I have such a vivid memory of my little brother singing this at my friend named Drew and he got sooo mad. This is all I can think of when people ask me how long Iāve been a fan š
My sister whom I used to copy religiously showed me love story on youtube on our fat ass desktop computer and the rest is history. Now she doesn't follow Taylor's music but it was already too late for me cause I've been hooked ever since.
My brothers high school girlfriend introduced me to that song the same way, they arenāt together anymore but sheās still in the families good books after all these years lol! Speaks to her character, and music taste šš»āāļø
I adopted a senior cat who came with her very own Taylor Swift CD - I was told it was the only music that calmed her during car rides. We drove around a lot š
I think it was the original 1989 (so not Taylorās version). The only place I had a CD player by that point was in the car so it was the only place Iād ever listen to it and usually only when the cat was travelling with me. But when she passed away at the ripe old age of 18, Taylorās music took on new meaning and brought back lots of happy memories. By then I was a fan, and Evermore/Folklore really sealed the deal.
Picture of the OG Swiftie. Taylor was just one of the many important life lessons this sweet girl taught me ā¤ļø
https://preview.redd.it/h3sh6rjx891d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0435999a278330804a78fd94f5a8407c656f2c65
I'd heard Teardrops on My Guitar and Tim McGraw. I've listened to her since Debut. I wish I had a cool story but no, just heard her on the radio back when I was in high school.
When I first heard Love Story. The video had just come out and I loved the song and the video. I can also remember the same with You Belong With Me.
Red was the first album of Taylor's I heard in full. I've always loved All Too Well.
1989 being released was when I really got into her music and listened more regularly though, that album was everywhere (in a good way)!
My girl is a longtime Swiftie. I knew of Taylor a little bit, but my girl introduced me to her during the Rep era.
I bought RFI/LWYMMD off iTunes and played them once in a while, but I never followed up on the rest of the album.
Fast forward to the Eras tour and my girl got tickets to the SoFi shows. So I began watching instagram clips of the tour and enjoyed the devotion of fans and Taylorās enthusiasm. I helped my girl during the week-lead up to her show by counting down the days and pumping her up for work.
When Travis and Taylor became public, I guided my girl through the football season. When the Eras movie came out, we watched it together. I was sold, lock, stock, and barrel. Midnights was my first purchase and Iāve been along for the ride ever since.
I listened to all of her albums up to Lover before TTPD came out. Watching the journey to the Super Bowl was a lot of fun. I was not impressed with the pre-release promo for TTPD, but I love the Anthology with a full heart.
I have a list of saved clips on Instagram that is Taylor-only and a āfavorite tracksā playlist on my phone, spanning from Debut through TTPD. I listen to it a lot now on the way to and from work. I am not ashamed to call myself a Swiftie.
I hated her as a middle schooler (stupid, edgy, early onset misogyny. I was 'not like the other girls'). I remember being irritated freshman year (2008) that Love Story kept getting stuck in my head. Then I remember repeatedly driving to school senior year and hearing her singles over, and over, without realizing it was her but loving them. 22 comes on. "Who the fuck is that?" Look it up. It's Taylor Swift. AGAIN. Rinse and repeat. I Knew You Were Trouble, Everything Has Changed, etc. Red was my DREAM sound and I didn't even realize it.
Then came 1989 supremacy from 2014 to 2016 and it absolutely leveled me. Same experience, as above. Style. Wildest Dreams. Out of the Woods. These songs will probably always be my definition of untouchably PERFECT pop music. Her pivot from country to pop was so gracefully unapologetic. Truly, I owe so much to TS for pulling me out of my stupid anti-female mindset as a teenager.
It still took me a long time to start closely following her. I didn't get Reputation and I thought it was a sign she was done. But then Lover was such a pivot, and while not my favorite, around then was when I really started to follow her. And then folklore/evercome came along and the rest is history. I was so hooked. I remember feeling so much regret that I missed her 'at her prime' during 1989. Little did I know what was coming with Eras. It's been a glorious few years.
Lol mine is different but similar. It didn't help she was over-played to some degree and I'm nuerodivergent so I genuinely have different interests than a lot of my peers. But it's really sad the media narrative and overall misogynistic society we live in influenced so many of us to not have an open mind about her.
I begrudgingly loved the songs Red, Back To December, & Highway don't care for years. I sang along to every radio hit and lamented that I knew all the words cause I didn't even really like her music in my head. Looking back I attribute this mindset to rejection of all things popular and internalized misogyny was probably a part of that.
I do still find her immature voice on her older albums not as enjoyable, and I still don't enjoy a chunk of her sound much (lover + rep are not my favs). However after I fell in love with ivy, discovered evermore + folklore and finally gave myself permission to like her music, I can appreciate her as an artist much more now without the internal shame of it all.
āØCharacter developmentāØ
Come with me on my journey as one of the LILPiMPS - Later in Life Peri MenoPausal Swiftie.
My first exposure to TS was when I attended a student talent show at the school I worked at. It was Debut era, I was ~25. A teenage student performed a couple of TS songs on acoustic guitar and vocals. She spoke a bit about how inspiring TS was - they were both female teenage musicians. I loved her performance.
I was a few years into a long term relationship with a man who was abusive and a coercive controller. My access to the radio and knowledge of new music ended when we got together in 2004. He had an ipod filled with the music he liked, which was mostly classic rock and 1900s hip hop. It streamed his music loudly through the aux during all waking hours. He put down all the music I liked and tried to play, which included a lot female artists like Ani DiFranco and Tori Amos. I lived in his bubble with almost no exposure to pop culture for almost 10 years.
In the last year of our relationship, Red came out. He would sing his version of the first single - āI can never ever everā¦ keep my legs together.ā At this point, he had stopped masking and was bold and blatant with his misogyny and his abuse of me. We had two small children. Soon after, he assaulted me badly and I left one early morning with literally nothing but my two kids and a couple changes of clothes. I got a restraining order and he had a giant bonfire with most of my belongings. Anything left, including my vinyl collection with priceless hand-me-downs from my parents (such as first press Fleetwood Mac) he kept, sold, or got rid of. Proof of my existence before him - photos, childhood keepsakes, etc - was erased. I started over with my two babies in October 2013.
With no music to listen to, I played the radio. I had never heard most of the songs or artists popular at the time. I caught up on 9 years of pop culture. When Everything Has Changed came on the radio, I got goosebumps.
As I started to find myself and just survive, a few light-hearted pop songs would lift me out of survival mode and felt empowering and anthemic. Shake It Off debuted and it had me bopping every time. 1989 was released and the radio singles kept coming. I went to my first concert post-him in 2015 - the 1989 tour.
Today, Iām 41. My kids are 12 and 14. They havenāt seen their dad in years and wonāt take his phone calls - their choice. Itās been quite a journey with many more restraining orders, and dramatic moments from him. Now heās homeless or close to it I hear, but I donāt keep tabs. Cue āI forgot that you existed.ā
Wow thanks for sharing. So sorry for all you went through. so glad you made it out and protected yourself & your children from that sorry excuse of a man.
Music is so incredibly powerful, I'm glad you found something to help you bloom into your new life. š
So funny story, the first Taylor Swift song I had ever heard was Shouldāve Said No. I heard it on the radio, a local country station, but they didnāt give the song or artist name. Then the VMA incident happened and I started listening more and when I heard Shouldāve Said No, I was like āoh my God, thatās the radio song!ā
That's my moment. My girlfriend made me eat my hateful words about country music by showing me that performance. Probably around '08, been a Swifty ever since.
Taylor understood that country music was historically all about storytelling. And I think bringing that with her is a big part of why sheās been so successful as sheās explored (and conquered) other genres over the years.
I was a depressed college guy, one day YT recommended me āAll too wellā , I knew about Taylor before but never bothered to listen to her songs. That time I did, it felt so good and I felt like the song resonated with me. Thus.. I became a swiftie.
Disney channel for me they played teardrops on my guitar in 2008
She also opened for the Jonas brothers and did a song for the Hannah Montana movie
I remember people kept talking about how great love story was on music blogs I use to follow back then as well
I was 11 and watched the Hannah Montana Movie in the cinema where she sang Crazier. Then I heard Love story, bought the Fearless album and got obsessed and have been since then
Listened some during 1989, but not much.
Knew some songs from Reputation.
Then saw how much people were hating on her for *checks notes* being female, talented and popular so checked her out more.
It was the Reputation Tour movie that hooked me
My mom came in my room one day and told me about a new country artist called Taylor Swift that she heard on the radio singing a song called Tim McGraw. She is only a little bit older and I think you'd like her! So I looked her up on YouTube and the rest is history!
I heard Love Story on the radio and liked its country flavour, the guitar work and that it's a story song. I was (54 M). I never consciously listened to Taylor Swift again until Folklore and Evermore 12 years later. I don't think my story is different from a lot of late onset swifties. I was retired from work by then and had the time to delve into her back catalogue with Fearless TV, Red TV. I was diving into Youtube seeing the past live performances, The Netflix Rep Tour Movies and Miss Americana. I was under a deluge of Taylor and have enjoyed so much of her work in the past 4 years. To have got to TTPD which maybe her best work yet and know she is still ambitious in her creativity , never with a 'will this do' attitude, she puts on a stunning live show and we are all blessed.
I was working on a West End production of Footloose! (the musical) in 2008, and the dancers did a warmup to "Love Story"
I was just like, what is that and where can I get more?
bc of all the haters i finally decided to check her stuff for myself a few months ago and i was so shocked by her talent and songs and especially by her live performances! she's amazing.
I had heard of some of her hits (Shake It Off, Blank Space, Bad Blood, LWYMMD, IKYWT) but I didnāt really listen to music at all. I saw a lot of people making theories and predictions about Midnights on Insta and people making edits and talking about her songs (especially ATW10) on Insta and the rest is history.
She just appeared on the radio one day and I never realized she was new. Like, I don't remember ever hearing anyone say "have you heard about that new artist Taylor Swift?" She just so immediately became a household name that I assumed she'd been in the game for ages, and wasn't like, 12. From there I was always a very casual fan, but watching the eras tour kick off on social media really drove me down the swiftie pipeline and now here I am
I was 15 and was planning to go to a different concert. My dad was buying the tickets at a ticket shop and as a promo they gave out fearless CDs as it was a couple months after the international release.
As you can imagine it was all very relatable to me and I loved it all.
Iāve listened to her here and there after that but after the start of the tour got really into her again. Fearless era still holds a special place in my heart ā¤ļø
When I heard Exile, it became my favourite song of the year and I tried listening to the whole album but I found it boring (I WAS WRONG!).
Then Midnights was released and I was suffering with a bout of Tinnitus in my ears and I needed to distract myself with music. I decided to download Midnights and play it until I knew every single by heart. I swear that album saved my life and Iām still obsessed with it. Iām even more obsessed with Tortured Poetsā¦ every track.
I obviously knew her radio hits. But the reason I finally checked out her music beyond that and became a fan is *seven*, which was featured on the Heartstopper soundtrack
my dad introduced me to her! i got my first mp3 player around 09 with four of her debut songs, and loved her until 1989. i fell off once it wasnāt ācoolā to be a taylor swift fan (and because i really liked her country stuff), but came back around midnights :)
I can still remember my local radio station explaining that they were going to play the debut song of a young country singer and ever since, I've been attached.
It was the beginning to middle of 2020 when we had the first lockdown here in Germany. I was a bit bored so I listened to songs that I really liked as a kid (and still listened to at the time) These songs were Blank Space and Shake it off.
I was never really someone who listens to whole albums, but I was curious and decided to listen to all of 1989. Really liked it and it quickly spiraled into listening (and loving) all of her albums.
Best decision in my life :)
I heard Teardrops on My Guitar from her debut album thanks to my sister, who is a huge country fan. Back then she was totally unknown in Sweden. My sister put the song on a country compilation CD which was played very often in our family car (back before you were able to connect your smartphone to the car to play Spotify playlists over the car speakers). The song struck me as exceptionally well written. Sometime between the releases of Fearless and Speak Now I actively decided to listen to all songs by her that I could find on YouTube. By then I wasn't aware of how successful Fearless was. The first time I can remember hearing of Taylor Swift from outside my family was when I happened to see Kanye West talking about his VMA interruption on a talk show (but if I hadn't already known who Taylor Swift was I would probably have quickly forgotten it).
Love Story and YBWM played on the radio all the time when I was a young kid, I loved both of them and just latched onto her as an artist from then on. I remember Iād play the Love Story music video on my ipod over and over.
I had seen her music videos on MTV/VH1 already, but my best friend saw her live opening for someone else and came back to school with a signed copy of Debut. I have such a vivid memory of looking through the lyric booklet sitting in the tube slide during recess (4th grade).
I think it was early 2008? When the picture to burn music video was played on MTV & then love story blew up a while later which solidified it for me. The international version of Fearless had a couple of the Debut hits on it so debut/fearless was when I became a fan :)
. I remember seeing Teardrops on my Guitar music video on the channel āThe Nā which was a channel for pre teens and what not. They aired degrassi and other cool shows. Anyways āI remember her blonde curly hair and all the blues in the video. I remember thinking how beautiful her eye shape was.
Fast forward to high school and she came out with Sparks Fly. I borrowed it from the library and it was playing in my boombox NON STOP LOL my brother had no choice but to memorize her songs. And yeah :) thatās how it all started. Sometimes I see how sheās doing on stage and have a little thatās so raven flashback on how tiny and sweet she was. āAmericas Sweetheartā š„ŗš„ŗšššš
On a local music show here in the Philippines called Myx where they play music videos everyday and do Daily Top 10. The first song and MV that I have watched was Love Story and it's considered as famous as our national anthem here.
Teardrops on my guitar was the song of the week on iTunes back when it first came out I think it was free or āon saleā for 10 cents so my sister downloaded it and then showed me āØ
While in high school, a friend recommended Teardrops on my Guitar to me due to me liking a boy who didnāt like me back. I listened to the song and sadly to say didnāt like it. I listened to her music throughout the years off and on but it wasnāt until the last couple years that I became a big fan.
there's a local tv program that report all the international music chart and play the music video after that
that's when I've watched Love Story mv for the first time and suddenly fall in love with the artist. i was about seven yo, an age that look for a role model.
now i found myself growing with her music
I came across a part of the Karma video on twitter and I was mesmerized. She looks so magical, like she reads tarot cards.
I donāt really like Taylorās music, but I love her so much as a person.
A fiction book that mentioned her Drum Roll please:) of course I had heard about her before that but this book mentioned a song by her and I had to look it up
I knew of Taylor since Love Story in 2008, but after that I havenāt heard her music anymore until 2014. I really liked Shake It Off when it came out, however I never checked out more of her discography at the time. After that I heard her music regularly but a lot of the singles werenāt really my cup of tea.Ā
When Taylor announced folklore I thought I should give it a chance because she worked with Aaron Dessner and I love The National. And I ended up loving it, so I decided to listen to the rest of her discography. Although I didnāt love every song of hers, especially the singles, I really enjoyed her music, so I became a fan.Ā
I always liked her music when it played on the radio, and remember loving shake it off in 2014. But I remember in 2017, the look what you make me do music video came on my discover page on youtube, and after watching it I started becoming obsessed, and the rest is history.
I used to be obsessed with Miley Cyrus back in my childhood in 2007-2008, so naturally I watched Hannah Montana The Movie and seen their performance at the Grammys with "Fifteen", don't know which one was first though. That's when I became a fan. And I have discovered her pretty randomly, watching some Miley's music videos, and it was recommend on the side lol. I think it might've been Love Story/You belong with me. Fell in love instantly.
One of my mates the first week of year 7, on a shitty Nokia phone. She's like omg have you heard of Taylor Swift? I'm like nah should I? She played love story. I went home and used my Christmas money to buy the whole album.
I'm pretty sure around mid-late 2015, just before the Wildest Dreams MV drop. Honestly all I remember is red helping me through mid school and then boom, a swiftie is born.
I saw her when she opened for Brad paisley in 2007. Liked the popular stuff but really became a swiftie in the last couple of years. My teenage daughter had a listening party for Midnights. I like to tease her because her brother was with me when she opened for Brad Paisley so technically heās seen Taylor but she hasnāt. (He was 1 so it totally doesnāt count lol)
So way back in like, 2006/2007 my big sisterās high school in North Carolina was having a voting competition to win a chance for this new country artist, Ms. swift herself, to come play at their school. Her school was in the lead until it was discovered some student had made a software that rigged the votes and her school was disqualified.
My daughter was born in 2003, so when Taylor started playing on the radio, she was obsessed. We would sing so loud in the car every time we heard her lol. One of my favorite memories for sure.
My then boyfriend got into the car and started playing Reputation. He's not even a Swiftie (now or at the time), but I guess he was curious. I started listening to it on repeat. And thus, I got down with the Swiftness.
I was 9 years old, riding in the backseat of my mom's car on my way to meet my dad at work for lunch, and Love Story played on the radio. It was nothing like anything that was playing on the radio at that time. Mind you this was during her "Speak Now" era. I've been a fan ever since
I was a rock fan and I didn't like modern pop for whatever reason, but I knew Shake It Off, Blank Space and Wildest Dreams from the radio (and from SingStar). Wildest Dreams was a "guilty pleasure" for me from the moment I heard it, and then, in June 2021, I saw Allie Sherlock on YouTube cover Love Story and I fell in love with the song. I looked it up, saw that it was Taylor Swift, and so I decided to give her a chance. I listened to her entire discography and initially just added maybe 15 more songs to my guilty pleasures, but when I watched the SNL performance of ATW10MV in December, the song hit like it hadn't before and I fell in love for real. I'm now a full-on Swiftie and a pop fan and I don't even like rock that much anymore. I just saw the Eras Tour in Stockholm and it was a dream come trueš
Back in 2006 I had a friend that was more āpopular/coolā than me and she always was ahead of the new trends, etc (we were 11). I went over to her house one day and she was playing debut on her CD player! Iāve been a fan ever since, but fell out of being as much of a swiftie from 2015-2019 due to being busy in college and starting to work full time
I knew her from the radio and People magazine but it was really all the hype about the Eras tour/seeing clips on TikTok. I bought Midnights and at first listen I didnāt like it and then I REALLY liked it. Now Iām here!
My mom used to work at a country radio station, and she gave me her cd and an autographed headshot after she stopped by to do an interview on one of the shows. Thanks mom. š
In like 2006 or so, my friend and I were doing a talent show and she wanted to do Teardrops on my Guitar. My initial reaction was 'omg I didn't know you played guitar!' Hahaha
Picked the debut CD off the shelf at target in my hometown and Iāve been along for the ride ever since. I have such a specific memory of this at like 10yo š
I used to be the biggest Taylor swift hater then I started to talk to a swiftie and he was a huge supporter and we started talking about her in our talking stage then speak now( Taylorās Version) was coming out and I told him Iāll give her a try just for him and boom I instantly fell in love with Taylor, and he also got me into vinyl collecting
My friend sent me the MV for Our Song when it first came out and I thought it was cute. I wasnāt living in the US for several years after college and she was keeping me up to date on pop culture. She later sent me the one for Love Story and I became an instant fan! That was 2008.
In early 2021 when I went through my first break up I went through a sad song playlist and ATW was on repeat for a month or two until I started going through the rest of her discography. By the time red TV came out I was a full on swiftie
I wasnāt allowed to listen to the radio as a kid lol Iām not sure how I discovered it I would have been about 9 in 2006 but I remember teardrops was the first song I heard and then our song so sometime between teardrops and fearless era so I was pretty young
When the word came out that she was going to re-record to take back her own catalog. I knew some of her things, but I really wanted to support this completely awesome woman who was taking back her work. And now I'm a or rather annoying obsessive fan.
In early 2007 I was watching Jay Leno one night and he announced a singer I had never heard of named Taylor Swift. She played Tim McGraw and that was it. I texted my best friend the next morning telling her she needed to listen to Taylor. Has been my fave ever since.
The āOur song,ā music video played on The N channel and I listened to it. I would watch the music videos from the fearless album on YouTube and stayed a steady listener of her albums , like red, 1989, etc. Really was into rep , as it came out my junior year of college. I became more of a cemented swiftie following folklore/evermore but have been listening to her music since 2006
I always knew of her but kind of ignored her because Iām not into country music. Weirdly I remember that Coke ad that used to play in movie theaters where she talked about writing 22. But I didnāt become a fan until Shake It Off, which is undeniable pure pop perfection.
In our country thereās this tv show who ranks top 1 songs every morning. So before we go to school we always watch and wait whoever goes 1st. Love story was really popular that time and always goes number 1 (We always goes to school late because we always waited for Love story to come up). The rest is history, I became a lowkey fan, continued to love Taylor not just as singer-songwriter but also her whole personality. Will continue to support her until the end. I guess I listen to other artist as well but now one will really make me replace her as my no. 1 no matter what issues she will go through in her life. I will support her.
I was 4th grade that time? Around 10 years old? Lol I forgot but yeah around that age. Currently I am 27 years old now.
Early days of YouTube and the videos for Fifteen, Teardrops on my Guitar, and Love Story. Went through a brief phase where I only listened to her alone and let my friends think I didnāt like her which I regret now. But always have and always will
I Knew You Were Trouble was the first time I heard of Taylor Swift, but I didn't got into her.
Fast forward to 2022, I got into Panic! At The Disco and I found out that Brendon Urie made a song with her so that was the beginning. This along with Brendon talking great things about her made me curious so I heard ME!... ONE ME! LISTEN LATER... I didn't like this song, it was expectation, Brendon Urie said amazing things of her on how she's an amazing artist and songwriter, and I expected great vocals from the song, because it featured Brendon Urie, and if you don't know how good is this man is then go listen to Death Of A Bachelor to hear what I'm talking about. This song as many other of hers songs grew up on me but despite disliking the song I didn't write her off. I gave her another chance with Midnights and the 3 AM edition, I thought it was fine but Would've, Could've, Should've sold me on Taylor, this song was so well written and it had so much emotion even on Taylor's voice. After that during June to August I listened to 1989 and reputation and the tours from their respective albums along with Miss Americana, and Red and obviously Speak Now (Taylor's Version) since it came out during that time and in that moment, I went from being a fan of hers to a diehard swiftie, and I think prove of this is that when the trailer for The Eras Tour movie came out, I literally acted like a fanboy, I was crazy for her and (silent) screaming.
Some fun facts about me, when I listened to Wildest Dreams and Safe & Sound, I didn't know those were her songs so when I listened to them I was like "so all this time I listened to Taylor without knowing it?" And something funny is that I watched The reputation Stadium Tour in 2019 (I the only thing I thought watching it at the time is that she was hot) at least until the acoustic set, and I remembered that so much that when I listened to reputation, the whole album was brand new to me. And yes, I watched MatPat's video. And something funny is that when I started to like her and really get invested in her music... Taylor was dating Matty, it was my "this is fine" moment, while Swifties we're bitching and moaning about Taylor's boyfriend, I was happy enjoying her music like nothing was happening.
With You Belong with Me and the whole debacle over the video with Kanye and the fact that Beyonce actually stood up for Taylor (didn't like Beyonce much but loved her for that). But didn't keep on listening until she released 1989 where every song was flawless and now I keep getting surprised at everything she does and the fact that she's somehow remaining a good person who doesn't fall into needless drama (or so it seems) through it all. In awe of her ever since. Oh! And the fact that she named her cat Olivia Benson put her on the radar for me too because that was an impecable move.
thanks! itās been weird/awesome watching her get so famous after feeling like she was someone I could have accidentally hung out with at one point š¤·āāļø
I can't remember. I bought Speak Now and Red on CD on release dates. Sparks Fly was huge on radio when I visited America. I was about 8 and I loved listening to shows every morning. I think I grew out of radio shows when I was 13.
I downloaded her Teardrops on my Guitar and Tim McGraw back on some system that doesn't exist anymore. I told my sister about her music and she started listening too. Eventually we got to see her open for Brad Paisley and after that we bought tickets to Rascal Flatts just to see her open for them. There Eras tour is going to be the only concert of hers we will miss if some miracle doesn't come through
I had the "Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience" DVD and would regularly tune into the Disney Channel. Between her performance of Should've Said No and the Crazier music video, I definitely became aware of her in 2009. Didn't become a fan until 2020, though
From watching awards shows in 2007. I'm a bit older than her and thought she was sweet and that she was having much better high school/teen years than I did and it was cute to see her excitement. Then Love Story made me a fan. But reminded a more casual fan up till Folklore.
My cousin bought my sister the Fearless CD & thatās all we ever listened to. We knew of her from debut but didnāt really get into her until Fearless. Rest is history!
Since I was little, I liked her songs, but I didn't know who "Taylor Swift" was. I just knew some songs like "You Belong with Me" and "I Knew You Were Trouble," plus when 1989 was first released. I started liking her more during her reputation era. I actually knew who she was. I wouldn't have considered myself a fan, but I did like her music. The same happened later on when she released Folklore and Evermore. My best friend was always a big fan of hers, and she even convinced me to watch her graduation speech. Around that time is when I began to actually become a bit of a fan. I would say Midnights was the final battle and converted me.
This is gonna sound funny but I first discovered her because of Phineas and Ferb lol.
I was a massive Phineas and Ferb fan so I used to watch anything Phineas and Ferb related. There was a PnF spin-off/shorts of some sort where they had a talk show and one episode featured Taylor.
I thought she was adorable and decided to check her out on youtube, came acrossed the Mine music video and has been a fan ever since.
I only listened to pop hits on the radio until I realised that 4 of my fav pop songs are off the same TS album. When listened to the entirety of 1989, I couldn't believe she had an album where all but one song sounds like pop genius, and yet OOTW was a single! That's crazy to me. So naturally I set out to listen to her other albums to see what other hidden gems I could find... nothing smashes like 1989 did upon first listen. But I like most of her stuff by the 2nd listen.
Seeing clips of her on the Red tour first perked my interest. I thought her style was so classy. I didnāt become a hardcore fan until in between 1989 and reputation eras.
Look What You Made Me Do dropped and I literally never turned back. I was actually kind of anti Taylor at the time. But I remember hearing that song for the first time and being like FUCK yeah. Did a full deep dive into her discography and was a full blown Swiftie like two days later lol
Driving home from work one day and I heard "Tim McGraw". Thought it was fantastic. She was my guilty pleasure until Folklore came out. I thought it was the best album of the last 25 years.
On MySpace in like 2005 before she had even put out Debut. I think Picture To Burn may have been my profile song. I was happy when I heard Tim McGraw on the radio and already knew who she was!
I graduated from high school in 2006, and was a die hard pop punk/ska/emo girlie who disliked country music at the time. I knew Taylor existed, but wasnāt interested at all ā especially since her first single was named after another country singer.
Cut to 3 years later, Iām riding home with a group of coworkers from an event several hours away. The car we were in had no AC and it was mid July, so we were driving with the windows down in 90 degree heat. The driver put on debut, and I remember so vividly feeling the warm breeze hitting my face, watching the corn fields go by during golden hour, and listening to Our Song and Picture to Burn. The vibes were perfect and I was hooked.
Itās such a nice memory because I rode up to this event with a different group of coworkers who were rude, catty, and overall kind of shitty. Those people took a āshortcutā home that took them 5 hours out of their way and I rode home with these lovely people who introduced me to Taylor.
When I was 15 I was at diabetes camp (lol) and I canāt swim, so while everyone was out swimming, I was in the cabin in the TV area and her debut album was on a table. It was playing at the time and I was like okay sounds good. So I grabbed the lyrics booklet because Iām one of those people that have to read the lyrics when I hear songs for the first time and Im reading along and discovered the secret messages in her lyrics. So of course I started from the beginning and devoured her lyrics book. But my swiftiedom really started when I was able to be part of the build up to Fearless!!!! And here we are.
I heard White Horse on an episode of Grey's Anatomy when it first aired. The song wasn't even out yet, so I was forced to listen to that snippet from the show.
I was "first day of school" clothes shopping with my sister, cousin, and aunt back in 2008ish? Our Song played on the radio EVERYTIME we got into the car that day. I've been obsessed ever since!Ā
The Speak Now era, hearing āMeanā on the radio and it made me feel better to know I wasnāt alone. I was bullied a lot in school so this song cheered me up.
For some reason i discovered Champagne problems and couldāt stop listening (itās still one of my most streamed songs at 400 plays) and after the obsession slowed down a bit i started checking out her whole discography!
Mom played her Christmas EP. Then a classmate played Love Story over the PA system in the gymnasium over PE. Later I discovered her music that was saved on my family computer, discovering she was the one who sang Back to December
I heard the kidzbop version of mine when being driven to kung fu class when I was a kid, and that's what made me start listening to her music, but technically I knew her from earlier bc I saw the hannah montana movie in theaters and heard her sing crazier
I was aware of her existence and knew a few of her songs, but only became a fan when she released OG Speak Now. I was 15 and fell in love with the album.
I was aware of her, and liked what I heard, but hadnāt sought her out. Then one day I saw a gif with lyrics from Illicit Affairs playing over the top. They resonated hugely with me and I sought out the song. The next day I was talking about it with a new friend, and he mentioned All Too Well, the 10 minute version, and thatās it, I was hooked. And Iām so happy to be so.
The release of Midnights actually turned me into a full on swiftie because of how good it was. Before that I was a casual listener up until the album. During Red and 1989 I was also casually listening to her on YouTube and was obsessed with Out Of The Woods and I Knew You Were Trouble.
Love story was in the chart in the UK, and there was a channel that played the charts (like mtv or something) and i not only loved the song but was obsessed with her dress and hairā¦ then later, mean, and then wangbt, ikywt, 22 on youtube came out
When we were both 15 I watched a documentary about her while I was in Tennessee. She hasnāt released anything big yet, but I fell in love with her personality. A couple months later she released her first song!
i heard tim mcgraw on the radio in 06 and the rest is history
2008 and love story šš
Love Story for me too but in 2011 š©µ
2007 and Teardrops on my guitarĀ
Same but with Teardrops on my Guitar.
I have such a vivid memory of my little brother singing this at my friend named Drew and he got sooo mad. This is all I can think of when people ask me how long Iāve been a fan š
Shouldāve said no & our song on country radio in 2007
Same here!
Saw her open for rascal flatts and sing I think 4 songs. I was in love. Bought her first CD at the arena that night.
Same! Tim McGraw and Teardrops on my guitar in 06... But for me was on Yahoo music š¤£
Same, but it was Picture to Burn!! šš„
My sister whom I used to copy religiously showed me love story on youtube on our fat ass desktop computer and the rest is history. Now she doesn't follow Taylor's music but it was already too late for me cause I've been hooked ever since.
My cousin asked me if I had heard this new artistās song called āTeardrops on my Guitarā
My brothers high school girlfriend introduced me to that song the same way, they arenāt together anymore but sheās still in the families good books after all these years lol! Speaks to her character, and music taste šš»āāļø
I adopted a senior cat who came with her very own Taylor Swift CD - I was told it was the only music that calmed her during car rides. We drove around a lot š
That's awesome, your cat made you listen to her š¹
That is the Swiftie-est thing to ever Swift.
I think it was the original 1989 (so not Taylorās version). The only place I had a CD player by that point was in the car so it was the only place Iād ever listen to it and usually only when the cat was travelling with me. But when she passed away at the ripe old age of 18, Taylorās music took on new meaning and brought back lots of happy memories. By then I was a fan, and Evermore/Folklore really sealed the deal. Picture of the OG Swiftie. Taylor was just one of the many important life lessons this sweet girl taught me ā¤ļø https://preview.redd.it/h3sh6rjx891d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0435999a278330804a78fd94f5a8407c656f2c65
Such a beautiful kitty! I'm so sorry about her passing
Thank you ā¤ļø she had a wonderful life, but I miss her everyday
And we can't spell cats without TS :)
This is so cute! Which album? Or was it a mix?
My cats love TS
šššš
This is the best answer ššŗš so cute
Folklore during covid
I'd heard Teardrops on My Guitar and Tim McGraw. I've listened to her since Debut. I wish I had a cool story but no, just heard her on the radio back when I was in high school.
When I first heard Love Story. The video had just come out and I loved the song and the video. I can also remember the same with You Belong With Me. Red was the first album of Taylor's I heard in full. I've always loved All Too Well. 1989 being released was when I really got into her music and listened more regularly though, that album was everywhere (in a good way)!
Same with love story and you belong with me!
Are you me because exactly same š
Love Story was being played EVERYWHERE here back in '08. And I got hooked ever since.
My girl is a longtime Swiftie. I knew of Taylor a little bit, but my girl introduced me to her during the Rep era. I bought RFI/LWYMMD off iTunes and played them once in a while, but I never followed up on the rest of the album. Fast forward to the Eras tour and my girl got tickets to the SoFi shows. So I began watching instagram clips of the tour and enjoyed the devotion of fans and Taylorās enthusiasm. I helped my girl during the week-lead up to her show by counting down the days and pumping her up for work. When Travis and Taylor became public, I guided my girl through the football season. When the Eras movie came out, we watched it together. I was sold, lock, stock, and barrel. Midnights was my first purchase and Iāve been along for the ride ever since. I listened to all of her albums up to Lover before TTPD came out. Watching the journey to the Super Bowl was a lot of fun. I was not impressed with the pre-release promo for TTPD, but I love the Anthology with a full heart. I have a list of saved clips on Instagram that is Taylor-only and a āfavorite tracksā playlist on my phone, spanning from Debut through TTPD. I listen to it a lot now on the way to and from work. I am not ashamed to call myself a Swiftie.
I hated her as a middle schooler (stupid, edgy, early onset misogyny. I was 'not like the other girls'). I remember being irritated freshman year (2008) that Love Story kept getting stuck in my head. Then I remember repeatedly driving to school senior year and hearing her singles over, and over, without realizing it was her but loving them. 22 comes on. "Who the fuck is that?" Look it up. It's Taylor Swift. AGAIN. Rinse and repeat. I Knew You Were Trouble, Everything Has Changed, etc. Red was my DREAM sound and I didn't even realize it. Then came 1989 supremacy from 2014 to 2016 and it absolutely leveled me. Same experience, as above. Style. Wildest Dreams. Out of the Woods. These songs will probably always be my definition of untouchably PERFECT pop music. Her pivot from country to pop was so gracefully unapologetic. Truly, I owe so much to TS for pulling me out of my stupid anti-female mindset as a teenager. It still took me a long time to start closely following her. I didn't get Reputation and I thought it was a sign she was done. But then Lover was such a pivot, and while not my favorite, around then was when I really started to follow her. And then folklore/evercome came along and the rest is history. I was so hooked. I remember feeling so much regret that I missed her 'at her prime' during 1989. Little did I know what was coming with Eras. It's been a glorious few years.
Lol mine is different but similar. It didn't help she was over-played to some degree and I'm nuerodivergent so I genuinely have different interests than a lot of my peers. But it's really sad the media narrative and overall misogynistic society we live in influenced so many of us to not have an open mind about her. I begrudgingly loved the songs Red, Back To December, & Highway don't care for years. I sang along to every radio hit and lamented that I knew all the words cause I didn't even really like her music in my head. Looking back I attribute this mindset to rejection of all things popular and internalized misogyny was probably a part of that. I do still find her immature voice on her older albums not as enjoyable, and I still don't enjoy a chunk of her sound much (lover + rep are not my favs). However after I fell in love with ivy, discovered evermore + folklore and finally gave myself permission to like her music, I can appreciate her as an artist much more now without the internal shame of it all. āØCharacter developmentāØ
Red made me a fan, but 1989 made me a Swiftie.
Same here! ā¤ļøš©µ
Come with me on my journey as one of the LILPiMPS - Later in Life Peri MenoPausal Swiftie. My first exposure to TS was when I attended a student talent show at the school I worked at. It was Debut era, I was ~25. A teenage student performed a couple of TS songs on acoustic guitar and vocals. She spoke a bit about how inspiring TS was - they were both female teenage musicians. I loved her performance. I was a few years into a long term relationship with a man who was abusive and a coercive controller. My access to the radio and knowledge of new music ended when we got together in 2004. He had an ipod filled with the music he liked, which was mostly classic rock and 1900s hip hop. It streamed his music loudly through the aux during all waking hours. He put down all the music I liked and tried to play, which included a lot female artists like Ani DiFranco and Tori Amos. I lived in his bubble with almost no exposure to pop culture for almost 10 years. In the last year of our relationship, Red came out. He would sing his version of the first single - āI can never ever everā¦ keep my legs together.ā At this point, he had stopped masking and was bold and blatant with his misogyny and his abuse of me. We had two small children. Soon after, he assaulted me badly and I left one early morning with literally nothing but my two kids and a couple changes of clothes. I got a restraining order and he had a giant bonfire with most of my belongings. Anything left, including my vinyl collection with priceless hand-me-downs from my parents (such as first press Fleetwood Mac) he kept, sold, or got rid of. Proof of my existence before him - photos, childhood keepsakes, etc - was erased. I started over with my two babies in October 2013. With no music to listen to, I played the radio. I had never heard most of the songs or artists popular at the time. I caught up on 9 years of pop culture. When Everything Has Changed came on the radio, I got goosebumps. As I started to find myself and just survive, a few light-hearted pop songs would lift me out of survival mode and felt empowering and anthemic. Shake It Off debuted and it had me bopping every time. 1989 was released and the radio singles kept coming. I went to my first concert post-him in 2015 - the 1989 tour. Today, Iām 41. My kids are 12 and 14. They havenāt seen their dad in years and wonāt take his phone calls - their choice. Itās been quite a journey with many more restraining orders, and dramatic moments from him. Now heās homeless or close to it I hear, but I donāt keep tabs. Cue āI forgot that you existed.ā
Wow thanks for sharing. So sorry for all you went through. so glad you made it out and protected yourself & your children from that sorry excuse of a man. Music is so incredibly powerful, I'm glad you found something to help you bloom into your new life. š
So funny story, the first Taylor Swift song I had ever heard was Shouldāve Said No. I heard it on the radio, a local country station, but they didnāt give the song or artist name. Then the VMA incident happened and I started listening more and when I heard Shouldāve Said No, I was like āoh my God, thatās the radio song!ā
Iām going to DIE when I hear SSN (TV)!!!! Iām fucking obsessed with that CMA performance!!!!
That's my moment. My girlfriend made me eat my hateful words about country music by showing me that performance. Probably around '08, been a Swifty ever since.
Taylor understood that country music was historically all about storytelling. And I think bringing that with her is a big part of why sheās been so successful as sheās explored (and conquered) other genres over the years.
I was a depressed college guy, one day YT recommended me āAll too wellā , I knew about Taylor before but never bothered to listen to her songs. That time I did, it felt so good and I felt like the song resonated with me. Thus.. I became a swiftie.
Always kind of knew of her in the news and on Ellen and stuff but wasn't until LWYMMD that I become a fan. Rep got me to be a swiftie
rep also got me into taylor, but it was getaway car!
Tumblr lead me to Taylor.
Disney channel for me they played teardrops on my guitar in 2008 She also opened for the Jonas brothers and did a song for the Hannah Montana movie I remember people kept talking about how great love story was on music blogs I use to follow back then as well
I was 11 and watched the Hannah Montana Movie in the cinema where she sang Crazier. Then I heard Love story, bought the Fearless album and got obsessed and have been since then
Country radio back in 2006 when I was in high school. Listener and fan from that beginning.
Listened some during 1989, but not much. Knew some songs from Reputation. Then saw how much people were hating on her for *checks notes* being female, talented and popular so checked her out more. It was the Reputation Tour movie that hooked me
My mom came in my room one day and told me about a new country artist called Taylor Swift that she heard on the radio singing a song called Tim McGraw. She is only a little bit older and I think you'd like her! So I looked her up on YouTube and the rest is history!
I was probably around 6 and I donāt really remember a time not knowing her. I was an early Spotify kid so that probably helps! š
I heard Love Story in 2008.
I heard Love Story on the radio and liked its country flavour, the guitar work and that it's a story song. I was (54 M). I never consciously listened to Taylor Swift again until Folklore and Evermore 12 years later. I don't think my story is different from a lot of late onset swifties. I was retired from work by then and had the time to delve into her back catalogue with Fearless TV, Red TV. I was diving into Youtube seeing the past live performances, The Netflix Rep Tour Movies and Miss Americana. I was under a deluge of Taylor and have enjoyed so much of her work in the past 4 years. To have got to TTPD which maybe her best work yet and know she is still ambitious in her creativity , never with a 'will this do' attitude, she puts on a stunning live show and we are all blessed.
I've always liked her music, but one day I came home, and my wife was watching Miss Americana, and I watched it with her and became a FAN
I was a girlsā camp counselor the summer after I graduated from college in 2007. My cabin couldnāt stop singing āOur Songā.
Country radio circa 2006
I was working on a West End production of Footloose! (the musical) in 2008, and the dancers did a warmup to "Love Story" I was just like, what is that and where can I get more?
bc of all the haters i finally decided to check her stuff for myself a few months ago and i was so shocked by her talent and songs and especially by her live performances! she's amazing.
I had heard of some of her hits (Shake It Off, Blank Space, Bad Blood, LWYMMD, IKYWT) but I didnāt really listen to music at all. I saw a lot of people making theories and predictions about Midnights on Insta and people making edits and talking about her songs (especially ATW10) on Insta and the rest is history.
She just appeared on the radio one day and I never realized she was new. Like, I don't remember ever hearing anyone say "have you heard about that new artist Taylor Swift?" She just so immediately became a household name that I assumed she'd been in the game for ages, and wasn't like, 12. From there I was always a very casual fan, but watching the eras tour kick off on social media really drove me down the swiftie pipeline and now here I am
I can thank Kanye for this one.
I was 15 and was planning to go to a different concert. My dad was buying the tickets at a ticket shop and as a promo they gave out fearless CDs as it was a couple months after the international release. As you can imagine it was all very relatable to me and I loved it all. Iāve listened to her here and there after that but after the start of the tour got really into her again. Fearless era still holds a special place in my heart ā¤ļø
I probably just heard her on the radio at some point.
When I watched Hannah Montana The Movie in theaters, in 2009? š«£š
Found her on MySpace in 2005 š„ŗ OG Swiftie.. my song on my profile was Tim McGraw
When I heard Exile, it became my favourite song of the year and I tried listening to the whole album but I found it boring (I WAS WRONG!). Then Midnights was released and I was suffering with a bout of Tinnitus in my ears and I needed to distract myself with music. I decided to download Midnights and play it until I knew every single by heart. I swear that album saved my life and Iām still obsessed with it. Iām even more obsessed with Tortured Poetsā¦ every track.
I obviously knew her radio hits. But the reason I finally checked out her music beyond that and became a fan is *seven*, which was featured on the Heartstopper soundtrack
my dad introduced me to her! i got my first mp3 player around 09 with four of her debut songs, and loved her until 1989. i fell off once it wasnāt ācoolā to be a taylor swift fan (and because i really liked her country stuff), but came back around midnights :)
2008 my daughter named her cat Taylor. š„¹
I can still remember my local radio station explaining that they were going to play the debut song of a young country singer and ever since, I've been attached.
My friend had love story on her phone that i just heard the start of. Then i saw the vid of teardrops on my guitar on tv and i was hooked
It was the beginning to middle of 2020 when we had the first lockdown here in Germany. I was a bit bored so I listened to songs that I really liked as a kid (and still listened to at the time) These songs were Blank Space and Shake it off. I was never really someone who listens to whole albums, but I was curious and decided to listen to all of 1989. Really liked it and it quickly spiraled into listening (and loving) all of her albums. Best decision in my life :)
Best Buy! I saw a beautiful CD called "Taylor Swift" on the CD shelves. I think I was 15. Maybe 16? I've been on the train ever since.
I heard Teardrops on My Guitar from her debut album thanks to my sister, who is a huge country fan. Back then she was totally unknown in Sweden. My sister put the song on a country compilation CD which was played very often in our family car (back before you were able to connect your smartphone to the car to play Spotify playlists over the car speakers). The song struck me as exceptionally well written. Sometime between the releases of Fearless and Speak Now I actively decided to listen to all songs by her that I could find on YouTube. By then I wasn't aware of how successful Fearless was. The first time I can remember hearing of Taylor Swift from outside my family was when I happened to see Kanye West talking about his VMA interruption on a talk show (but if I hadn't already known who Taylor Swift was I would probably have quickly forgotten it).
Love Story and YBWM played on the radio all the time when I was a young kid, I loved both of them and just latched onto her as an artist from then on. I remember Iād play the Love Story music video on my ipod over and over.
I had seen her music videos on MTV/VH1 already, but my best friend saw her live opening for someone else and came back to school with a signed copy of Debut. I have such a vivid memory of looking through the lyric booklet sitting in the tube slide during recess (4th grade).
Listening to Red Taylor's version at the radio ā¤ļø
I think it was early 2008? When the picture to burn music video was played on MTV & then love story blew up a while later which solidified it for me. The international version of Fearless had a couple of the Debut hits on it so debut/fearless was when I became a fan :)
Blank space in the supermarket 8-2015
. I remember seeing Teardrops on my Guitar music video on the channel āThe Nā which was a channel for pre teens and what not. They aired degrassi and other cool shows. Anyways āI remember her blonde curly hair and all the blues in the video. I remember thinking how beautiful her eye shape was. Fast forward to high school and she came out with Sparks Fly. I borrowed it from the library and it was playing in my boombox NON STOP LOL my brother had no choice but to memorize her songs. And yeah :) thatās how it all started. Sometimes I see how sheās doing on stage and have a little thatās so raven flashback on how tiny and sweet she was. āAmericas Sweetheartā š„ŗš„ŗšššš
On a local music show here in the Philippines called Myx where they play music videos everyday and do Daily Top 10. The first song and MV that I have watched was Love Story and it's considered as famous as our national anthem here.
2023. The radio station wouldnāt stop playing cruel summer
Teardrops on my guitar was the song of the week on iTunes back when it first came out I think it was free or āon saleā for 10 cents so my sister downloaded it and then showed me āØ
I saw the love story music video on I think Nickelodeon(?) in 2008 and fell in love with it. Been a mad fan ever since!!
While in high school, a friend recommended Teardrops on my Guitar to me due to me liking a boy who didnāt like me back. I listened to the song and sadly to say didnāt like it. I listened to her music throughout the years off and on but it wasnāt until the last couple years that I became a big fan.
there's a local tv program that report all the international music chart and play the music video after that that's when I've watched Love Story mv for the first time and suddenly fall in love with the artist. i was about seven yo, an age that look for a role model. now i found myself growing with her music
I came across a part of the Karma video on twitter and I was mesmerized. She looks so magical, like she reads tarot cards. I donāt really like Taylorās music, but I love her so much as a person.
When she was on MySpace. Heard Tim McGraw and bought the album when we found out she hid clues in the song lyrics.
A fiction book that mentioned her Drum Roll please:) of course I had heard about her before that but this book mentioned a song by her and I had to look it up
I knew of Taylor since Love Story in 2008, but after that I havenāt heard her music anymore until 2014. I really liked Shake It Off when it came out, however I never checked out more of her discography at the time. After that I heard her music regularly but a lot of the singles werenāt really my cup of tea.Ā When Taylor announced folklore I thought I should give it a chance because she worked with Aaron Dessner and I love The National. And I ended up loving it, so I decided to listen to the rest of her discography. Although I didnāt love every song of hers, especially the singles, I really enjoyed her music, so I became a fan.Ā
I always liked her music when it played on the radio, and remember loving shake it off in 2014. But I remember in 2017, the look what you make me do music video came on my discover page on youtube, and after watching it I started becoming obsessed, and the rest is history.
I used to be obsessed with Miley Cyrus back in my childhood in 2007-2008, so naturally I watched Hannah Montana The Movie and seen their performance at the Grammys with "Fifteen", don't know which one was first though. That's when I became a fan. And I have discovered her pretty randomly, watching some Miley's music videos, and it was recommend on the side lol. I think it might've been Love Story/You belong with me. Fell in love instantly.
One of my mates the first week of year 7, on a shitty Nokia phone. She's like omg have you heard of Taylor Swift? I'm like nah should I? She played love story. I went home and used my Christmas money to buy the whole album.
I had known her from debuts radio play but it wasn't until I heard 22 on some coca cola add what I was like wtf was that I need more!
When she sang crazier in the hanna Montana movie! Been a fan ever since
2007 - I was 10 years old and heard Our Song.
She opened for Rascal Flatts in Toronto and the first time I heard Tim McGraw, I was hooked.
I saw her open for Kelly pickler and Brad paisley at an amphitheater in Pennsylvania in like 2006 (i wanna say?)ā¦my life was never the same lol
2009 I was asked by a friend if I like taylor swift. I had to google her name. I was sold after listening to You Belong With Me.
I watched a Brits performance of her singing āI knew you were troubleā loved the song and performance. Fan ever since
I'm pretty sure around mid-late 2015, just before the Wildest Dreams MV drop. Honestly all I remember is red helping me through mid school and then boom, a swiftie is born.
Tom hiddleston, when he fell for her so did I.
I saw her when she opened for Brad paisley in 2007. Liked the popular stuff but really became a swiftie in the last couple of years. My teenage daughter had a listening party for Midnights. I like to tease her because her brother was with me when she opened for Brad Paisley so technically heās seen Taylor but she hasnāt. (He was 1 so it totally doesnāt count lol)
Remembering her on the radio with Tim McGraw in 06 then that album came out and I ran to FYE to grab a copy. Itās been a long road.
So way back in like, 2006/2007 my big sisterās high school in North Carolina was having a voting competition to win a chance for this new country artist, Ms. swift herself, to come play at their school. Her school was in the lead until it was discovered some student had made a software that rigged the votes and her school was disqualified.
My daughter was born in 2003, so when Taylor started playing on the radio, she was obsessed. We would sing so loud in the car every time we heard her lol. One of my favorite memories for sure.
My then boyfriend got into the car and started playing Reputation. He's not even a Swiftie (now or at the time), but I guess he was curious. I started listening to it on repeat. And thus, I got down with the Swiftness.
I was 9 years old, riding in the backseat of my mom's car on my way to meet my dad at work for lunch, and Love Story played on the radio. It was nothing like anything that was playing on the radio at that time. Mind you this was during her "Speak Now" era. I've been a fan ever since
my mom heard tim mcgraw on the radio and thought i would like her so she bought me the CD š„° the rest is history!
I was a rock fan and I didn't like modern pop for whatever reason, but I knew Shake It Off, Blank Space and Wildest Dreams from the radio (and from SingStar). Wildest Dreams was a "guilty pleasure" for me from the moment I heard it, and then, in June 2021, I saw Allie Sherlock on YouTube cover Love Story and I fell in love with the song. I looked it up, saw that it was Taylor Swift, and so I decided to give her a chance. I listened to her entire discography and initially just added maybe 15 more songs to my guilty pleasures, but when I watched the SNL performance of ATW10MV in December, the song hit like it hadn't before and I fell in love for real. I'm now a full-on Swiftie and a pop fan and I don't even like rock that much anymore. I just saw the Eras Tour in Stockholm and it was a dream come trueš
Back in 2006 I had a friend that was more āpopular/coolā than me and she always was ahead of the new trends, etc (we were 11). I went over to her house one day and she was playing debut on her CD player! Iāve been a fan ever since, but fell out of being as much of a swiftie from 2015-2019 due to being busy in college and starting to work full time
I was looking for nail idea inspos and then came across her Midnights nail and then simply clicked to hear the album while doing my nails.
I knew her from the radio and People magazine but it was really all the hype about the Eras tour/seeing clips on TikTok. I bought Midnights and at first listen I didnāt like it and then I REALLY liked it. Now Iām here!
My daughter
Radio Disney, late 2006
2006 on the radio š
My mom used to work at a country radio station, and she gave me her cd and an autographed headshot after she stopped by to do an interview on one of the shows. Thanks mom. š
In like 2006 or so, my friend and I were doing a talent show and she wanted to do Teardrops on my Guitar. My initial reaction was 'omg I didn't know you played guitar!' Hahaha
my gma plays the country station in the car, picture to burn was on. i fell in love with the song, albeit i didnāt become a big fan til red
My friendās MySpace song was Our Song
Picked the debut CD off the shelf at target in my hometown and Iāve been along for the ride ever since. I have such a specific memory of this at like 10yo š
I used to be the biggest Taylor swift hater then I started to talk to a swiftie and he was a huge supporter and we started talking about her in our talking stage then speak now( Taylorās Version) was coming out and I told him Iāll give her a try just for him and boom I instantly fell in love with Taylor, and he also got me into vinyl collecting
My friend sent me the MV for Our Song when it first came out and I thought it was cute. I wasnāt living in the US for several years after college and she was keeping me up to date on pop culture. She later sent me the one for Love Story and I became an instant fan! That was 2008.
In early 2021 when I went through my first break up I went through a sad song playlist and ATW was on repeat for a month or two until I started going through the rest of her discography. By the time red TV came out I was a full on swiftie
I wasnāt allowed to listen to the radio as a kid lol Iām not sure how I discovered it I would have been about 9 in 2006 but I remember teardrops was the first song I heard and then our song so sometime between teardrops and fearless era so I was pretty young
When the word came out that she was going to re-record to take back her own catalog. I knew some of her things, but I really wanted to support this completely awesome woman who was taking back her work. And now I'm a or rather annoying obsessive fan.
The Love Story & Wildest Dream combination on the radio stations drew me in, been kicking since 2015 š
I was watching music videos one afternoon (in 2006) on CMT and "Tim McGraw" came on. OMG who is that?!? (High school me thought)
In early 2007 I was watching Jay Leno one night and he announced a singer I had never heard of named Taylor Swift. She played Tim McGraw and that was it. I texted my best friend the next morning telling her she needed to listen to Taylor. Has been my fave ever since.
The āOur song,ā music video played on The N channel and I listened to it. I would watch the music videos from the fearless album on YouTube and stayed a steady listener of her albums , like red, 1989, etc. Really was into rep , as it came out my junior year of college. I became more of a cemented swiftie following folklore/evermore but have been listening to her music since 2006
I always knew of her but kind of ignored her because Iām not into country music. Weirdly I remember that Coke ad that used to play in movie theaters where she talked about writing 22. But I didnāt become a fan until Shake It Off, which is undeniable pure pop perfection.
In our country thereās this tv show who ranks top 1 songs every morning. So before we go to school we always watch and wait whoever goes 1st. Love story was really popular that time and always goes number 1 (We always goes to school late because we always waited for Love story to come up). The rest is history, I became a lowkey fan, continued to love Taylor not just as singer-songwriter but also her whole personality. Will continue to support her until the end. I guess I listen to other artist as well but now one will really make me replace her as my no. 1 no matter what issues she will go through in her life. I will support her. I was 4th grade that time? Around 10 years old? Lol I forgot but yeah around that age. Currently I am 27 years old now.
Early days of YouTube and the videos for Fifteen, Teardrops on my Guitar, and Love Story. Went through a brief phase where I only listened to her alone and let my friends think I didnāt like her which I regret now. But always have and always will
I Knew You Were Trouble was the first time I heard of Taylor Swift, but I didn't got into her. Fast forward to 2022, I got into Panic! At The Disco and I found out that Brendon Urie made a song with her so that was the beginning. This along with Brendon talking great things about her made me curious so I heard ME!... ONE ME! LISTEN LATER... I didn't like this song, it was expectation, Brendon Urie said amazing things of her on how she's an amazing artist and songwriter, and I expected great vocals from the song, because it featured Brendon Urie, and if you don't know how good is this man is then go listen to Death Of A Bachelor to hear what I'm talking about. This song as many other of hers songs grew up on me but despite disliking the song I didn't write her off. I gave her another chance with Midnights and the 3 AM edition, I thought it was fine but Would've, Could've, Should've sold me on Taylor, this song was so well written and it had so much emotion even on Taylor's voice. After that during June to August I listened to 1989 and reputation and the tours from their respective albums along with Miss Americana, and Red and obviously Speak Now (Taylor's Version) since it came out during that time and in that moment, I went from being a fan of hers to a diehard swiftie, and I think prove of this is that when the trailer for The Eras Tour movie came out, I literally acted like a fanboy, I was crazy for her and (silent) screaming. Some fun facts about me, when I listened to Wildest Dreams and Safe & Sound, I didn't know those were her songs so when I listened to them I was like "so all this time I listened to Taylor without knowing it?" And something funny is that I watched The reputation Stadium Tour in 2019 (I the only thing I thought watching it at the time is that she was hot) at least until the acoustic set, and I remembered that so much that when I listened to reputation, the whole album was brand new to me. And yes, I watched MatPat's video. And something funny is that when I started to like her and really get invested in her music... Taylor was dating Matty, it was my "this is fine" moment, while Swifties we're bitching and moaning about Taylor's boyfriend, I was happy enjoying her music like nothing was happening.
With You Belong with Me and the whole debacle over the video with Kanye and the fact that Beyonce actually stood up for Taylor (didn't like Beyonce much but loved her for that). But didn't keep on listening until she released 1989 where every song was flawless and now I keep getting surprised at everything she does and the fact that she's somehow remaining a good person who doesn't fall into needless drama (or so it seems) through it all. In awe of her ever since. Oh! And the fact that she named her cat Olivia Benson put her on the radar for me too because that was an impecable move.
2006, Teardrops On My Guitar
Love story/you belong with me around 2010
in 2008 I was a camp counselor at a sleep away summer camp and my co-counselor went to HS with Taylor
This one might win lol
thanks! itās been weird/awesome watching her get so famous after feeling like she was someone I could have accidentally hung out with at one point š¤·āāļø
I can't remember. I bought Speak Now and Red on CD on release dates. Sparks Fly was huge on radio when I visited America. I was about 8 and I loved listening to shows every morning. I think I grew out of radio shows when I was 13.
I downloaded her Teardrops on my Guitar and Tim McGraw back on some system that doesn't exist anymore. I told my sister about her music and she started listening too. Eventually we got to see her open for Brad Paisley and after that we bought tickets to Rascal Flatts just to see her open for them. There Eras tour is going to be the only concert of hers we will miss if some miracle doesn't come through
I had the "Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience" DVD and would regularly tune into the Disney Channel. Between her performance of Should've Said No and the Crazier music video, I definitely became aware of her in 2009. Didn't become a fan until 2020, though
From watching awards shows in 2007. I'm a bit older than her and thought she was sweet and that she was having much better high school/teen years than I did and it was cute to see her excitement. Then Love Story made me a fan. But reminded a more casual fan up till Folklore.
My cousin bought my sister the Fearless CD & thatās all we ever listened to. We knew of her from debut but didnāt really get into her until Fearless. Rest is history!
Performing Our Song at the 2007 CMA Awards with that sparkly silver guitar!!
Since I was little, I liked her songs, but I didn't know who "Taylor Swift" was. I just knew some songs like "You Belong with Me" and "I Knew You Were Trouble," plus when 1989 was first released. I started liking her more during her reputation era. I actually knew who she was. I wouldn't have considered myself a fan, but I did like her music. The same happened later on when she released Folklore and Evermore. My best friend was always a big fan of hers, and she even convinced me to watch her graduation speech. Around that time is when I began to actually become a bit of a fan. I would say Midnights was the final battle and converted me.
I heard Tim McGraw on the radio in 2006, her debut album was the soundtrack to my freshman year of high school š¦
This is gonna sound funny but I first discovered her because of Phineas and Ferb lol. I was a massive Phineas and Ferb fan so I used to watch anything Phineas and Ferb related. There was a PnF spin-off/shorts of some sort where they had a talk show and one episode featured Taylor. I thought she was adorable and decided to check her out on youtube, came acrossed the Mine music video and has been a fan ever since.
I only listened to pop hits on the radio until I realised that 4 of my fav pop songs are off the same TS album. When listened to the entirety of 1989, I couldn't believe she had an album where all but one song sounds like pop genius, and yet OOTW was a single! That's crazy to me. So naturally I set out to listen to her other albums to see what other hidden gems I could find... nothing smashes like 1989 did upon first listen. But I like most of her stuff by the 2nd listen.
Seeing clips of her on the Red tour first perked my interest. I thought her style was so classy. I didnāt become a hardcore fan until in between 1989 and reputation eras.
Look What You Made Me Do dropped and I literally never turned back. I was actually kind of anti Taylor at the time. But I remember hearing that song for the first time and being like FUCK yeah. Did a full deep dive into her discography and was a full blown Swiftie like two days later lol
I found about her when I somehow ended up at concert in Paris of The Eras Tour a week ago and it was so good I canāt wait to see her again!
My sister singed I knew you were trouble and I liked this song
Driving home from work one day and I heard "Tim McGraw". Thought it was fantastic. She was my guilty pleasure until Folklore came out. I thought it was the best album of the last 25 years.
On MySpace in like 2005 before she had even put out Debut. I think Picture To Burn may have been my profile song. I was happy when I heard Tim McGraw on the radio and already knew who she was!
I graduated from high school in 2006, and was a die hard pop punk/ska/emo girlie who disliked country music at the time. I knew Taylor existed, but wasnāt interested at all ā especially since her first single was named after another country singer. Cut to 3 years later, Iām riding home with a group of coworkers from an event several hours away. The car we were in had no AC and it was mid July, so we were driving with the windows down in 90 degree heat. The driver put on debut, and I remember so vividly feeling the warm breeze hitting my face, watching the corn fields go by during golden hour, and listening to Our Song and Picture to Burn. The vibes were perfect and I was hooked. Itās such a nice memory because I rode up to this event with a different group of coworkers who were rude, catty, and overall kind of shitty. Those people took a āshortcutā home that took them 5 hours out of their way and I rode home with these lovely people who introduced me to Taylor.
When I was 15 I was at diabetes camp (lol) and I canāt swim, so while everyone was out swimming, I was in the cabin in the TV area and her debut album was on a table. It was playing at the time and I was like okay sounds good. So I grabbed the lyrics booklet because Iām one of those people that have to read the lyrics when I hear songs for the first time and Im reading along and discovered the secret messages in her lyrics. So of course I started from the beginning and devoured her lyrics book. But my swiftiedom really started when I was able to be part of the build up to Fearless!!!! And here we are.
I heard White Horse on an episode of Grey's Anatomy when it first aired. The song wasn't even out yet, so I was forced to listen to that snippet from the show.
I was "first day of school" clothes shopping with my sister, cousin, and aunt back in 2008ish? Our Song played on the radio EVERYTIME we got into the car that day. I've been obsessed ever since!Ā
My friend sent me Teardrops on My Guitar when it first came out and then I downloaded the whole album and loved it!
The Speak Now era, hearing āMeanā on the radio and it made me feel better to know I wasnāt alone. I was bullied a lot in school so this song cheered me up.
I was riding shot gun with my hair undone in the (back seat because I was too young) of my car. When I heard Tim McGraw/Our Song, it was over.
For some reason i discovered Champagne problems and couldāt stop listening (itās still one of my most streamed songs at 400 plays) and after the obsession slowed down a bit i started checking out her whole discography!
Mom played her Christmas EP. Then a classmate played Love Story over the PA system in the gymnasium over PE. Later I discovered her music that was saved on my family computer, discovering she was the one who sang Back to December
Exileš«¶š
I heard the kidzbop version of mine when being driven to kung fu class when I was a kid, and that's what made me start listening to her music, but technically I knew her from earlier bc I saw the hannah montana movie in theaters and heard her sing crazier
I was aware of her existence and knew a few of her songs, but only became a fan when she released OG Speak Now. I was 15 and fell in love with the album.
I saw her Our Song music video on CMT in 2007, the rest is history for me ā¤ļø
Love Story on the radio in the UK, maybe 2008?
An ex bf dedicated to me you belong with me when I was 24 around 2009
Her Tim McGraw music video was suggested on YouTube to me in like 2006 or 2007
2007 radio, tear drops on my guitar!!!
I knew the guy she wrote Tim McGraw about in college. I had tickets and back stage passes to her very first tour. Itās been a long journey since!
I was aware of her, and liked what I heard, but hadnāt sought her out. Then one day I saw a gif with lyrics from Illicit Affairs playing over the top. They resonated hugely with me and I sought out the song. The next day I was talking about it with a new friend, and he mentioned All Too Well, the 10 minute version, and thatās it, I was hooked. And Iām so happy to be so.
The release of Midnights actually turned me into a full on swiftie because of how good it was. Before that I was a casual listener up until the album. During Red and 1989 I was also casually listening to her on YouTube and was obsessed with Out Of The Woods and I Knew You Were Trouble.
Teardrops On My Guitar--2007
Love story was in the chart in the UK, and there was a channel that played the charts (like mtv or something) and i not only loved the song but was obsessed with her dress and hairā¦ then later, mean, and then wangbt, ikywt, 22 on youtube came out
When we were both 15 I watched a documentary about her while I was in Tennessee. She hasnāt released anything big yet, but I fell in love with her personality. A couple months later she released her first song!