Taylor Swift First Musician in History to Enter the Forbes List of the World's Richest People
Taylor Swift First Musician in History to Enter Forbes' List of the World's Richest People
- Taylor Swift has been named a billionaire by Forbes.
On Tuesday (2/4/2024), it was announced that the music superstar had made the annual Forbes billionaires list for the first time, with an estimated fortune of $1.1 billion (£875 million).
This 34-year-old woman made history by becoming the first musician to achieve billionaire status based solely on her music and appearance.
“In October 2023, Taylor Swift achieved a feat no other musician had ever achieved before: she became a billionaire thanks to earnings from her music and performances,” wrote Forbes in an article published on Tuesday.
Taylor's record-breaking five-continent Eras tour, which kicks off in Arizona in March 2023 and will run through December 8, is the first tour to gross more than $1 billion (£795 million), according to Pollstar's year-end chart.
Forbes estimates that the All Too Well singer has earned $500 million (£398 million) from royalties and touring, and a further $500 million from his music catalogue. He is also estimated to make around $125 million (£99 million) from real estate.
In October of last year, Taylor released a concert film, Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour, which reportedly grossed around $250 million, making it the highest-grossing concert film of all time.
Taylor joins designers like Christian Louboutin and NBA legend Earvin 'Magic' Johnson on the list of budding billionaires.
Early Career of Taylor Swift
In Nashville, Swift worked with experienced Music Row songwriters such as Troy Verges, Brett Beavers, Brett James, Mac McAnally, and The Warren Brothers.
Swift was signed to the Sony/ATV Tree publishing house, but left RCA Records when she was 14 years old.
At an industry showcase at the Bluebird Cafe in Nashville in 2005, Swift caught the attention of Scott Borchetta, a DreamWorks Records executive who was preparing to start his own independent record label, Big Machine Records.
He was the first to be hired, and his father purchased a three percent stake in the new company for $120,000.
Swift began work on her eponymous debut album shortly after being signed.
Swift wrote three of the album's songs herself, and co-wrote the other eight with co-writers Rose, Robert Ellis Orrall, Brian Maher, and Angelo Petraglia.
Taylor Swift was released on October 24, 2006.
Lyrics of Taylor Swift's Latest Song 'The Man' from the Lover Album, Complete with Translation (Ist)
Taylor Swift reached number five on the Billboard 200 and spent 157 weeks on the chart, making it the longest-charting album of the 2000s.
Big Machine Records would still release its lead single, "Tim McGraw", in June 2006, and Swift and her mother helped "put the CD single into envelopes to send to radio".
She spent much of 2006 promoting Taylor Swift with radio tours, television appearances, and appearing as the opening act on select dates for Rascal Flatts during their 2006 tour after they fired the previous opening act, Eric Church, for performing too longbeyond the show time.
Church jokingly told Swift she should give Church her first gold record as thanks for being fired.
Swift sent him his first gold record with a note that read,
"Thank you for appearing too long and too loud on the Flatts tour. I really appreciate it. Taylor."
Following "Tim McGraw", four other singles were released around 2007 and 2008: "Teardrops on My Guitar", "Our Song", "Picture to Burn" and "Should've Said No".
All achieved success on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, with "Our Song" and "Should've Said No" hitting number one.
Swift became the youngest person to single-handedly write and perform a number one song on the chart.
"Teardrops on My Guitar" had moderate commercial success, peaking at number thirteen on the Billboard Hot 100.
Swift also released a holiday album entitled Sounds of the Season: The Taylor Swift Holiday Collection in October 2007 and an EP entitled Beautiful Eyes in July 2008.
He promoted his debut album extensively as an opening act for other artists on their tours.
Swift won several awards for Taylor Swift. He was one of the recipients of the Nashville Songwriters Association Songwriter/Artist of the Year in 2007, becoming the youngest person ever to be awarded the honor.
She also won the Country Music Association Horizon Award for Best New Artist,[44] Academy of Country Music Awards Top New Female Vocalist,[45] and the American Music Awards Favorite Country Female Artist.
He was also nominated for Best New Artist at the 50th Grammy Awards.
In July of that year, Swift began dating Joe Jonas which ended three months later.(*)