Elizabeth Taylor has appeared as a character in Swift’s songs before, particularly in rep’s « Ready For It…? » where she compares herself to the famous actress and entertainer. Comparatively, « Eldest Daughter » — track five, a spot Swift notoriously reserves for the most emotional song — is a love song about the masks we wear and the selves we choose to reveal. Throughout the record, dynamic and layered pop soundscapes mimic the same energy Swift was feeling both on and off stage. « I thought who better to ask to be a part of this song than the ultimate showgirl Sabrina Carpenter. » Instead of writing songs akin to « I Can Do It With A Broken Heart, » a song about performing in the midst of heartbreak and grief, Swift opted to focus on what people don’t necessarily see when they buy a ticket to a show. Now that the curtain is up and The Life of a Showgirl is out, read on for five key essential insights from Taylor Swift’s new album.
- The reissue of Good Girl Gone Bad, subtitled Reloaded, was released on June 2; selling 63,000 copies in its first week, it helped the original album rise to number seven in the US.
- In December, Nancy will headline a celebration of her career featuring female artists including Renée Neufville.
- It also marked Rihanna’s first time veering away from her « girl next door » image, as the song’s subject matter deals with infidelity.
- Performing hit after hit while unveiling a baby bump, her 13-minute set became one of the most-watched halftime shows of all time with over 121 million viewers.
- 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.
- 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.
- In 2009, Rihanna was the center of a media firestorm after a domestic violence incident in which her then-boyfriend Chris Brown assaulted her before an awards show.
But if you want to add a bit of prestige to your supernatural soundtrack, there’s another list of Halloween-friendly songs to check out — one that highlights another celebrated annual occasion. With Halloween celebrations in full swing this Oct. 31, revisit some eerie or ghoulishly titled songs that have been awarded golden gramophones, from the ‘Exorcist’ theme to Eminem and Rihanna’s « The Monster. » More than 40 years later, she’s still happy to discuss and play that single she recorded back in Kingston as a young woman.
2006: Career beginnings with Music of the Sun and A Girl Like Me
- The night Red lost the GRAMMY for Album Of The Year in 2014, Swift decided that her next album would be a full-on pop record.
- Rihanna returned back and better than ever in November 2010 with her fifth studio album, Loud.
- On the track « A Place In This World, » a song she wrote when she was just 13, Swift sings about not fitting in and trying to find her path.
- Amid smash collabs, Rihanna and Coldplay’s intricate « Princess of China » number gets lost in the shuffle, but it speaks to her charm as it’s the band’s first album (2011’s Mylo Xyloto) to feature another artist.
- She is also a businesswoman who owns multiple ventures, including the popular cosmetics line Fenty Beauty and the lingerie brand Savage X Fenty.
- Around this time, Rihanna began listening to reggae artists such as Sizzla and Damien Marley, as well as R&B musicians like Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey.
- The $10 million partnership produced a wide range of beauty products, with the first collection released on September 8, 2017, in stores and online across more than 150 countries.
After exploring pop-leaning sonics she first found with Red, Swift worked with Martin and Shellback again on most of 1989. 1989 was lauded by critics for its infectious synth-pop that was reminiscent of the 1980s, yet still had a contemporary sound. She plays with time — speeding it up in « Starlight, » dabbling in the past in « All Too Well, » and reframing it in « State of Grace » — to better understand her experiences. In her liner notes, she references Pablo Neruda’s poem « Tonight I Can Write, » stating that « Love is so short, forgetting is so long » is the overarching theme for the album. From addressing the aforementioned VMA incident in the forgiving « Innocent » to a toxic relationship in « Dear John, » Speak Now also hinted that her rose-colored glasses were cracked, but Swift (and her songwriting) was only becoming stronger because of it.
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Seven years into an already extraordinary career, 2012’s Unapologetic became Rihanna’s first album to debut at No. 1 on the all-genre Billboard 200 chart. With this feat, she became the youngest artist to attain the most chart-toppers in a five-year span. That same carefree spirit can be heard in the feminist track « Raining Men, » which features Nicki Minaj — their first of two collabs, as they joined forces again for « Fly, » the final single off the rapper’s iconic Pink Friday album. While « What’s My Name? » may not outshine Rih and Drizzy’s other collabs — including 2011’s « Take Care » or 2016’s « Work » — the second she sings, « Hey, boy, I really wanna see if you can go downtown with a girl like me, » it’s impossible not to whine your waist to the riddim. Through lead single « Russian Roulette » and bitingly catchy anthems « Stupid in Love, » « Fire Bomb, » « Photographs, » « Cold Case Love, » and « The Last Song, » Rihanna explored her angst and confusion. Rihanna was a familiar face by 2007, but with the arrival of her third studio album, Good Girl Gone Bad, she graduated from cookie-cutter pop star to bonafide icon.
Taylor Swift Is Self-Assured & In Love On ‘The Life Of A Showgirl’: 5 Takeaways From The New Album
Only eight months later, in August 2005, she released her first single, “Pon de Replay,” a reggae-influenced club track that reached No. 2 on the Billboard singles chart and announced Rihanna as the next up-and-coming pop star. Rihanna soon followed with the album A Girl Like Me (2006), featuring the up-tempo club-oriented “S.O.S.” The song, which was built around a sample of Soft Cell’s 1981 new-wave hit “Tainted Love,” became Rihanna’s first to top the Billboard singles chart. Rihanna has fourteen number-one singles on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, placing her third for the most chart-topping songs in its history. The songs « Man Down », « California King Bed », and « Cheers (Drink to That) » were released as singles from Loud in 2011. The project yielded a string of successful songs, including the US number-one singles « Umbrella », « Take a Bow », and « Disturbia ».
The record also featured the popular power ballad “Unfaithful,” as well as singles “We Ride” and “Break It Off.” The album debuted at No. 5 on the Billboard 200 chart and earned her first No. 1 hit with the catchy pop single “SOS,” which spent three weeks atop Billboard’s Hot 100. In 2008, Rihanna topped the chart three times, twice with her own songs “Disturbia” and “Take a Bow,” plus a feature on T.I.’s “Live Your Life.” She has also earned nine number-one songs on the UK Singles Chart and ranks second to the Beatles for the most million-selling singles in the country. This made her the artist with the most digital single awards and the first performer to exceed RIAA’s 100 million cumulative singles certification threshold. With estimated worldwide sales exceeding 250 million records as of 2023, Rihanna is one of the best-selling music artists of all time.
Following the success with folklore and evermore, Swift’s intrigue was at a then-all-time high upon the release of Midnights. Although the album is a departure from the two pandemic sister albums, the overall creation process didn’t differ too much. On Midnights, Swift leaves behind indie folk sounds and returns to the pop production of 1989 and Lover. After coming out of the folklorian woods following folklore and evermore, fans and critics alike were intrigued to see what direction Swift would take on her next studio album. Even so, its poetic lyricism and mystical storytelling cleverly foreshadowed what was to come with subsequent albums, particularly The Tortured Poets Department.
The line debuted in a Paris pop-up on May 22 before a worldwide online release seven days later, featuring clothing, accessories, and footwear. It included an array of products including foundations, highlighters, bronzers, blush compacts, lip glosses, and blotting sheets, and was praised for offering shades that catered to all skin tones. The $10 million partnership produced a wide range of beauty products, with the first collection released on September 8, 2017, in stores and online across more than 150 countries. Over the next two years, she released a variety of footwear in different styles and colourways, all receiving positive responses from critics and consumers alike. Rihanna went on to collaborate with numerous fashion houses, including Dior, Stance, and Manolo Blahnik. She also established a photography agency, A Dog Ate My Homework, representing photographers Erik Asla and Deborah Anderson.
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 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.
Everything that happened after the success of Fearless pushed Swift from country music’s best-kept secret to a mainstream star. It might not be the romantic tale Swift dreamed of growing up, but her sophomore album signalled that bigger things were to come. It won Swift’s first Album Of The Year GRAMMY in 2010, at the time making her the youngest person to win the accolade at age 20.
Swift still remained in the pop lane with reputation, largely leaning on Antonoff and the Martin/Shellback team. She stayed away from public appearances, didn’t do any press, and missed the album schedule fans became accustomed to. For years, Swift was on a strict two-year cycle — she’d release an album one year, tour the next, and then release a new album the following year. In turn, Billie Eilish, Dua Lipa and more pop stars have refused to conform or stick to what they’ve done prior.
The Rihanna Essentials: 15 Singles To Know
Its second single, « If It’s Lovin’ That You Want », peaked at number 36 in the US. After Rihanna signed with Def Jam, Jay-Z and his team spent three months completing her debut studio album. She waited in Jay-Z’s office while lawyers finalized a six-album contract with Def Jam. In early 2005, she performed in New York City for Jay-Z and music executive Antonio « L.A. » Reid, singing Whitney Houston’s « For the Love of You » along with demo tracks « Pon de Replay » and « The Last Time ».
While the world is still anticipating her ninth studio album, Rihanna — now a mom of two boys — continues to betista casino make her own rules and move at her own pace. With the glorious « Lift Me Up, » she found herself in the top 10 for the first time since 2017’s « Wild Thoughts. » Ever since ANTI, Rihanna’s devoted fanbase has been begging for a new album, with Rih playfully trolling them with responses like « I lost it » and Instagram captions that read, « Me listening to R9 by myself and refusing to release it. » Accolades aside, ANTI is proof that magic happens when an artist of Rihanna’s caliber follows their own instincts in pursuit of creating a body of work — one that can outlast them and continue to inspire generations to come. For instance, « Sex with Me » is featured on the deluxe edition as a bonus track, but managed to crack the Hot 100 at No. 83 and reach No. 8 on the R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart. Elsewhere on ANTI, Rihanna drunk dials an ex (« Higher »), compares smoking weed to her lover (« James Joint »), and chastises a guy for getting emotionally attached after their fling (« Needed Me »).
Fenty
In 2015, Rihanna became the first artist in history to have 100 million singles digitally downloaded and streamed. Interestingly, Unapologetic was the first Rihanna album to hit No. 1 on the pop charts. “Umbrella” topped the Billboard singles chart and earned Rihanna her first Grammy Award for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration. In 2007, Rihanna effected a transformation from teen pop princess to superstar and sex symbol with her third album, Good Girl Gone Bad, fueled by its smash hit lead single “Umbrella,” featuring Jay-Z. In early 2011 the album’s sexually provocative single “S&M” became her 10th number one Billboard hit—which made her, at age 23, the youngest artist ever to reach that milestone.
The singer/songwriter also picked up a Best Traditional Pop GRAMMY in 2024 for her second LP, an immaculate collection of jazz, pop and classical that bridged the gap between Gen-Z and the Great American Songbook. Still, as a love song dedicated to wife Amanda Shires — and the quiet acceptance that the Grim Reaper will inevitably end their story — it’s certainly no less emotional. Just four years after picking up five GRAMMY nominations for their transatlantic chart-topper « Love the Way You Lie, » unlikely dream team Eminem and Rihanna once again joined forces for another hip-pop masterclass. Traditional Appalachian folk song « O Death » had previously been recorded by the likes of gospel vocalist Bessie Jones, folklorist Mike Seeger and Californian rockers Camper Van Beethoven, just to name a few. The King of Pop picked up a whopping 11 nominations for his first blockbuster album, Thriller, and then converted seven of them into wins, including Album Of The Year. Considering how perfectly Mike Oldfield’s prog-rock epic Tubular Bells complements all-time classic horror flick The Exorcist, it’s remarkable to think that it was recorded before director William Friedkin came calling.
She also won her first GRAMMY in 2008 (Best Rap/Sung Collaboration for « Umbrella ») and scored four other nominations, including Record Of The Year. Good Girl Gone Bad remains Rihanna’s best-selling album and marks her greatest reinvention as she adopted a more rebellious sound. The melancholy « Rehab » is a clever metaphor for lost love, co-written by Timbaland and Justin Timberlake. Produced by Tricky Stewart, the LP’s juggernaut lead single « Umbrella » featuring Jay-Z skyrocketed to No. 1 in 17 countries. Her official introduction to the world also hit No. 1 on the Billboard Dance Club Songs chart; she boasts 33 on the tally, second behind only the Queen of Pop herself, Madonna.
Swift opted to lean more into radio-friendly hits, which resulted in songs like « Style, » « Wildest Dreams, » « Blank Space, » and « Shake It Off, » all of which became singles. Often mentioned as a record that inspired a generation of artists from Troye Sivan to Conan Gray, Swift’s confessional, soul-bearing authenticity set a new standard for straightforward pop music. Much like her previous two albums, Swift included songs that were both inspired by her own life and being a fly on the wall. During her NYU commencement speech in 2022, she reflected on this era of her life as one of intense fear that she could make a mistake and face lasting consequences, so the songs were masked in metaphors rather than directly addressing adult themes in her music. Serving as a snapshot of Swift’s life and teenhood, she avoided songwriting stereotypes typically found in country music.
« SOS » became her first song to reach number one on the Billboard Hot 100, while « Unfaithful » was a top-ten single worldwide. The song was released on May 25, 2005, and became a commercial success, reaching number two on both the US Billboard Hot 100 and the UK Singles Chart. Departing from Def Jam in favour of Jay-Z’s label, Roc Nation, she released the eclectic Anti (2016)—her second number-one album.