The Tortured Poets Department proves that in the throughline of Taylor Swift’s many artistic eras is a commitment to exploration and a love of autobiographical lyricism. Celebrating her genre-defying and varied discography through The Eras Tour has resulted in old songs having a resurgence, new inside jokes and Easter eggs within the fandom, and a plethora of new listeners being exposed to Swift’s work. Country songs like “cowboy like me” and “no body, no crime” reaches back to Swift’s earlier work in narrative building, seamlessly crafting a three-party story with ease.
Jess Cartner-Morley of The Guardian called her wardrobe “the most talked-about, influential and dissected in pop”, stating that whatever she wears is quickly reproduced in mainstream fashion. Rihanna has credited her mother as the earliest inspiration for her love of fashion, recalling how she admired her getting dressed as a child. With the release of her third album Good Girl Gone Bad (2007), Rihanna abandoned her innocent image in favour of a sharper, edgier style. Known for her changing style and image, Rihanna’s music and fashion choices have been closely followed by the media. Rihanna has been described by the media as a pop and fashion icon, particularly since the release of Good Girl Gone Bad (2007). InStyle’s George Epaminondas described Rihanna’s videos as cinematic and highlighted their island rhythms, pop sensibilities, and playful sensuality.
In contrast to the fairytale motifs and happy endings of Fearless, evermore saw Swift become fixated on “unhappy” endings — stories of failed marriages (“happiness”), lifeless relationships (“tolerate it”), and one-time flings (“’tis the damn season”). Like its (literally) folklorian sister, evermore was a surprise release at the end of 2020, marking the first time Swift didn’t have distinct “eras” between albums. It was exciting enough for Swifties to experience one surprise album drop from Swift, an artist who typically has an entire album campaign calculated. At the 2021 GRAMMYs, folklore took home Album Of The Year, making her the fourth artist in history to win three times in the Category. After its betista casino release, folklore became the best-selling album of 2020 after selling 1.2 million records. Lover became Swift’s sixth No. 1 album in America, making her the first female artist to achieve the feat.
- Rihanna’s romantic life has often made headlines, with notable relationships sparking both admiration and intrigue.
- Her involvement in these projects demonstrated her ability to transition from pop music icon to a prominent figure in film.
- She never stopped performing, and while Sister Nancy traveled as far as Israel to sing, she was often relegated to multi-artist bills — and not in the largest text.
- With an eclectic blend of genres such as pop, dancehall, and psychedelic soul, Anti peaked at number one on the Billboard 200, marking her second chart-topping record in the US.
- The Western-themed “Desperado” lends itself particularly well to covers by country artists, while the Dido-sampling “Never Ending” conveys the uncertainty she feels about entering a new relationship.
- It topped the charts in several territories, spending ten consecutive weeks at number one on the UK Singles Chart and seven at number one on the Billboard Hot 100.
- With this feat, she became the youngest artist to attain the most chart-toppers in a five-year span.
And in true Swiftian fashion, turning into a pop artist didn’t just prove her genre-shapeshifting capabilities — it further solidified her as an artist who is at her best when she freely creates to her desires and refuses to adhere to anyone. After years of identifying as a country artist and flirting with pop, Swift departed her roots to reinvent herself, no matter what her then-label or critics had to say. On Red, Swift focused on emotions evoked from a hot-and-cold relationship, one that forced her to experience “intense love, intense frustration, jealousy and confusion” — all feelings that she’d describe as “red.”
Following the career-pivoting Rated R, 2010’s Loud offered a welcome return to the West Indian artist’s earlier sound. Rated R showcased Rihanna’s undeniable star power, and allowed her to shed her good-girl image once and for all. Badgal RiRi returned to her dancehall roots on her fifth No. 1 “Rude Boy,” which offsets the album’s harrowing motif. The singer had grown in leaps and bounds while taking musical risks, even penning nine of Rated R’s 13 tracks (she had no writing credits on Good Girl Gone Bad). Following three multi-platinum albums in a three-year span, Rihanna’s rebranding as a rebel at heart reached its apex.
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- She has sold over 60 million albums worldwide, landed 14 Billboard Hot 100 chart-toppers, and won nine GRAMMY Awards.
- Rihanna has eight number-one singles on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, seven on the Airplay chart, and sixteen on the Rhythmic chart.
- Her first hit single was “Pon de Replay,” which peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard singles chart in 2005.
- “The Fate of Ophelia” might be Swift’s best lead single since “Mine” in 2010, thanks to its infectious beat and memorable chorus.
- Vulnerability is explored on the pop and synth-pop record Unapologetic (2012), which Vulture described as an “act of defiance … to sort out her feelings about her … ex-boyfriend Brown and her public image”.
Gleefully playing the witch doctor, prolific singer/bassist Esperanza Spalding individually released every song (and an accompanying video) from her seventh album across 11 days before serving up its cauldron of genre-hopping sounds in full. (Rih recorded an equally moving sequel for her Loud album.) Three years later, the two confronted their inner demons in “The Monster,” and their musical chemistry scored a GRAMMY in 2015 for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration. Final single “Te Amo” didn’t chart, but garnered a great deal of attention as the Latin-infused Stargate production depicts Rihanna being enticed by a female love interest. It also marked Rihanna’s first time veering away from her “girl next door” image, as the song’s subject matter deals with infidelity. Follow-up single “If It’s Lovin’ That You Want” stalled at No. 36 on the Hot 100, but still whetted fans’ appetite — as did her debut album, Music of the Sun, which is mostly comprised of dance-pop and dancehall tracks with hints of R&B (like “Willing to Wait”). Shortly after her 16th birthday, Rihanna left her home country for the U.S. to record a demo, which included her breakthrough hit “Pon de Replay.” The demo found its way into Jay-Z’s hands, and Hov signed the teen artist to Def Jam and the label expedited her 2005 debut album, aptly titled Music of the Sun.
The thing that differentiated her from other writers — and still does to this day — is her songwriting. The world now knows Taylor Swift as a global pop superstar, but back in 2006, she was just a doe-eyed country prodigy. Despite its ghoulish title, artificial intelligence appears to be the object of terror in what many, including the GRAMMY voters who awarded it Best Pop Duo/Group Performance in 2024, regard as the highlight of SZA’s sophomore. But four years after the Team Edward vs Team Jacob saga wrapped up, folk hero Jason Isbell proved mythical bloodsuckers weren’t a barrier to awards success. David Bowie fans may well feel aggrieved that his post-punk classic “Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)” was entirely ignored by GRAMMY voters, while the bro-step banger it inspired was showered with awards. It’s a bold feminist act that helped power parent album CrazySexyCool to diamond status and was deservedly rewarded with Best R&B Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal at the 1996 GRAMMYS (where CrazySexyCool was also crowned Best R&B Album).
Nancy was largely unaware of its popularity as a hip-hop sample, and didn’t receive royalties for the tune (itself owned by producer Winston Riley, who died in 2012). She never stopped performing, and while Sister Nancy traveled as far as Israel to sing, she was often relegated to multi-artist bills — and not in the largest text. It’s been used in film and television, including prominently in 1998’s Nas- and DMX-featuring Belly. Multiple sources consider it the most sampled reggae song ever (WhoSampled.com counts 155 samples), with Beyoncé, Madlib, Run D.M.C., Lauryn Hill, Chris Brown, Alicia Keys, Ariana Grande, and Buju Banton and many others pulling from Nancy’s crisses lyrics. Sister Nancy wouldn’t perform the song on a Jamaican stage for eight years, until she featured at 1990’s Sting competition. “I went with Yellowman to Harry J’s Studio. Yellowman did a ‘Bam Bam,’, and I had to finish my One, Two album, and I just said I am going to do a tune like Yellowman did. And I did ‘Bam Bam,’ my way,” Nancy recalls.
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Her musical career has been marked by experimentation, and she has stated that her goal was “to make music that could be heard in parts of the world that I’d never been to”. She began vocal training during the recording of Good Girl Gone Bad (2007) under the guidance of Ne-Yo, who taught her breathing techniques and vocal delivery. The song earned her nominations for the Golden Globe and Academy Award for Best Original Song. Alongside Donald Glover, she starred in the film Guava Island (2019), in which she played his character’s love interest.
Her debut album, “Music of the Sun,” further solidified her presence, selling over two million copies worldwide and setting the stage for her meteoric rise in the years to come. Jay-Z was immediately captivated, signing her on the spot and launching her career in the music industry. Her journey from a small island to the bustling music scene of America marked the beginning of her transformational career. Relocating from her home in Barbados to Connecticut, she stayed with music producer Evan Rogers and his wife.
From becoming the first woman and only artist to win a GRAMMY for Album Of The Year four times, to dealing with heightened media scrutiny, to breaking records with her Eras Tour, no one understands the highs and lows of being a showgirl like Swift. Fans rejoiced at having songs to comfort them during difficult times, and artists like Maya Hawke, Gracie Abrams, and Sabrina Carpenter credit folklore for inspiring them to create and be even more emotionally honest in their songwriting. Other songs, including “Death By A Thousand Cuts” and “Cornelia Street,” are Swift at her most vulnerable, reflecting on a love lost and grappling with the extreme worry that comes when you could potentially lose someone. When Swift released the lead single “Look What You Made Me Do,” a song she initially wrote as a poem about not trusting specific people, many assumed the album would center on vengeance and drama. The album also earned Swift several awards — including her second Album Of The Year GRAMMY, which made her the first female artist to ever win the award twice.
Lead single “We Found Love” is undeniably the biggest hit to stem from the Talk That Talk era, spending 10 consecutive weeks atop the Hot 100. Her longing continues in “Where Have You Been,” which flaunts Rihanna’s versatility, flipping Geoff Mack’s 1959 country song “I’ve Been Everywhere” into an infectious EDM banger. It was especially refreshing to see Rihanna emerge from one of the darkest periods of her life as exuberant as ever.
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Her ability to captivate audiences across both music and film realms underscores her dynamic artistry and continued relevance in the entertainment industry. Her involvement in these projects demonstrated her ability to transition from pop music icon to a prominent figure in film. Her debut album, “Music of the Sun,” released in 2005, marked the beginning of her remarkable career, selling over two million copies worldwide. At the age of 15, she formed a girl group with school friends, which paved the way for her discovery by music producer Evan Rogers. With her distinct voice, groundbreaking style, and philanthropic contributions, Rihanna continues to leave an indelible mark on both the music industry and popular culture. Transitioning from a teen pop sensation to a mature artist, Rihanna’s work reflects her evolving artistic vision.
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She’d see visceral images in her mind — from battleships to tree swings to mirrored disco balls — and turned them into stories, sometimes weaving in her own personal narrative throughout, or taking on a narrator role and speaking from the perspective of someone she had never met. Crafting a world with characters like the folklore love triangle between those in “betty” and “august,” as well as Rebekah Harkness from “the last great american dynasty” (who once lived in Swift’s Rhode Island mansion), was Swift’s way of venturing outside her typical autobiographical style of writing. Without exactly setting out to create an album, she began dreaming of fictional stories and characters with various narrative arcs, allowing her imagination to run free. But Lover was more than any accolades could reflect — it was Swift’s transitional album in many ways, notably marking the first album that she owned entirely herself following leaving Big Machine Records for Republic Records in 2018. This evolution is mentioned throughout Lover, particularly in a direct callback to 2012’s Red, “Daylight,” which sees her describe her love as “golden” rather than “burning red.”
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In 2014, Shakira featured Rihanna on her single “Can’t Remember to Forget You”. In December 2013, she topped both the Billboard Hot 100 and UK Singles Chart with a feature on Eminem’s song “The Monster”. Rihanna made a cameo in the comedy film This Is the End (2013), and later collaborated with rapper Wale on his remix of the single “Bad”. To promote the album, Rihanna embarked on the 777 Tour, performing seven shows in seven countries over the course of seven days. In September 2012, the music video for “We Found Love” won Video of the Year at the MTV Video Music Awards, making Rihanna the first woman to receive the honour more than once. In March, Rihanna and Brown released two remixes—her track “Birthday Cake” and his “Turn Up the Music”—which were criticized due to their history of domestic violence.
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To celebrate Taylor Swift’s newest era with The Life of a Showgirl, GRAMMY.com looks back on all of her albums (Taylor’s Versions not included) and how each era shaped her remarkable career. Swift has become one of music’s most notable shapeshifters by refusing to limit herself to one genre, moving between country, pop, folk, and beyond. Oh, and she’s also won 14 GRAMMY Awards, including four for Album Of The Year — the most ever won by an artist. Upon the arrival of Taylor Swift’s ‘The Life of a Showgirl,’ take a deep dive into her discography and see how each album helped her become the genre-shifting superstar she is today. And “Haunted,” a poetic lament to unrequited love (“Rose perfume, low-lit room/ I’ll pretend you’ll stay forever”) soundtracked by shuffling bossa nova beats and sultry strings, casts its most potent musical spell.
Rihanna’s first studio album, Music of the Sun, was released in August 2005 to much intrigue. Her last No. 1 single, “Work” featuring Drake, topped the chart for nine weeks. Her first No. 1 song, “SOS,” topped the chart for three weeks in 2006, while her Grammy-winning Jay-Z collaboration “Umbrella” far surpassed that the following year, maintaining the lead spot for seven weeks.
Throughout The Life of a Showgirl, Swift, Martin and Shellback craft tracks that go beyond what they created with 1989 and reputation. Reuniting with her pop powerhouse collaborators Max Martin and Shellback, who worked on her biggest pop radio hits like “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together,” “Delicate,” “Blank Space,” and “Shake It Off,” was a return to form after the fog of TTPD. (“And all the headshots on the walls/ Of the dance hall are of the b—es/ Who wish I’d hurry up and die/ But I’m immortal now.”) On “The Life of a Showgirl,” she declares with her fellow showgirl that she isn’t handing over the baton just yet. The showgirl is actually the one in charge (“I was your father figure/ You pulled the wrong trigger/ This empire belongs to me”), alluding to her battle to retain her masters.