American pop star Taylor Swift, who shook up the music industry with her phenomenally successful tour, was named Time Magazine’s 2023 Person of the Year on Wednesday.
Lots of something [Taylor] Swift’s achievements in 2023 are immeasurable […] She is committed to giving value to the dreams, feelings and experiences of people, especially women, who feel neglected and regularly underestimated, said the magazine’s editor-in-chief, Sam Jacobs.
At the age of 33, the country singer joins a long list of successes and records; her albums and their new releases often occupy top positions in the American rankings, as is currently the case with 1989 (Taylor’s Version) at the top of the Billboard 200 chart.
Last year she also distinguished herself by criticizing ticketing giant Ticketmaster for the cacophony surrounding ticket sales for her tour “The Eras Tour,” which led to the platform, often criticized for its monopoly power, declaring itself to the American had to congress.
Given the phenomenal success of her tour, the concerts were also shown in cinemas and Taylor Swift took the lead at the North American box office the weekend her film was released (New Window).
First artist to receive this honor
Time points out that the Shake It Off and Cruel Summer singer, who succeeds Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, is the first person from the arts world to be named Person of the Year for his success as an artist.
Time’s editor-in-chief points out that the award often goes to heads of state or industrial giants, but Taylor Swift has found a way to push boundaries and be a source of light.
Taylor Swift is Time’s Person of the Year for 2023, writes Sam Jacobs, because she built a world that was hers but held space for so many people, because she made her story a global legend, and because she helped a society brought joy that she desperately needed.
On Monday, Time released a list of the finalists. Taylor Swift was joined by Russian and Chinese leaders Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping, Britain’s King Charles III, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell and OpenAI boss Sam Altman, Hollywood strikers, the prosecutors who indicted Donald Trump, and … the character of Barbie, at the center of the year’s big box office success.
With information from Agence France-Presse