "the line that slides down like a contented sigh or up like a raised eyebrow, giving her beloved girl-time hits their air of easy intimacy".^[182] In a review of Speak Now, The Village Voice noted that her phrasing was previously "bland and muddled, but that's changed. She can still sound strained and thin, and often strays into a pitch that drives some people crazy; but she's learned how to make words sound like what they mean".^[185] Slate, reviewing Speak Now, described Swift as "a technically poor singer": "Though she does vary her phrasing in ways that attempt to mask her limited voice (the way she sneers, "She looks at me like I'm a trend/And she's so over it," on "Better Than Revenge" is especially effective), Swift is still noticeably off-pitch at least once on every song on the album".^[263]

In an interview with The New Yorker, Swift characterized herself primarily as a songwriter: “I write songs, and my voice is just a way to get those lyrics across”.^[1] "I'm not trying to go out there and do vocal acrobatics. I'm just trying to write good songs".^[264] However, her vocal presence is something that concerns her and she has "put a lot of work" into improving it.^[265] She has said that she only feels nervous performing "if I'm not sure what the audience thinks of me, like at award shows".^[266]

Public image[link]

Swift has been described as "America's sweetheart" and "a role model".^[267][268] The singer considers it her "responsibility" to be conscious of her influence on young fans.^[269] However, she insists that "I don't live by all these rigid, weird rules that make me feel all fenced in. I just like the way that I feel like, and that makes me feel very free".^[270] Swift does not drink alcohol because she worries that "I might come off in a way that I can't control. Maybe I should just lighten up!" "It's not like I judge people who [drink] or that I don't hang out with people who drink".^[270] She refuses to take part in overly sexualised photo-shoots.^[9] The lyrical content of her songs is regarded as appropriate for young audiences. A New Yorker journalist who attended a Swift concert recounted watching "sixteen-year-old girls holding hands and swaying, and a girl in a hijab sobbing as she sang the words. It was hard not to be a little moved, and not to feel relieved that the words being sung were, more or less, safe ... One can attend a concert by Katy Perry and listen to a stadium full of thirteen-year-olds chant along with the song “Peacock” which goes, “I want to see your peacock-cock-cock! Your peacock-cock!"^[1]

A Rolling Stone journalist who profiled Swift in 2009 remarked upon her polite manners: "If this is Swift's game face, it must be tattooed on because it never drops".^[271] A 2012 Vogue cover story described Swift as "clever and funny and occasionally downright bawdy" in person, but noted that she "asks if her cursing can be off the record".^[272] Grantland.com describes Swift as "talkative and openly neurotic in a way you'd never see from a blonde country princess like Faith Hill or Carrie Underwood. She is more like Diane Keaton in Annie Hall: overly gracious and eager to please but full of a nonstop, nervous, fluttering energy".^[273]

There has been much media commentary about Swift's reactions when she is recognized at award ceremonies.^[274] In 2011, The Hollywood Reporter remarked that she "seems to be consistently shocked and wonderstruck by each awards win, despite racking up an ever-growing collection of Grammys, CMAs, MTV Moonmen and AMAs".^[275] Kristen Wiig parodied Swift's surprised facial expressions during a Saturday Night Live sketch in February 2012.^[276] Swift later said she had seen the sketch: “I was laughing the entire time and then I realized that, as I was watching it, I was making the face she was making”.^[277] At the Academy of Country Music Awards in April 2012, the ceremony's host Blake Shelton joked in his opening monologue that Swift should release a perfume called "I can't believe I smell this good". When Swift later presented Shelton with the Academy's Best Male Vocalist award, "the two faced off, showing each other their ultra-surprised looks".^[278][279]

Feminist discussion[link]

Swift at the premiere of Hannah Montana: The Movie, April 2009

The merits of Swift as a feminist have been widely discussed.^[280] She has been described by Jezebel as "a feminist's nightmare": "Her image of being good and pure plays right into how much the patriarchy fetishizes virginity, loves purity, and celebrates women who know their place as delicate flowers".^[281] However, a Village Voice music critic dismissed this criticism as "shallow and gross, in that special way that things get gross when you cram shaded and living work through an ideological sieve like you're mechanically separating chicken".^[282] He continued: "Criticisms include: She's a conformist stooge of the patriarchy (she's now had two hits about defying fathers); she idolizes chastity (she's coy about sex, but only the willful could miss the fucking in the new "Sparks Fly," which includes the line "Gimme something that'll haunt me when you're not around"); and she sells girls corrupt and shallow fairy-tale notions of romance (one of the two fairy-tale songs on Fearless mocked a guy for trying to white-knight her, and the only mention of such things on Speak Now is "I had the time of my life fighting dragons with you"—note the tense)."^[282]

The song Fifteen has been the subject of particular scrutiny. It has been said that the song contains a "feminist message" in the lyrics "Back then I swore I was gonna marry him some day, but I realized some bigger dreams of mine” and "In your life you'll do things greater than dating the boy on the football team".^[283] Feminist critics claim the use of the word "everything" in the lyric "Abigail gave everything she had to a boy, who changed his mind, and we both cried" is a reference to virginity: "Songs like "Fifteen" dig up the ancient Puritan ideal that girls can only access power by confidently and heterosexually denying access to their pants."^[284] However, others interpret "everything" as trust: "Abigail trusted and opened up to a boy for the first time, only to be let down. Maybe that includes sex, maybe it doesn’t."^[283]

When asked by The New York Times in 2010 whether she considered herself a feminist, Swift replied, "I have never really thought about that".^[285] In December 2011, Billboard's Tom Roland asked Swift whether the marginalization of women in country music, prevalent in the 1950s, was still an issue: "I was fortunate enough to come about in a time when I didn't feel that kind of energy at all, and it was always my theory that if you want to play in the same ballgame as the boys, you've got to work as hard as them. I was always playing just as many shows as they were and playing on the same shows as they were. I was willing to pay my dues as an opening act, playing in clubs and bars and playing in tiny venues. The new male artists were doing the same thing, so I never saw an issue there."^[286]

Philanthropy[link]

Arts education[link]

In September 2010, Swift donated $75,000 to Nashville's Hendersonville High School to help refurbish the school auditorium's sound and lighting systems.^[287] In May 2012, she pledged $4 million to fund a new education center at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville. The two-storey, 7,500-square foot space will have its own exterior entrance and museum officials have decided to name it The Taylor Swift Education Center.^[288] It will feature three classrooms and a children's exhibit gallery, and will house interactive activities such as a musical petting zoo and a “wet” classroom space to make concert posters and other art projects. New programs and workshops for teenagers and senior citizens will also be accommodated within the space. The Center is scheduled to open in early 2014 and Swift will be involved in an advisory capacity.^[289]

Children's literacy[link]

In December 2009, Swift donated $250,000 to various schools around the country that she had either attended or had other associations with. The money was used to buy books, fund educational programs and pay teachers' salaries.^[290] In October 2010, she took part in a live webcast, Read Now! with Taylor Swift, broadcast exclusively in US schools to celebrate Scholastic's Read Every Day campaign.^[291][292] In October 2011, Swift donated 6,000 Scholastic books to Reading Public Library, Pennsylvania^[293] and, in February 2012, she donated 14,000 books to Nashville Public Library, Tennessee.^[294] Most of the books were placed in circulation; the rest were gifted to children from low-income families, preschools and daycare centers.^[294] In March 2012, she co-chaired the National Education Association's Read Across America campaign and recorded a PSA encouraging children to read.^[295][296]

Natural disaster funds[link]

In June 2008, Swift donated all the proceeds from her merchandise sales at the 2008 Country Music Festival to the Red Cross's disaster relief fund.^[297] Swift donated $100,000 to the Red Cross in Cedar Rapids, Iowa to help the victims of the Iowa flood of 2008.^[298] Swift lent her support to the Victorian Bushfire Appeal by joining the lineup at Sydney's Sound Relief concert,^[299] reportedly making the biggest contribution of any artist playing at Sound Relief to the Australian Red Cross.^[300]

In response to the May 2010 Tennessee floods, Swift donated $500,000 during a flood relief telethon hosted by WSMV, a Nashville television station.^[301] In August 2010, she donated $100,000 to help rebuild a playground in Hendersonville, Tennessee, which was damaged by floodwater.^[302] In May 2011, 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, raising more than $750,000 from proceeds from ticket sales, merchandise and other facets of the show.^[303] The benefit concert for tornado relief was subsequently honored at the 2011 Do Something Awards.^[304] In July 2011, Swift further aided 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.^[305] In April 2012, Swift donated $1,500 to a fund to help a man left permanently paralyzed by the tornado to make his house wheelchair-accessible.^[306]

Other charitable endeavors[link]

In September 2007, Swift helped launch a campaign to protect children from online predators, in partnership with the Tennessee Association of Chiefs of Police.^[307] In January 2008, Swift donated a pink Chevy pick-up truck given to her by her record label to the Victory Junction Gang Camp.^[308] Swift has teamed up with Sound Matters to make listeners aware of listening "responsibly".^[309] 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.^[310] She appeared in a Got Milk campaign in July 2010.^[311]

Swift donated her prom dress, which raised $1,200 for charity, to DonateMyDress.org.^[312] In November 2009, after a live performance on BBC's Children in Need night, she donated $20,000 to the cause.^[313] Swift donated a pair of her shoes to the Wish Upon a Hero Foundation's Hero in Heels fundraiser for auction to raise money to benefit women with cancer. In June 2011, as the Academy of Country Music's Entertainer of the Year, Swift donated $25,000 to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Tennessee. This figure was matched by the Academy.^[314]

Other work[link]

Acting[link]

Swift made her acting debut in a 2009 episode of CBS's CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, playing a rebellious teenager.^[315] The New York Times noted that the character allowed Swift to be "a little bit naughty, and credibly so".^[316] Rolling Stone felt she "held her own" and "does a good job with the script"^[317] while the Chicago Tribune said she "acquits herself well".^[318] Later that year, Swift both hosted and performed as the musical guest for an episode of Saturday Night Live.^[319] Entertainment Weekly described her as "this season’s best Saturday Night Live host so far", noting that she "was always up for the challenge, seemed to be having fun, and helped the rest of the cast nail the punchlines". Proving "admirably resilient in a wide variety of sketch roles", "Swift inspired more of a female, girly-in-the-best-sense sensibility in SNL than it’s shown since the Tina Fey-Amy Poehler days".^[320]

In 2010, Swift made her feature film acting debut in the romantic comedy Valentine's Day and won the Teen Choice Award for Movie Female Breakout.^[321] In 2012, she voiced the character of Audrey in the animated film The Lorax.^[322] Swift is in talks to star as Joni Mitchell in the film adaptation of Sheila Weller's Girls Like Us, which follows the careers of Mitchell, Carly Simon and Carole King.^[323]

Product endorsements[link]

Jakks Pacific released a celebrity doll of Swift in late 2008.^[324] Swift was the face of L.E.I. jeans in 2008.^[325] In 2007, Swift launched a line of sundresses at Wal-Mart.^[326][327] In 2009, Swift became the National Hockey League's newest celebrity spokesperson and appears in commercials for the Nashville Predators.^[328] In 2011, Swift partnered with Elizabeth Arden to launch a fragrance, "Wonderstruck".^[329] Swift works with American Greetings, Inc.^[330] She also has endorsement deals with companies including Target, CoverGirl and Sony.^[331]

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.^[332] 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.^{[333][334][335]}

Personal life[link]

Swift's main residence is a duplex penthouse in Midtown Nashville, Tennessee.^[336][1] She also owns a house in Beverly Hills, California.^[337][338] According to Forbes, Swift earned $18 million in 2009,^[339] $45 million in 2010,^[340] $45 million in 2011^[341] and $57 million so far in 2012.^[342]

Relationships[link]

Swift writes autobiographical songs and has said that, "I've never been shy or secretive with the fact that if you walk into my life, you may be walking onto a record".^[343] Listening to music as a child, Swift felt confused "when I knew something was going on in someone’s personal life and they didn’t address it in their music".^[344]

Swift dated singer Joe Jonas from July to October 2008.^[345][346] She dated actor Taylor Lautner from October to December 2009.^[347][348] She was romantically linked to musician John Mayer from late 2009 until June 2010.^[349][350] They first met in 2008 and recorded a duet, "Half of My Heart", in late 2009.^[351][352] Swift dated actor Jake Gyllenhaal from October 2010 to December 2010.^{[353][354][355][356][357]} On December 9, 2011, Gyllenhaal called the LAPD for assistance, after a large number of photographers followed the couple's car in Los Angeles.^[358] Following their break-up, they were seen together in January and February 2011.^[359][360]

Politics[link]

On her eighteenth birthday, "the first thing" Swift did was register to vote.^[361][362] After casting her vote in the 2008 US presidential election, Swift declined to inform journalists which candidate she had supported.^[363] However, following Barack Obama's inauguration, she told Rolling Stone: "I've never seen this country so happy about a political decision in my entire time of being alive. I'm so glad this was my first election."^[364] In 2009, after Swift's MTV VMA acceptance speech was interrupted by Kanye West, President Obama described West's behaviour as "really inappropriate. The young lady seems like a perfectly nice person. She’s getting her award. What is he doing up there? He’s a jackass."^[365] Former US President Jimmy Carter said West's interruption was "completely uncalled for".^[366]

In 2010, former U.S. President George H. W. Bush attended the taping of a Swift television special in Kennebunkport, Maine,^[367] and later described Swift as "unspoiled" and "very nice".^[368] In 2012, Swift was presented with a Kids' Choice Award in recognition of her charitable work by Michelle Obama, who praised her as someone who "has rocketed to the top of the music industry but still keeps her feet on the ground, someone who has shattered every expectation of what a 22-year old can accomplish".^[369] Swift later described the First Lady as "a role model".^[370]

Swift is an admirer of the Kennedy family and has spent time with Rory, Caroline and, particularly, Ethel Kennedy.^[371] When asked about her friendship with Swift, Ethel replied, "Oh, she is amazing! Such good company."^[372] Rory has said, "There is a mutual admiration society between my mother and Taylor Swift and I just love it! I think it says so much about Taylor – she has that ability to connect and cross generations ... She's terrific and such a great role model for young girls, as well as for all women, really. ... She's just so curious and interested".^[372] In January 2012, Swift travelled to Utah to attend the Sundance premiere of the HBO documentary Ethel.^[373]

In a 2012 interview, Swift remarked that she was "very cautious" about using her public profile to address political issues, adding that she hoped to "gradually" become more outspoken: "I don't feel that I am in a place to sing about politics or anything like that. I don't know enough at this point".^[374]

Filmography[link]

Discography[link]

• Taylor Swift (2006)
• Fearless (2008)
• Speak Now (2010)
• Untitled Fourth Studio Album (Fall 2012)

Tours[link]

• Fearless Tour (2009–10)
• Speak Now World Tour (2011–12)

Awards and nominations[link]

Swift has won 109 awards from a total of 162 nominations. She has been the recipient of ten American Music Awards, six Grammy Awards, seven Country Music Association Awards, six Academy of Country Music Awards and 13 BMI Awards.

References[link]