Experts weigh in on her fanbase loyalty, skills as songwriter, businesswoman as her albums, tours break financial, popularity records.

Whether you’re a fan of Taylor Swift or not, it’s hard to deny the cultural and financial juggernaut the pop superstar has become this year. Her album “Midnights,” released in late 2022, was the year’s top-seller at 1.8 million copies, twice that of the second-biggest by Harry Styles. Her latest, “Speak Now (Taylor’s Version),” debuted in July at No. 1, giving Swift her 12th in the top spot, surpassing Barbra Streisand for the most No. 1 albums by a woman artist.

Taylor Swift is a global phenomenon, the likes of which we haven’t seen since the height of Beatlemania. Her new film, Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour, made $96 million in its opening weekend, more than any concert film ever. She is the first woman to have four albums simultaneously in the top 10 on Billboard’s top 200 chart.

Her net financial worth at the time of this writing is approximately $780 million. She may surpass Elton John by having the highest-grossing concert tour of all time, estimated at $1.4 billion.

photos by Beth Garrabrant