It has been a massive year for Taylor Swift. She launched three albums to the top of the Billboard charts. Additionally, her Eras Tour is on track to be the highest-grossing global concert tour in history. The Eras Tour concert film also set box office records. Now Swift has gained another major accolade. She is Time magazine’s Person of the Year.
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Receiving the title means a little more for Swift than it would for others. She is the first entertainer to get the honor. She is also the first woman to hold the title twice. Swift shared the honor with other “Silence Breakers” in 2017. That year, Time celebrated celebrities who spoke out against sexual misconduct and discrimination in the entertainment industry. The group included Swift, Ashley Judd, Rose McGowan, Selma Blair, Alyssa Milano, and others who spoke out.
According to Time, the Person of the Year honor goes to “the individual who most shaped the headlines over the previous 12 months, for better or worse.” Fourteen United States presidents, three popes, and five leaders of Russia or the Soviet Union have held the title. The long list includes Franklin D. Roosevelt, Jimmy Carter, Charles Lindbergh, Queen Elizabeth II, Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., Adolf Hitler, Ronald Reagan, and many more.
Time states that the Person of the Year springs from the Great Man Theory of history. This theory states that individuals have the power to shape society. This year, Swift filled that role. “In a divided world, where too many institutions are failing Taylor Swift found a way to transcend borders and be a source of light. No one else on the planet today can move so many people so well,” wrote Time’s Sam Jacobs about selecting the “Anti-Hero” singer for the honor.
Taylor Swift’s Impact
Swift’s impact on the world this year has been monumental. Her tour and the stories she tells with her songs have touched countless people. However, that’s just the beginning. Her tour became a boon to any place it touched down. Cities could count on an economic spike if the Eras Tour stopped there. Additionally, Swift urged her army of loyal fans to make their voices heard and vote. Tens of thousands of Swifties registered to go to the polls.
Even the NFL benefitted from Swift’s presence. After she started showing up to games to cheer on her boyfriend, Travis Kelce, thousands of her fans started watching football, hoping to see her during the broadcast.
The list of ways Swift impacted the world could go on and on. However, Sam Jacobs, author of the Person of the Year feature summed it up perfectly. She earned the title “for building a world of her own that made a place for so many, for spinning her story into a global legend, for bringing joy to a society desperately in need of it.”
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