My Animal (1998) was the first album by Boy Hits Car.

Track listing[link]

1. "Hope" – 3:24
2. "Clear" – 3:58
3. "I'm A Cloud" – 4:45
4. "La Playa" – 3:59
5. "Happy" – 5:12
6. "Mr. Loh" – 4:57
7. "Make Me Pure" – 5:18
8. "A Letter From Prison" – 3:03
9. "Fury 'N' I" – 6:16
10. "Benkei" – 3:48
11. "In The Lateness Of A Day" – 4:54
12. "My Animal" – 6:09

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Animals Temporal range: Ediacaran – Recent PreЄ Є O S D C P T J K Pg N
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
(unranked)	Opisthokonta
(unranked)	Holozoa
(unranked)	Filozoa
Kingdom:	Animalia Linnaeus, 1758
Phyla
Subkingdom Parazoa Porifera Placozoa Subkingdom Eumetazoa Radiata (unranked) Ctenophora Cnidaria Bilateria (unranked) Orthonectida Rhombozoa Acoelomorpha Chaetognatha Superphylum Deuterostomia Chordata Hemichordata Echinodermata Xenoturbellida Vetulicolia † Protostomia (unranked) Superphylum Ecdysozoa Kinorhyncha Loricifera Priapulida Nematoda Nematomorpha Lobopodia Onychophora Tardigrada Arthropoda Superphylum Platyzoa Platyhelminthes Gastrotricha Rotifera Acanthocephala Gnathostomulida Micrognathozoa Cycliophora Superphylum Lophotrochozoa Sipuncula Hyolitha † Nemertea Phoronida Bryozoa Entoprocta Brachiopoda Mollusca Annelida Echiura

Animals are a major group of multicellular, eukaryotic organisms of the kingdom Animalia or Metazoa. Their body plan eventually becomes fixed as they develop, although some undergo a process of metamorphosis later on in their life. Most animals are motile, meaning they can move spontaneously and independently. All animals are also heterotrophs, meaning they must ingest other organisms or their products for sustenance.

Most known animal phyla appeared in the fossil record as marine species during the Cambrian explosion, about 542 million years ago.

Etymology[link]

The word "animal" comes from the Latin word animalis, meaning "having breath".^[1] In everyday colloquial usage, the word often refers to non-human members of kingdom Animalia. Sometimes, only closer relatives of humans such as mammals and other vertebrates are meant in colloquial use.^[2] The biological definition of the word refers to all members of the kingdom Animalia, encompassing creatures as diverse as sponges, jellyfish, insects and humans.^[3]

Characteristics[link]

Animals have several characteristics that set them apart from other living things. Animals are eukaryotic and mostly multicellular,^[4] which separates them from bacteria and most protists. They are heterotrophic,^[5] generally digesting food in an internal chamber, which separates them from plants and algae.^[6] They are also distinguished from plants, algae, and fungi by lacking rigid cell walls.^[7] All animals are motile,^[8] if only at certain life stages. In most animals, embryos pass through a blastula stage,^[9] which is a characteristic exclusive to animals.

Structure[link]

With a few exceptions, most notably the sponges (Phylum Porifera) and Placozoa, animals have bodies differentiated into separate tissues. These include muscles, which are able to contract and control locomotion, and nerve tissues, which send and process signals. Typically, there is also an internal digestive chamber, with one or two openings.^[10] Animals with this sort of organization are called metazoans, or eumetazoans when the former is used for animals in general.^[11]

All animals have eukaryotic cells, surrounded by a characteristic extracellular matrix composed of collagen and elastic glycoproteins.^[12] This may be calcified to form structures like shells, bones, and spicules.^[13] During development, it forms a relatively flexible framework^[14] upon which cells can move about and be reorganized, making complex structures possible. In contrast, other multicellular organisms, like plants and fungi, have cells held in place by cell walls, and so develop by progressive growth.^[10] Also, unique to animal cells are the following intercellular junctions: tight junctions, gap junctions, and desmosomes.^[15]

Reproduction and development[link]

A newt lung cell stained with fluorescent dyes undergoing the early anaphase stage of mitosis

Nearly all animals undergo some form of sexual reproduction.^[16] They have a few specialized reproductive cells, which undergo meiosis to produce smaller, motile spermatozoa or larger, non-motile ova.^[17] These fuse to form zygotes, which develop into new individuals.^[18]

Many animals are also capable of asexual reproduction.^[19] This may take place through parthenogenesis, where fertile eggs are produced without mating, budding, or fragmentation.^[20]

A zygote initially develops into a hollow sphere, called a blastula,^[21] which undergoes rearrangement and differentiation. In sponges, blastula larvae swim to a new location and develop into a new sponge.^[22] In most other groups, the blastula undergoes more complicated rearrangement.^[23] It first invaginates to form a gastrula with a digestive chamber, and two separate germ layers — an external ectoderm and an internal endoderm.^[24] In most cases, a mesoderm also develops between them.^[25] These germ layers then differentiate to form tissues and organs.^[26]

Food and energy sourcing[link]

All animals are heterotrophs, meaning that they feed directly or indirectly on other living things.^[27] They are often further subdivided into groups such as carnivores, herbivores, omnivores, and parasites.^[28]

Predation is a biological interaction where a predator (a heterotroph that is hunting) feeds on its prey (the organism that is attacked).^[29] Predators may or may not kill their prey prior to feeding on them, but the act of predation always results in the death of the prey.^[30] The other main category of consumption is detritivory, the consumption of dead organic matter.^[31] It can at times be difficult to separate the two feeding behaviours, for example, where parasitic species prey on a host organism and then lay their eggs on it for their offspring to feed on its decaying corpse. Selective pressures imposed on one another has led to an evolutionary arms race between prey and predator, resulting in various antipredator adaptations.^[32]

Most animals indirectly use the energy of sunlight by eating plants or plant-eating animals. Most plants use light to convert inorganic molecules in their environment into carbohydrates, fats, proteins and other biomolecules, characteristically containing reduced carbon in the form of carbon-hydrogen bonds. Starting with carbon dioxide (CO₂) and water (H₂O), photosynthesis converts the energy of sunlight into chemical energy in the form of simple sugars (e.g., glucose), with the release of molecular oxygen. These sugars are then used as the building blocks for plant growth, including the production of other biomolecules.^[10] When an animal eats plants (or eats other animals which have eaten plants), the reduced carbon compounds in the food become a source of energy and building materials for the animal.^[33] They are either used directly to help the animal grow, or broken down, releasing stored solar energy, and giving the animal the energy required for motion.^{[34] [35]}

Animals living close to hydrothermal vents and cold seeps on the ocean floor are not dependent on the energy of sunlight.^[36] Instead chemosynthetic archaea and bacteria form the base of the food chain.^[37]

Origin and fossil record[link]

Dunkleosteus was a gigantic, 10-metre-long (33 ft) prehistoric fish.^[38]

Animals are generally considered to have evolved from a flagellated eukaryote.^[39] Their closest known living relatives are the choanoflagellates, collared flagellates that have a morphology similar to the choanocytes of certain sponges.^[40] Molecular studies place animals in a supergroup called the opisthokonts, which also include the choanoflagellates, fungi and a few small parasitic protists.^[41] The name comes from the posterior location of the flagellum in motile cells, such as most animal spermatozoa, whereas other eukaryotes tend to have anterior flagella.^[42]

The first fossils that might represent animals appear in the Trezona Formation at Trezona Bore, West Central Flinders, South Australia.^[43] These fossils are interpreted as being early sponges. They were found in 665-million-year-old rock.^[43]

The next oldest possible animal fossils are found towards the end of the Precambrian, around 610 million years ago, and are known as the Ediacaran or Vendian biota.^[44] These are difficult to relate to later fossils, however. Some may represent precursors of modern phyla, but they may be separate groups, and it is possible they are not really animals at all.^[45]

Aside from them, most known animal phyla make a more or less simultaneous appearance during the Cambrian period, about 542 million years ago.^[46] It is still disputed whether this event, called the Cambrian explosion, represents a rapid divergence between different groups or a change in conditions that made fossilization possible.

Some paleontologists suggest that animals appeared much earlier than the Cambrian explosion, possibly as early as 1 billion years ago.^[47] Trace fossils such as tracks and burrows found in the Tonian era indicate the presence of triploblastic worms, like metazoans, roughly as large (about 5 mm wide) and complex as earthworms.^[48] During the beginning of the Tonian period around 1 billion years ago, there was a decrease in Stromatolite diversity, which may indicate the appearance of grazing animals, since stromatolite diversity increased when grazing animals went extinct at the End Permian and End Ordovician extinction events, and decreased shortly after the grazer populations recovered. However the discovery that tracks very similar to these early trace fossils are produced today by the giant single-celled protist Gromia sphaerica casts doubt on their interpretation as evidence of early animal evolution.^[49][50]

Groups of animals[link]

The relative number of species contributed to the total by each phylum of animals.

Porifera, Radiata and basal Bilateria[link]

Phylogenetic analysis suggests that the Porifera and Ctenophora diverged before a clade that gave rise to the Bilateria, Cnidaria and Placozoa.^[51]

Orange elephant ear sponge, Agelas clathrodes, in foreground. Two corals in the background: a sea fan, Iciligorgia schrammi, and a sea rod, Plexaurella nutans.

The sponges (Porifera) were long thought to have diverged from other animals early.^[52] They lack the complex organization found in most other phyla.^[53] Their cells are differentiated, but in most cases not organized into distinct tissues.^[54] Sponges typically feed by drawing in water through pores.^[55] Archaeocyatha, which have fused skeletons, may represent sponges or a separate phylum.^[56] However, a phylogenomic study in 2008 of 150 genes in 29 animals across 21 phyla revealed that it is the Ctenophora or comb jellies which are the basal lineage of animals, at least among those 21 phyla. The authors speculate that sponges—or at least those lines of sponges they investigated—are not so primitive, but may instead be secondarily simplified.^[57]

Among the other phyla, the Ctenophora and the Cnidaria, which includes sea anemones, corals, and jellyfish, are radially symmetric and have digestive chambers with a single opening, which serves as both the mouth and the anus.^[58] Both have distinct tissues, but they are not organized into organs.^[59] There are only two main germ layers, the ectoderm and endoderm, with only scattered cells between them. As such, these animals are sometimes called diploblastic.^[60] The tiny placozoans are similar, but they do not have a permanent digestive chamber.

The remaining animals form a monophyletic group called the Bilateria. For the most part, they are bilaterally symmetric, and often have a specialized head with feeding and sensory organs. The body is triploblastic, i.e. all three germ layers are well-developed, and tissues form distinct organs. The digestive chamber has two openings, a mouth and an anus, and there is also an internal body cavity called a coelom or pseudocoelom. There are exceptions to each of these characteristics, however — for instance adult echinoderms are radially symmetric, and certain parasitic worms have extremely simplified body structures.

Genetic studies have considerably changed our understanding of the relationships within the Bilateria. Most appear to belong to two major lineages: the deuterostomes and the protostomes, the latter of which includes the Ecdysozoa, Platyzoa, and Lophotrochozoa. In addition, there are a few small groups of bilaterians with relatively similar structure that appear to have diverged before these major groups. These include the Acoelomorpha, Rhombozoa, and Orthonectida. The Myxozoa, single-celled parasites that were originally considered Protozoa, are now believed to have developed from the Medusozoa as well.

Deuterostomes[link]

Superb Fairy-wren, Malurus cyaneus

Deuterostomes differ from the other Bilateria, called protostomes, in several ways. In both cases there is a complete digestive tract. However, in protostomes, the first opening of the gut to appear in embryological development (the archenteron) develops into the mouth, with the anus forming secondarily. In deuterostomes the anus forms first, with the mouth developing secondarily.^[61] In most protostomes, cells simply fill in the interior of the gastrula to form the mesoderm, called schizocoelous development, but in deuterostomes, it forms through invagination of the endoderm, called enterocoelic pouching.^[62] Deuterostome embryos undergo radial cleavage during cell division, while protostomes undergo spiral cleavage.^[63]

All this suggests the deuterostomes and protostomes are separate, monophyletic lineages. The main phyla of deuterostomes are the Echinodermata and Chordata.^[64] The former are radially symmetric and exclusively marine, such as starfish, sea urchins, and sea cucumbers.^[65] The latter are dominated by the vertebrates, animals with backbones.^[66] These include fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals.^[67]

In addition to these, the deuterostomes also include the Hemichordata, or acorn worms.^[68] Although they are not especially prominent today, the important fossil graptolites may belong to this group.^[69]

The Chaetognatha or arrow worms may also be deuterostomes, but more recent studies suggest protostome affinities.

Ecdysozoa[link]

Yellow-winged darter, Sympetrum flaveolum

The Ecdysozoa are protostomes, named after the common trait of growth by moulting or ecdysis.^[70] The largest animal phylum belongs here, the Arthropoda, including insects, spiders, crabs, and their kin. All these organisms have a body divided into repeating segments, typically with paired appendages. Two smaller phyla, the Onychophora and Tardigrada, are close relatives of the arthropods and share these traits.

The ecdysozoans also include the Nematoda or roundworms, perhaps the second largest animal phylum. Roundworms are typically microscopic, and occur in nearly every environment where there is water.^[71] A number are important parasites.^[72] Smaller phyla related to them are the Nematomorpha or horsehair worms, and the Kinorhyncha, Priapulida, and Loricifera. These groups have a reduced coelom, called a pseudocoelom.

The remaining two groups of protostomes are sometimes grouped together as the Spiralia, since in both embryos develop with spiral cleavage.

Platyzoa[link]

Pseudobiceros bedfordi, (Bedford's flatworm)

The Platyzoa include the phylum Platyhelminthes, the flatworms.^[73] These were originally considered some of the most primitive Bilateria, but it now appears they developed from more complex ancestors.^[74] A number of parasites are included in this group, such as the flukes and tapeworms.^[73] Flatworms are acoelomates, lacking a body cavity, as are their closest relatives, the microscopic Gastrotricha.^[75]

The other platyzoan phyla are mostly microscopic and pseudocoelomate. The most prominent are the Rotifera or rotifers, which are common in aqueous environments. They also include the Acanthocephala or spiny-headed worms, the Gnathostomulida, Micrognathozoa, and possibly the Cycliophora.^[76] These groups share the presence of complex jaws, from which they are called the Gnathifera.

Lophotrochozoa[link]

Roman snail, Helix pomatia

The Lophotrochozoa include two of the most successful animal phyla, the Mollusca and Annelida.^[77][78] The former, which is the second-largest animal phylum by number of described species, includes animals such as snails, clams, and squids, and the latter comprises the segmented worms, such as earthworms and leeches. These two groups have long been considered close relatives because of the common presence of trochophore larvae, but the annelids were considered closer to the arthropods because they are both segmented.^[79] Now, this is generally considered convergent evolution, owing to many morphological and genetic differences between the two phyla.^[80]

The Lophotrochozoa also include the Nemertea or ribbon worms, the Sipuncula, and several phyla that have a ring of ciliated tentacles around the mouth, called a lophophore.^[81] These were traditionally grouped together as the lophophorates.^[82] but it now appears that the lophophorate group may be paraphyletic,^[83] with some closer to the nemerteans and some to the molluscs and annelids.^[84][85] They include the Brachiopoda or lamp shells, which are prominent in the fossil record, the Entoprocta, the Phoronida, and possibly the Bryozoa or moss animals.^[86]

Model organisms[link]

Because of the great diversity found in animals, it is more economical for scientists to study a small number of chosen species so that connections can be drawn from their work and conclusions extrapolated about how animals function in general. Because they are easy to keep and breed, the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster and the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans have long been the most intensively studied metazoan model organisms, and were among the first life-forms to be genetically sequenced. This was facilitated by the severely reduced state of their genomes, but as many genes, introns, and linkages lost, these ecdysozoans can teach us little about the origins of animals in general. The extent of this type of evolution within the superphylum will be revealed by the crustacean, annelid, and molluscan genome projects currently in progress. Analysis of the starlet sea anemone genome has emphasised the importance of sponges, placozoans, and choanoflagellates, also being sequenced, in explaining the arrival of 1500 ancestral genes unique to the Eumetazoa.^[87]

An analysis of the homoscleromorph sponge Oscarella carmela also suggests that the last common ancestor of sponges and the eumetazoan animals was more complex than previously assumed.^[88]

Other model organisms belonging to the animal kingdom include the house mouse (Mus musculus) and zebrafish (Danio rerio).

Carolus Linnaeus, known as the father of modern taxonomy

History of classification[link]

Aristotle divided the living world between animals and plants, and this was followed by Carolus Linnaeus (Carl von Linné), in the first hierarchical classification.^[89] Since then biologists have begun emphasizing evolutionary relationships, and so these groups have been restricted somewhat. For instance, microscopic protozoa were originally considered animals because they move, but are now treated separately.

In Linnaeus's original scheme, the animals were one of three kingdoms, divided into the classes of Vermes, Insecta, Pisces, Amphibia, Aves, and Mammalia. Since then the last four have all been subsumed into a single phylum, the Chordata, whereas the various other forms have been separated out. The above lists represent our current understanding of the group, though there is some variation from source to source.

See also[link]

Animals portal

	Book: Animal
Wikipedia books are collections of articles that can be downloaded or ordered in print.

Wikispecies has information related to: Animalia

• Ethology
• Animal colouration
• Animal rights
• Fauna
• List of animal names
• List of animals by number of neurons
• Lists of animals

References[link]

Bibliography[link]

• Klaus Nielsen. Animal Evolution: Interrelationships of the Living Phyla (2nd edition). Oxford University Press, 2001.
• Knut Schmidt-Nielsen. Animal Physiology: Adaptation and Environment. (5th edition). Cambridge University Press, 1997.

External links[link]

Find more about Animalia on Wikipedia's sister projects:
	Definitions and translations from Wiktionary
	Images and media from Commons
	Learning resources from Wikiversity
	News stories from Wikinews
	Quotations from Wikiquote
	Source texts from Wikisource
	Textbooks from Wikibooks

• Animal at the Encyclopedia of Life
• Tree of Life Project
• Animal Diversity Web – University of Michigan's database of animals, showing taxonomic classification, images, and other information.
• ARKive – multimedia database of worldwide endangered/protected species and common species of UK.
• Scientific American Magazine (December 2005 Issue) – Getting a Leg Up on Land About the evolution of four-limbed animals from fish.

lez:Гьайванар

The Good Natured are an English electropop band, consisting of Sarah McIntosh (born January 1991^[1] in Highclere, Hampshire)^[2] on vocals and keyboards, her brother Hamish McIntosh on bass and George Hinton (with whom Sarah became acquainted at university)^[3] on drums.

History[link]

Sarah began playing the violin as a child, but felt it was not the right instrument for her, so she turned towards playing the drums.^[4][5] She also sang in a choir when she was a child.^[6] At the age of 14 she salvaged an old Yamaha keyboard while spring cleaning her grandmother's house.^[4][5] She taught herself to play the keys and at age 15 began to write her first own songs and founded a band with her brother Hamish.^[7] Later she went to university to study music, but found that both, studying and pursuing her musical career, was unmanageable. She therefore decided to drop out from university and concentrate on her own music.^[8]

The Good Natured's debut EP Warriors was self-released on 7 July 2008.^[9][10] The EP received a lot of press coverage, especially for the lyrics. Their music is often being compared to La Roux,^[11][12] Ladytron,^[4][2] Lily Allen^[10][2] and Kate Nash.^[11][2] Sarah herself describes their music as "dark electronic pop"^[6] as well as "electronic pop with heart",^[5] and feels especially influenced by bands such as Tears for Fears, Japan and Siouxsie and the Banshees.^[12]

Despite the mostly positive critics, no label seemed to be willing to sign The Good Natured. Thus their second EP Your Body Is a Machine was self-released as well.^[6] It was not until March 2011 that the band was signed by the British label Parlophone, under which they released their EP Skeleton in June 2011.^[13]

Discography[link]

EPs

• Warriors (2008)
• Your Body Is a Machine (2009)
• Skeleton (2011)

Singles

• "Be My Animal" (2010)
• "Skeleton" (2011)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• The Good Natured on Myspace
• Sarah McIntosh's weblog

This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. It needs additional citations for verification. Tagged since May 2011. It relies on references to primary sources or sources affiliated with the subject, rather than references from independent authors and third-party publications. Tagged since May 2011. Its lead section may not adequately summarize its contents. Please consider expanding the lead to provide an accessible overview of the article's key points. Tagged since May 2011.

Boy Hits Car
Boy Hits Car live at the 3rd Annual Krock Dysfunctional BBQ in Syracuse, NY on May 23rd, 2009
Background information
Origin	Los Angeles, California, United States
Genres	Hard Rock, Melodic Rock, Alternative Rock
Years active	1993 - Present
Labels	NMG Records, Wind-up Records, Rock Ridge Music
Members
Cregg Rondell Bill Gower Mike Bartak Johnny Ransom
Past members
Michael Ferrari (1993 - 2003) Scott Menville (1993 - 2006) Louis Lenard (1993 - 2006) Dusty Hunt (2006 - 2007)

Boy Hits Car is a four piece American alternative rock band from Los Angeles, California.

Biography[link]

The band was formed in 1993. After releasing their first album, My Animal, independently in 1998, they went on the Sno-Core Tour and recorded their next album, Boy Hits Car, on Wind-up Records. Their song "Love Fury Passion Energy" was used as a theme song for then WWE Diva Lita and was distributed on the WWF Forceable Entry album in 2002.^[1] A third album was self released in 2005 called The Passage. In 2006 the band re-released the album in July after signing with Rock Ridge Music as their distributor. It was announced on their homepage that they will have a new album with a planned release on March 15, 2011.^[2] The new album is titled "Stealing Fire." One can preview the album "Stealing Fire" in its entirety at their official homepage.^[3]

Members[link]

Current[link]

• Cregg Rondell - vocals, twelve string guitar
• Bill Gower - bass guitar
• Mike Bartak - guitar
• Johnny Ransom - drums

Former[link]

• Dusty Hunt - (2006–2007) - guitar
• Michael Ferrari (1993–2003) - drums
• Scott Menville (1993–2006) - bass guitar
• Louis Lenard (1993–2006) - guitar

Discography[link]

• My Animal (1998) (NMG Recor.ds)
• Boy Hits Car (2001) (Wind-Up Records)
• The Passage (independently released 2005, then re-released in 2006 through Rock Ridge Music)
• Stealing Fire (2011) (March 15, 2011)

External links[link]

• Official website
• Boy Hits Car at MySpace
• https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Lovecore-Alliance-Official-Boy-Hits-Car-Street-Team/109007679140937 Official Street Team]

References[link]

1. ^ http://www.reverbnation.com/c/fr5/artist_871095?eid=A871095_5514288
2. ^ http://www.boyhitscar.com/2011/
3. ^ http://tunelab.com/2011/01/06/boy-hits-car-set-release-date-for-stealing-fire/

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]