Taylor Swift has grown from having a small fanbase on Myspace to being one of the most successful and well known artists of our time. Whether you love her music or not, everyone has heard of her. We have all seen her win countless awards. We have watched her rise up after several breakups, using her pain and experiences to fuel her creativity and write more music that we can all relate to. We hurt with her when she found out that her mother had been diagnosed with cancer. And we have thought to ourselves “how sweet…” anytime news came up about another one of Taylor Swift’s now infamous acts of generosity to her fans, including giving one fan $50,000 towards her medical bills and mailing another fan a check for $1989 to help with her student loans.
Taylor Swift’s success has been about so much more than her music. Her tenacity and creativity coupled with her honesty and selflessness have helped to get her to where she is today. While there are many things about Taylor Swift that are simply public knowledge, there are countless other things about Taylor Swift that are not very well known. We have compiled a list of ten of our favorite “little known facts” about Swift. Some are interesting, others are just fun facts, but it goes without saying that all of them make us love Taylor just a little bit more.
Taylor Swift Facts
1) Full name: Taylor Alison Swift
Taylor’s mother picked the name “Taylor” because she did not want people to be able to tell her gender by reading her name on documents such as applications,etc.
2) A computer repairman taught Taylor how to play the guitar when she was twelve.
There has been a bit of mixed information circulating around about this fact. Taylor Swift has been quoted as saying that when she was twelve years old a computer repairman was at her house fixing her computer while she sat doing her homework. She said that he happened to notice a guitar in the corner and asked if she played to which she had replied that she tried but wasn’t good. He then offered to teach her to play. The computer repairman, Ronnie Cremer, recently reported that this was not exactly how things went down. Yes, he is a computer repairman. But he is also a musician. He had been initially approached by Taylor’s mother about giving Taylor guitar lessons. He agreed and the two met a couple of times a week for lessons. So yes, a computer repairman taught Taylor Swift how to play the guitar when she was twelve. But it was because he was approached as a musician. He didn’t actually do any computer repair work for the Swift family until months after he had already began teaching Swift to play the guitar. Regardless of the different sides to the story, these lessons did lead to Swift writing and recording her first song “Lucky You”.
3) She grew up on a Christmas tree farm.
Swift’s family owned and ran a Christmas tree farm on their property in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. This fact may explain Taylor’s well known love and fascination with Christmastime. She even collects snow globes. Growing up on a Christmas tree farm wasn’t all magical, though. Taylor said that she first job as a child was to knock the praying mantis nests out of the trees before they could be loaded on to customer’s cars.
4) Taylor used to compete in horse shows.
Although much of her early life revolved around building her skills musically, she also made time for training and competing in horse shows. Her first time on a horse was when she was only nine months old. She still enjoys riding when she can.
5) She collects vintage phone cases.
Taylor Swift’s style overall seems to have a vintage feel. She loves anything having to do with the pinup era. While she loves vintage fashion she does have a particular fascination with vintage style phone cases. She is addicted to browsing custom cases on sites like Etsy and has amassed quite a collection.
6) Taylor always wears her glasses she she is at home.
While Taylor wears contacts when she is out in public due to her horrible eyesight, she says that she never wears her contacts when she is at home. As soon as she can she takes her contacts out and puts on her “giant”, black rimmed glasses.
7) Taylor started out writing poetry….and a novel!
Like many musicians Taylor started out writing poetry. She won a national poetry contest when she was in the fourth grade with her poem called “Monster in my Closet”. In true Taylor Swift fashion, though, she outdid herself when she was twelve by writing a 350 page novel. Though the novel has never been released to the public Swift has said that the possibility is not off of the table. She would love to be able to release it one day when the time is right.
8) Taylor has embraced the Kanye West incident.
Though the two have since made amends, no one will ever forget the moment when Kanye West famously interrupted Swift’s acceptance speech at the Video Music Awards in 2009. Though the moment stunned and upset Taylor she has used it to make her a stronger, better person. She has a framed photo of the moment hanging up in her home with a caption underneath it that reads: “Life is full of little interruptions.”.
9) Taylor put in leg work to get her music into the hands of record labels in Nashville.
When Taylor was fourteen years old her family moved to Nashville in the hopes of Taylor becoming a country music star. Taylor had recorded a demo cd and her mother would drive her around Nashville to all of the different record labels. She remembers running up the sidewalk from the car to the door and leaving her cd with receptionists, etc. Could you imagine finding out that Taylor Swift had been at your door and you missed it?! I’ll bet there are a lot of labels kicking themselves now.
10) Her favorite show is CSI.
While she gets very little time to herself to just relax she has said that when she does get the chance she loves watching one of her favorite shows, CSI. She even had to opportunity to appear in an episode in 2009 where she played a rebellious teen. She has said several times that if she hadn’t become a musician she would have loved to have pursued a career as a forensic detective.
Taylor Swift started out with little more than a dream and a guitar. She never gave up through countless “no’s” and as a result she has grown into the powerhouse that we know today. She continues to win the hearts of fans worldwide. She is one of those artists that you just know will be around for a long, long time. As she continues to grow as a person her music also continues to evolve. Whether you like her music or not you cannot deny that she has won the hearts of people around the world by not only being a talented musician but a relatable, kind person who uses her celebrity status as a way to make the world a little brighter for her fans and the industry as a whole. We look forward to following her career as it continues to skyrocket and break records across the board.
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