Taylor Swift Fearless, VMA controversy and media backlash

Taylor Swift Fearless, VMA controversy and media backlash 2008–10

Taylor Swift's second studio album, Fearless, was discharged in November 2008. whereas Swift wrote several of the songs traveling, she created a aware effort to not embrace "road songs": "As a 16-year-old lady, I may ne'er relate to those songs concerning enjoying a distinct town nightly. i would like to put in writing concerning feelings and love and also the lack of love". She has aforementioned that the album title "means you’re scared of lots of things, however you jump anyway". Swift wrote seven of the album's songs alone, together with 2 singles, and co-wrote the remaining six with songwriters Liz Rose, John Rich, Colbie Caillat and Hillary Lindsey. She co-produced the album with Nathan Chapman. Musically, it's been aforementioned that the record is characterised by "loud, lean guitars and rousing choruses", with the occasional "bit of fiddle and stringed instrument tucked into the mix". Fearless received usually positive reviews from music critics. The big apple Times delineate Swift as "one of pop's finest songwriters, country’s foremost pragmatist and additional to bear together with her inner life than most adults".

The Village Voice felt she displayed "preternatural knowledge and inclusiveness", "masterfully avoiding the everyday diarist's pitfalls of shopworn bromide and pseudo-profound bullshit". Rolling Stone delineate her as "a songwriting scholarly person with Associate in Nursing intuitive gift for verse-chorus-bridge architecture" whose "squirmingly intimate and true" songs looked as if it would be "literally ripped from a residential area girl's diary". USA these days found it "a pleasure to listen to a talented juvenile United Nations agency seems like a talented juvenile, instead of a mouthpiece for a bunch of older pros' collective notion of adolescent craving." The American delineate it as Associate in Nursing album "without a foul track", adding that "the album’s finest effort, "Fifteen", can feature in yearbook quotes for years". recreation Weekly noted that the album would attractiveness chiefly to young women – "she seems like a true young , not some factory-made vixen-Lolita" – however foretold it'd be "exciting to look at her precocious talent grow". critic parliamentarian Christgau delineate Swift as "an uncommonly-to-impossibly sturdy and talented teenaged girl".
Taylor Swift promoted Fearless heavily upon its unleash. Associate in Nursing episode of The Ellen DeGeneres Show was dedicated to the album launch and Swift appeared on several different chat shows. She communicated with fans victimisation social media platforms like twitter and private video blogs. She launched a l.e.i. sundress vary at Wal-Mart, furthermore as a line of yank Greetings cards and Jakks Pacific dolls. She became a exponent for the Nashville Predators and Sony Cyber-shot digital cameras, and appeared within the Band Hero game. The singer paid tribute to variety of fellow artists in televised performances: she performed a canopy of Alan Jackson's "Drive (For father Gene)" at the CMT Giants: Alan Jackson event, took half in an exceedingly joint, televised concert with band Def Leppard in Nashville. and performed a canopy of martyr Strait's "Run" at a televised ACM event abidance Strait because the creator of the last decade. Swift herb her song "Fifteen" with Miley Cyrus at the 51st Grammy Awards, performed a self-penned rap acting with T-Pain at the CMT Awards and hosted Sabbatum Night Live. The lead single from the album, "Love Story", was discharged in September 2008 and have become the second popular country single of all time, peaking at range four on the signboard Hot a hundred chart.

Four additional singles were discharged throughout 2008 and 2009: "White Horse", "You Belong with Me", "Fifteen" and "Fearless". "You Belong with Me" was the album's highest-charting single, peaking at range 2 on the signboard Hot a hundred. The album debuted at beloved on the signboard two hundred Album Chart with sales of 592,304 and has since oversubscribed over eight.6 million copies worldwide. it absolutely was the top-selling album of 2009 and brought Swift a lot of crossover success.

Taylor Swift distributed her initial headlining tour from Gregorian calendar month 2009 to Gregorian calendar month 2010. As a part of the 105-date Fearless Tour, Swift vie ninety dates in North America, six dates in Europe, eight dates in Australia and one date in Asia. the frilly set enclosed a fairy-tale castle and a highschool stand. She herb a canopy of Justin Timberlake's "What Goes Around... Comes Around" nightly, tangled together with her own "You're Not Sorry". Swift invited John Mayer, religion Hill and Katy Perry to perform happening duets together with her at numerous dates throughout the North yank tour. Justin Bieber, Kelly Pickler and Gloriana were the support acts. The tour was attended by over one.1 million fans and grossed over $63 million. Taylor Swift: Journey to Fearless, a concert film, was ventilated on tv and later discharged on optical disk and Blu-ray. conjointly in 2009, Swift performed as a supporting act for Keith Urban's Escape along World Tour.

In September 2009, Swift became the primary country music creator to win an MTV Video Music Award once "You Belong with Me" was named Best feminine Video. Her acceptance speech was interrupted by rapper Kanye West, United Nations agency had been concerned in an exceedingly range of different award show incidents. West declared Beyoncé's video for "Single women (Put a hoop on It)", nominative within the same class, to be "one of the simplest videos of all time." several audience members booed West, prompting him to flip off the gang. He then bimanual the electro-acoustic transducer back to a dumb Swift. Backstage, Swift was seen "hysterically crying". in step with Rolling Stone, once Swift's mother confronted West, he gave "a half-hearted apology within which he accessorial he still thought Beyoncé's video was superior". West was off from the event. once Beyoncé later won the award for Video of the Year, she invited Swift onstage to end her speech. within the event's press space, Swift, United Nations agency in 2008 had expressed a want to sing a take up a Kanye West rap song, was asked if she had "any onerous feelings" towards West: "I don’t grasp him, and I’ve ne'er met him, so... I don’t wish to start out something as a result of I had an excellent night tonight." The incident received a lot of media attention and impressed several net memes. President Barack Obama, in Associate in Nursing off the record comment, referred to as West a "jackass".

Former America President President aforementioned West's interruption was "completely uncalled for". West's behavior was criticized by celebrities, together with Eminem, Snoop Dogg, girl Gaga and Madonna. West apologized for his verbal outburst in 2 journal entries and through Associate in Nursing look on The Jay Leno Show. He maintained that, whereas Swift was "very talented", "Beyoncé's video was the simplest of this decade!!!! ... I gave my awards to Outkast once they due it over Pine Tree State ... i am not crazy y'all, i am simply real." 2 days once the VMAs, Swift told Associate in Nursing enquirer that West had not spoken to her since the ceremony. West then contacted her to supply a private apology, that Swift accepted: "Kanye did decision Pine Tree State, and he was terribly sincere in his apology." She refused to debate the incident in ulterior interviews thus as to not build a "bigger deal" of it: "It happened on TV, thus everyone saw what happened ... it isn't one thing I want we want to stay talking concerning." it's been aforementioned that the incident and ulterior media attention turned Swift into "a bona-fide thought celebrity".

Taylor Swift discharged a canopy of Tom Petty's "American Girl" through epic in Gregorian calendar month 2009 and continues to create her stage entrance to Petty's recording of the song. She contributed backing vocals to John Mayer's "Half of My Heart", featured on his fourth album, in November 2009. Mayer wrote the song as a tribute to Tom Petty and Fleetwood Mac: "I thought, 'Well, if this can be aiming to be my billet doux to it type of music, who's aiming to be the Stevie Nicks during this equation?' and that i thought, 'This Taylor Swift lady goes to be around for an extended time." Swift and Mayer performed the song live at Madison sq. Garden, big apple in Gregorian calendar month 2009. it absolutely was discharged because the album's third single in Gregorian calendar month 2010 and peaked at range twenty five on the signboard Hot a hundred. Swift collaborated with variety of different artists in 2008 and 2009. She co-wrote and recorded "Best Days of Your Life" with Kelly Pickler. She co-wrote 2 songs for the Hannah Montana: The pic sound recording – "You'll forever notice Your means Back Home" and "Crazier" – with Martin Johnson and parliamentarian Ellis Orrall, severally. Swift conjointly provided vocals for Boys Like Girls's "Two is healthier Than One", written by Martin Johnson. In Jan 2010, Swift contributed 2 songs – together with "Today Was a Fairytale" – to the Saint Valentine's Day sound recording and recorded a canopy of higher Than Ezra's "Breathless" for the Hope for Haiti currently album.

In November 2009, Swift became the youngest ever creator and one in all solely six ladies to be named somebody of the Year by the C and W Association. Fearless conjointly won the Association's Album of the Year award. The album won several different accolades and has become the foremost awarded album in C and W history. Swift was the youngest ever creator to win the Academy of Country Music's Album of the Year honor. The yank Music Awards honored Swift with creator of the Year and Favorite Country Album plaudits. She was awarded the Hal David visible radiation Award by the Songwriters Hall of Fame and was named Songwriter/Artists of the Year by the Nashville Songwriters Association. She won four BMI Awards. signboard named her 2009's creator of the Year. Swift was enclosed in Time's annual list of the a hundred Most potent folks in 2010. In Jan 2010, Swift won four Grammy Awards, from a complete of eight nominations.

Fearless was named Album of the Year and Best Country Album, whereas "White Horse" was named Best Country Song and Best feminine Country Vocal Performance. She was the youngest ever creator to win Album of the Year. throughout the ceremony, Swift herb "Rhiannon" and "You Belong with Me" with Stevie Nicks. Her vocal performance received negative reviews and sparked a widespread media backlash. Her vocals were delineate diversely as "badly off-key", "strikingly bad" and "incredibly wretched". whereas The big apple Times found it "refreshing to examine somebody thus talented build the occasional flub" and delineate Swift as "the most vital new pop star of the past few years", music analyst Bob Lefsetz foretold that her career would finish "overnight" and in public appealed to Swift's father to rent a "crisis subject matter agent" to manage the story. "Taylor’s too young and dumb to know the error she made", Lefsetz accessorial. In Gregorian calendar month 2010, Stevie Nicks, writing in Time, defended the singer: "Taylor rings a bell in my memory of myself in her determination and her childlike nature. It's Associate in Nursing innocence that is thus special and then rare. This lady writes the songs that build the full world sing, like Neil Diamond or Elton John ... the feminine rock-'n'-roll-country-pop composer is back, and her name is Taylor Swift. And it's ladies like her United Nations agency square measure aiming to save the music business."


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