Taylor Swift

Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American country music singer-songwriter. Signed to the independent Big Machine Records label in 2006, Taylor made her debut on the U.S. Billboard country charts with the release of her debut single "Tim McGraw".
Her self-titled debut album was released in late 2006, and has since been certified double platinum by the RIAA in the United States. To date, it has produced three Top Ten singles on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs, including the Number One single "Our Song"; all three of her singles have also reached Top 40 on the Billboard Hot 100. The album was re-issued in late 2007 with a set of bonus tracks.

Biography

Early Life

Taylor Swift was born in Reading, Pennsylvania and lives with her parents in Hendersonville, Tennessee. Swift's influences include her grandmother, who was an opera singer, and LeAnn Rimes. Although her grandmother was a professional opera singer, her tastes always ran more toward country and she developed a love for Patsy Cline and Dolly Parton at an early age.
At the age of ten, Swift began to perform around her home town, Wyomissing, singing at karaoke contests, festivals, and fairs, and also started writing songs. Her first exposure to the music business consisted of recording demo tapes at a studio. At age 11, Swift made her first trip to Nashville in hopes of obtaining a record deal by handing out a demo tape she had made of her singing along to karaoke songs. She handed this tape to receptionists at every label on Music Row.
The second single from the Taylor Swift album, "Teardrops On My Guitar", was released February 24, 2007. The song was inspired by a true event during her time in high school in which she liked a boy named "Drew Hardwick". He only saw Swift as a friend and a go-to person for advice about his relationship with his girlfriend. She noted she heard "through the grapevine" that Drew is well aware the song was written about him.
"Teadrops on My Guitar" originally made its peak positions in Summer 2007, peaking at #2 on the Billboard Country Chart and #33 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song was re-released to the Hot 100 and Pop 100 in late 2007 with a Pop remix that brought "Teardrops on My Guitar" to #13 on the Hot 100 and #11 on the Pop 100.
In October 2007 Swift's songwriting peers at the Nashville Songwriters Association International honored her with their Songwriter/Artist of the Year Award, making her the youngest artist ever to win the award.
On November 7, 2007, Swift won the 2007 CMA Horizon Award and also performed "Our Song", the third single from her album, which would go on to become her first #1 song the week of December 22, 2007. "Our Song" spent six weeks at #1 on the Country charts and also peaked at #16 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #28 on the Billboard Pop 100.
Swift also recorded a holiday album, Sounds of the Season, that was released October 16, 2007, exclusively available at Target stores. The album, which was not as successful as her self-titled debut, featured both holiday classics such as "Last Christmas" and original songs written by Swift.
Swift was nominated for a 2008 Grammy Award in the category of Best New Artist, but lost to Amy Winehouse.

Upcoming album

Swift's second studio album is slated for a fall 2008 release. In a repeat of her debut album, Swift is expected to have at least a co-writing credit on every track; John Rich and Colbie Caillat contributed writing to the album's early songs, according to Billboard Magazine.

Other work

On September 21, 2007, Swift launched a campaign to protect children from online predators.Taylor Swift Warns Kids About Internet Crime
Swift has teamed up with Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen to combat internet sex crimes.
The year-long campaign, launched in partnership with the Tennessee Association of Chiefs of Police, will distribute Internet safety information and materials to parents and students across the state.