Taylor Swift

Name

Taylor Swift

Date of Birth

December 13, 1989

Birth Place

Wyomissing, Pa.

 Taylor Swift may be country music's reigning sweetheart, but this songwriting, hit-making beauty isn't afraid to kiss and tell! With such hits as "Our Song" and "Love Story" and romances with Joe Jonas, Taylor Lautner and Jake Gyllenhaal under her belt, the newly minted Cover Girl has launched into music superstardom.

Although Swift has been eager to stake her claim in country music since age 11, she's taken Goldilocks' "just right" philosophy when it comes to record deals: she backed out on a contract that didn't let her write and sing her own songs – and she was barely 14. By 2010, Swift won four Grammys, released three No. 1 albums (including the mega-selling Speak Now) and became the youngest-ever winner of the CMA's top trophy for entertainer of the year at age 19. 

 Country's Determined DarlingAt 13, Taylor Swift, who began writing songs at age 5, signs with RCA Records. A year later, she gets out of the contract because she doesn't want to sing other writer's songs. Around that time, she becomes the youngest songwriter to sign a publishing deal with Sony – but doesn't want her songs sung by other artists. "She has a real inner vision, a real inner directedness," says Scott Borchetta, who eventually urges Swift to write and sing under a recording contract with his indie label, Big Machine Records.
 Taylor's Self-Titled Debut

Big Machine Records releases the 16-year-old's self-titled debut album. "I didn't come in to this to be baby-sat," Swift tells the AP about having creative control. She also says she isn't afraid of the tough country music industry: "Not by any measure. I'm intimidated by the fear of being average." Her debut eventually sells more than 2.5 million copies.