20 Things You Didn’t Know About Taylor Swift!

1. She HAS Been Involved in Writing Every Song

There are not many artists around the world that can say they have written or helped write every single one of the songs they have released. But Taylor Swift has only ever released original songs. Around half of her songs are written solely by her. And, the other half she has written with the help of a co-writer.

But she never sources her songs from outside, she wants a creative role in every part of her albums. This is partly what makes her such a unique artist. Many artists write covers or have songs written for them by other artists or writers. But, not Taylor.

2. Her Parents Chose Her Name Ready for Fame

The name Taylor Swift sounds like she was born to be a star. And that’s because her parents chose her name already planning that their baby girl was destined for greatness. They didn’t want a name that was too feminine so they went for a name that was more androgynous.

This thought was to prepare her for the ruthless business world, where they thought a name too feminine may be a disadvantage for her. She was named after the legendary iconic James Taylor who was famous for his songwriting and singing.

3. She wanted to be a Financial Advisor

It may come as a surprise that Taylor’s first goal was not to become a world-famous superstar. It was actually to become a financial advisor. Her parents had already thought about her entering the business world, so perhaps with their influence, she dreams to become a financial advisor.

When it comes to dreaming about becoming rich and famous, most of us need a backup plan. But it turns out that Taylor never needed hers. From a young age, she gained success very quickly and her career went from strength to strength.  And, with the millions of pounds that she is now worth, this was definitely the best route she could have gone down.

4. She Wrote a Novel

It turns out this young talent can write more than songs. One summer, when she was just a teenager, she spent an entire summer writing a book. It was about a shark that washed up on the shore of her family home by the beach.

Taylor clearly has a gift for writing and has a very creative mind. She has never chosen to release the book, but it’s definitely something we’d all love to see. Among her many talents as a singer, it seems she can also turn her hand to writing novels too. A woman of many talents.

5. She’s Very Clever

Now after learning she writes her own songs; she wrote a book and that she wanted to become a financial advisor this really isn’t surprising. Taylor, of course, is also extremely clever. What more can this woman do? In school, she got very good grades and averaged a grade of 4.0.

This, is impressive anyway but considering at this time her career had already started and must have been such a massive distraction at that young age, it’s even more impressive. She clearly managed to split her time between her songwriting and singing career as well as keeping up with her studies and maintaining her grades.

6. She Auditioned for Broadway

As we know, Taylor had a lot of avenues she could go down. She also had a lot of different interests to follow. And, before she followed down the country route and moved to Nashville, she actually tried to make it on Broadway.

She was part of a junior comedy sketch group. And she was also a member of Theatre Kids Live! Taylor was a very determined child to juggle studies, singing as well as multiple extracurricular activities. But the Broadway scene ended up not being for her and so then she followed down the country road instead.

7. It Started Out with Her and Her Mom

It wasn’t all easy for Taylor and it definitely wasn’t all glamour as people often imagine with famous stars. At the beginning when her career was taking off and she was releasing her first album there were only a few people to help.

Mainly, it was Taylor and her mom who reminisce about sitting on the floor helping the labeling staff pack up the CDs ready to send out. At this point, there were a few people and the company did not even have any furniture. It was a long way away from where she is today. But even as a child she was determined enough to persevere.

8. She’s Very Generous

Many people don’t know but Taylor Swift donates a huge amount to charity. There are a lot of causes that she actively supports. She’s donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to help the charities she believes in. She supports many programs for children who are ill, or who are in a situation where they do not have access to substantial educational resources.

She also actively supports the LGBT community and stands against prejudice. In addition to these, she donates to natural disaster relief charities. She is definitely a generous star and someone who cares about the world and its injustices.

9. She Spoke Out Against Donald Trump

Each famous star is warned by their agency not to get involved with politics or speak openly about politics because it will without a doubt divide fans, and drive some people away. Taylor Swift had never spoken publicly before on the matter. But she felt so strongly about speaking out against Donald Trump in the US election that she ignored all of the advice and did what she believed was right. Her management and team had advised her very strongly against her decision.

She wrote: “Trump’s calculated dismantling of USPS proves one thing clearly: He is WELL AWARE that we do not want him as our president. He’s chosen to blatantly cheat and put millions of Americans’ lives at risk in an effort to hold on to power.” She then continued, “Donald Trump’s ineffective leadership gravely worsened the crisis that we are in and he is now taking advantage of it to subvert and destroy our right to vote and vote safely. Request a ballot early. Vote early.”

10. She Completed Two Years of School in One

As we know, Taylor’s teenage experience was not a conventional one. At just 14 her career was taking off and she was preparing her first album. She was keeping perfect grades whilst preparing a massively successful album all at such a young age.

She finished all of her home-schooling course work with a perfect GPA and not only that: she managed to fit both her junior and senior years in just twelve months’ time. She was a 14-year-old girl becoming a famous singer whilst juggling two years’ worth of study.

11. The Press Turned Against Her

When Taylor initially started her career she became the golden child, the new star who was absolutely loved and praised by the press. She was America’s new national hero. This lasted for a few years with the media singing her praises. Then, suddenly the media seemed to be bored of this avenue and looked for a news story.

So, Taylor suddenly found herself vilified in the press. Now, everything she did was scrutinized and this was not something the singer was used to. For example, she faced backlash for dating too many guys and not being able to stay with them for a long time. This sudden turn of the press is what inspired her to bring out her own movie.

12. Show Write Her Own Saturday Night Live Script

When Taylor Swift was invited on Saturday Night Live, she agreed to go on. But what people don’t realize is that when people go on the show, they are using the scripts written by staff writers. Most celebrities will go on and use the material that has already been provided for them.

This is the standard show practice. But, not Taylor. She wrote her own material for the show instead. Of course, we know she is a talented writer so she had no problem doing this. And, the executives of the show were more than happy for her to write her own monologue.

13. She Has Been With Her Boyfriend 5 Years

Taylor Swift’s boyfriend is called Joe Alwyn. He is an actor and he was born in London and is currently 30 years old. The couple started dating back in 2016 so they have now been together for around 5 years. The couple is very serious about one another and they seem very happy.

Alwyn’s career first took off with his starring role as the eponymous Billy from the Ang Lee-directed film Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk. His other successful roles include The Sense of an Ending and The Favourite.

14. She Was Broken Up with Over A 27-Second-Long Phone Call

This has to go down as one of the worst breakups. First, it’s over the phone. And second, it is 27 seconds long. The infamous breakup was between Taylor and Joe Jonas.  He was her first celebrity relationship. At the time, she was very much in love with him despite their short-lived relationship.

In fact, he made such an impact that he became a feature in some of her songs for example, ‘Last Kiss’ and ‘Forever and Always’. But after some time, it was all brought back up again when she released a new song that was directed at him. The song was called ”Mr. Perfectly Fine”. Joe Jonas’s wife commented good-naturedly on the song and said ‘this is NOT a bop’.

15. Her Grandma Was Famous

It turns out that it runs in the blood. Most people do not know that Taylor Swift had a very famo0us grandmother. She was the mother of Taylor Swift’s mom and she was called Marjorie Finlay. She was an entertainer and an opera singer and she was recognized internationally.

She was even a host on a Puerto Rican television show. So, Taylor was not the first in the family to become famous. There is clearly a line of successful women in this family who she has taken after.

16. She’s Had a String of Famous Flings

Taylor Swift is definitely no stranger to the dating scene. She has listed a long line of famous men. Now of course she has met her long-term boyfriend Joe who she has claimed she can see herself marrying one day. But, before this, she has dated Taylor Lautner, John Mayer, Jake Gyllenhaal, Eddie Redmayne, Zac Effron, Conor Kennedy, Harry Styles, Calvin Harris, Tom Hiddleston.

While all these romances were short, they have helped her with inspiration for many songs. Taylor Swift’s romance with Taylor Lautner the Twilight star inspired the popular song “Back to December.” Her breakup story with Harry Style’s inspired “Out of the Woods,” and her affair with Jake Gyllenhaal must have inspired the album “Red.”

17. Her Mum Listened to Def Leppard While She Was in the Womb

Taylor Swift was exposed to music, literally from the womb. Her mum used to play def Leppard constantly while she was pregnant with her baby girl. Apparently, the star’s mum could not stop listening to the singer while she was still pregnant and would listen on repeat through her pregnancy.

Perhaps this plays a part in shaping your child’s interest. By exposing her daughter to a variety of music perhaps she has shaped Taylor’s future. After all, growing up around something from a young age with positive influences often results in the child following in similar footsteps. So, she can thank partly her mum’s love for music when she credits her very successful career.

18. She Dedicated a Song to Her Mom

Taylor publicly declares the love she has for her mom. She is very open about their close relationship and how much she adores her. She wrote the song ”The Best Day” as a Christmas present to her mother. It became part of her album. But Taylor cries every time she sings this song because it makes her so full of emotion and love.

And, once she was performing the song she heard her mum sobbing backstage because the song meant so much to her. But Taylor did not warn her mum to cry so she removed the song from the playlist.

19. She Wrote Her First Song At 12 Years Old

Taylor has a very imperative brain and determination as a young child. When she was just 12, she wrote her song called ‘Lucky You’. It was later included in her first album and has become a huge success.

By the time Taylor was just fourteen years old, she had won the distinction prize of being the youngest songwriter that the Sony/ATV music publishing company had ever hired before. All of this was alongside her school work. And at 12 years old she was already beginning to write sell-out albums.

20. Taylor Has a Framed Photo of Kanye

Now, this sounds unusual considering the history between the two stars and the public humiliation by Kanye West. But that is exactly why Taylor Swift wanted a photograph of his in her home. He has a framed picture that is hung up on the wall of her home.

Underneath is captioned “Life is full of little interruptions.” This is a great way to view what happened with Kanye, instead of letting it affect her in a negative way. Kanye had a huge following and popularity at the time and he publicly humiliated the singer. Thankfully, she’s used this experience in the best way possible