Pop star Taylor Swift, Time magazine’s personality of the year

Time magazine on Wednesday named the American pop star Taylor Swift as a personality of 2023, the first year of his successful world tour “The Eras Tour” with which he shook the music industry.

“Much of what Swift accomplished in 2023 is immeasurable. She charted her journey and shared the results with the world: she committed to validating the dreams, feelings and experiences of people, especially women, who felt ignored and regularly underestimated.“Time editor-in-chief Sam Jacobs wrote in a statement.

“For building her own universe in which she made room for so many people, for transforming her story into a global legend, for bringing joy to a society that needs it so much, Taylor Swift is Time’s Personality of the Year”Jacobs summarized.

The 33-year-old American, who excelled in the country genre, adds this new distinction to a long list of hits and albums. Her albums or reissues frequently occupy the top spots in the United States, as is currently the case with “1989 (Taylor’s Version)” which tops the Billboard 200 chart.

A year ago he distinguished himself by criticizing the giant Ticketmaster regarding the sale of tickets for his tour, which has led the platform, often criticized for its monopoly position, to have to give explanations to the US Congress.

“Heroine of her own story”

“The Eras Tour”, which began last March, currently has more than 145 dates.

Each concert generates profits of US$ 13 million, which brings the total figure for the tour to about 1.9 billion, according to the specialized site Pollstar.

No artist or band had ever surpassed the symbolic $1 billion threshold.

Their concerts were also shown as a movie in the cinema, which topped the North American box office the weekend of its release.

Time highlighted that the singer of hits like “Shake It Off” and “Cruel Summer”, who succeeds Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the recognition, “He is the first personality in the world of the arts to be named Personality of the Year due to his success as an artist”.

“Taylor Swift found a way to transcend borders and be a source of light (…) Swift is a rare person who is both a writer and heroine of her own story” wrote editor Jacobs.

Time published a list of finalists on Monday. Along with Swift were names such as the leaders of Russia and China Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping, the British King Charles III, the CEO of OpenAI, Sam Altman, the Hollywood strikers, the prosecutors who indicted Donald Trump… and the Barbie character, box office hit this year.