Taylor Swift

Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter and occasional actress. Recognized for her genre-spanning discography, songwriting, and artistic reinventions, Swift has been a prominent cultural figure of the 21st century and a creative influence on a generation of music artists.

Swift began songwriting professionally at age 14 and signed with Big Machine Records in 2005 to become a country musician. Under Big Machine, she released six studio albums, four of which played on country radio, starting with her self-titled album (2006). Her next record, Fearless (2008), explored country pop, and its singles "Love Story" and "You Belong with Me" catapulted her to mainstream fame. Speak Now (2010) incorporated rock influences, and Red (2012) experimented with electronic elements and featured Swift's first Billboard Hot 100 number-one song, "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together". She abandoned her country image with 1989 (2014), a synth-pop album supported by chart-topping songs "Shake It Off", "Blank Space", and "Bad Blood". Media scrutiny inspired her next album, the hip-hop-flavored Reputation (2017), and its number-one single "Look What You Made Me Do".

Swift signed a new contract with Republic Records in 2018, releasing her seventh album Lover (2019) and autobiographical documentary Miss Americana (2020), influenced by political disillusionment. She embraced indie folk and alternative rock on her 2020 albums Folklore and Evermore and incorporated chill-out styles on Midnights (2022). The albums broke multifarious records, led by the respective number-one singles "Cardigan", "Willow", and "Anti-Hero". After a dispute with Big Machine led to Swift re-recording her back catalog, she released two re-recorded albums, Fearless (Taylor's Version) and Red (Taylor's Version), in 2021; the latter's "All Too Well (10 Minute Version)" became the longest song to top the Hot 100. Swift has directed music videos and films such as All Too Well: The Short Film (2021) and played supporting roles in others.

Having sold over 200 million records, Swift is one of the best-selling musicians, the most streamed woman on Spotify, and the only act to have five albums open with over one million copies sold in the US. She has been featured in critical listicles such as Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Songwriters of All Time, Billboard's Greatest of All Time Artists, the Time 100, and Forbes Celebrity 100. Among her accolades are 12 Grammy Awards, including three Album of the Year wins; a Primetime Emmy Award; 40 American Music Awards; 29 Billboard Music Awards; 12 Country Music Association Awards; three IFPI Global Recording Artist of the Year awards; and 98 Guinness World Records. Honored with titles such as Artist of the Decade and Woman of the Decade, Swift is an advocate for artists' rights and women's empowerment.

Swift made her musical guest debut on Saturday Night Live on January 10, 2009, the twelfth episode and first show of 2009 of Season 34, hosted by actor Neil Patrick Harris. She performed her singles "Love Story" and "Forever & Always". She also appeared as a performer on the "Save Broadway" sketch on that episode.

She returned to Saturday Night Live to hosting for the first time and she made her musical guest appearance on November 7, 2009, the fifth episode of Season 35 of Saturday Night Live. She performed her best-charting single on the Billboard Hot 100 "You Belong with Me" and "Untouchable."

She returned to Saturday Night Live again and she made her 3rd musical guest appearance on November 11, 2017, the fifth episode of Season 43, hosted by actress and comedian Tiffany Haddish. She performed "...Ready for It?" and an acoustic version of "Call It What You Want" from her sixth album.

She returned to Saturday Night Live again and she made her 4th musical guest appearance on October 5, 2019, the second episode of Season 45, hosted by English actress Phoebe Waller-Bridge. She performed her songs, “Lover” and “False God” from her seventh album Lover.

She returned to Saturday Night Live once again for her 5th musical guest appearance on November 13, 2021, the sixth episode of Season 47, thus making Swift a five-time musical guest. She performed her song, “All Too Well (10- minute version)” from her re-released version of her fourth studio album Red also known as Red (Taylor's Version).

She cameoed on the Season 49 premiere of SNL, on October 14, 2023, hosted by former longtime cast member Pete Davidson, where she introduced musical guest Ice Spice's second performance.

She was also impersonated by Gwyneth Paltrow on the January 15, 2011 episode during the "Bar Mitzvah" sketch and by longtime former cast member Kristen Wiig on the December 17, 2011 episode during the "Michael Bublé Christmas Duets" and on the February 18, 2012 episode during the "Baby Blue Ivy" sketch. She was later impersonated by current cast member Heidi Gardner on the October 13, 2018 episode in the "Bayou Benny" skit.