North by Northwestern

Year in Media 2015

Taylor Swift

by Madison Rossi

Swift also happened to win an Emmy, release three music videos and rule the charts as both a celebrity personality and a musician.

She might be able to make the bad guys good for a weekend, but Taylor Swift proved she could also make the whole world love her in 2015: Thanks to her smash hit album 1989, she won more than 20 different music awards, including seven Grammy nominations.

Swift’s evolution from country to pop music may have began with her 2012 album Red, but it truly took off with 1989’s late 2014 release. Named for its ‘80s pop sound and the year Swift was born, 1989 marked Taylor Swift’s reinvention (not to mention, the meaning of #squadgoals).

The media and public obsesses over everything Taylor Swift, from her cats to who she dates to how often she wears jeans. But 2015 was the year she became even more of a phenomenon. Not only did she ring in the year with a New Year’s Eve performance in Times Square, but she finished it by surpassing 60 million followers on Instagram, making her the most followed person on the platform – even more than social media queen Kim Kardashian West. Swift also happened to win an Emmy, release three music videos and rule the charts as both a celebrity personality and a musician.

Her “Bad Blood” single, featuring Kendrick Lamar – and allegedly about her feud with Katy Perry – was Swift’s fourth Hot 100 No. 1. But that’s not really surprising: What could be better than Kendrick and Taylor in the same song? The song’s legendary music video features tons of members of Swift’s #squad, including Selena Gomez, Jessica Alba and Lena Dunham. The video broke Vevo’s 24-hour worldwide viewing record with 20.1 million views on its first day of release.

To finish off what the “Year of T-Swift,” the singer was named by Forbes magazine as the fourth-highest paid artist of the year with $80 million. Her boyfriend, DJ Calvin Harris, earned $66 million, making them the highest paid celebrity couple. From her country beginning to today’s pop phase, it seems like Swift will never go out of style. We can only guess what surprises she’ll throw us in 2016.

Politics

Syria

Politics

Summer of Trump

Movies

Inside Out