When Taylor Swift asked her dedicated fans to meet her at midnight, Swifties showed up in droves to support her. But how did Swift arrive at her 10th studio album Midnights? And, more importantly, how did her previous nine albums prepare her to have the biggest album of her career?
It all started with Swift’s self-titled album, which she released in 2006 when she was 16. The album peaked at No. 5 on the Billboard 200 chart, and building on that momentum, the then-rising star returned in 2008 with his second album. Without fearwhich spent 11 non-consecutive weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. The accolades didn’t stop there: the project won five Grammy Awards, including the coveted Album of the Year, making her the youngest artist at the time to receive the honor.
2010 saw the release of Swift’s Speak Now. In addition to reaching No. 1 on the Billboard 200 again, the record also sold 1 million units in its first week. Red, its 2012 sequel, saw Swift take a new musical direction, combining the best of her country roots with pure pop. The record culminated in his first No. 1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 with “We Are Never Getting Back Together”. However Red was commercially successful, it didn’t win a Grammy, which led her to focus on creating work that was more consistent with 1989and his concentrated efforts paid off – it was his second album of the year winner and included three Hot 100 No. 1s: “Shake It Off”, “Blank Space” and “Bad Blood”.
The second half of Swift’s discography expands Reputation, Lover, Folklore and Still – in addition to his re-recorded versions of Taylor’s Red and Without fear. Learn more about these projects in the latest episode of Billboard Explains in the video above.
After the video, watch more Billboard Explains videos and find out how Beyoncé got to Renaissance, the evolution of girl groups, BBMAs, NFTs, SXSW, boy band magic, American Music Awards, Billboard Latin Music Awards, Hot 100 charts, how R&B/hip-hop became the hottest big genre in the US, how festivals book their lineups, Billie Eilish’s formula for success, the history of rap battles, non-binary music consciousness, the Billboard Music Awards, the Free Britney movement , the rise of K-pop in the United States, why Taylor Swift is re-recording her first six albums, the boom in successful all-female collaborations, how Grammy nominees and winners are chosen, why songwriters are selling their publishing catalogs, how the Super Bowl halftime show is booked and why Olivia Rodrigo’s “Drivers License” was able to reach No. 1 on the Hot 100.