Taylor Swift is the eponymous debut studio album by American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift. The album was released on October 24, 2006 when Swift was just 16 years old, by Big Machine Records. Swift wrote songs for the album during her freshman year of high school and has writing credits on all of the albums' songs including those co-written with Liz Rose. Swift experimented to record the album with several album producers, ultimately choosing the producer of her demo album, Nathan Chapman. Musically, the album is country music styled and lyrically, it speaks of romantic relationships, a couple of which Swift wrote from observing relationships before being in one.
Taylor Swift was received positively by contemporary critics, who praised Swift's talent. The album enjoyed commercial success; in the United States, it rose to number five on the Billboard 200, topped the Top Country Albums Chart for twenty-four non-consecutive weeks, and was certified five times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Taylor Swift marked the longest stay on the Billboard 200 by any album released in the decade. It also charted in Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom.
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.