It would be difficult to find a celebrity whose personal life has been in the tabloids more than Taylor Swift's. Her smash hit album 1989 cemented her transition from country singer to unstoppable pop goddess, which means everyone's eyes are on the young celeb who's got a talent for dissing ex-boyfriends. We all know about her star-studded romantic past, but these Taylor Swift stories and facts say way more about who Taylor really is. Consider this list your own personal Swift wiki.
She has been involved in too many unforgettable pop culture moments to count ("I'ma let you finish" is burned into all of our brains forever) and her fiery love songs are ammunition against breakups from hell. Still, who is Taylor Swift? These facts about her childhood, personal life, and rise to fame will only make you want to be her best friend even more.
Check out this biography and vote up Taylor Swift facts and trivia that you never knew!
http://www.ranker.com/list/taylor-swift-facts/machk,
A Nightmare Inspired "All You Had to Do Was Stay"
Taylor's songs are known for being extremely personal, but she isn't just inspired by her real life experiences. The song "All You Had to Do Was Stay" on 1989 was inspired by a memorable and melodic nightmare.
Taylor said: "In the dream, my ex had come to the door to beg for me to talk to him or whatever, and I opened up the door and I went to go say, 'Hi,' or 'What are you doing here?' or something—something normal—but all that came out was this high-pitched singing that said, 'Stay!' It was almost operatic. So I wrote this song, and I used that sound in the song...In pop, it’s fun to play around with little weird noises like that."
Source: TIME
Mariska Hargitay and Ina Garten Are Two of Her Biggest Role Models
When it comes to female role models, Taylor looks to other industries for inspiration. Two women that she looks up to are Mariska Hargitay from Law and Order: SVU and Ina Garten, the star of the cooking show Barefoot Contessa.
Of Hargitay, Taylor said, "I think she has a beautiful life, and an incredible career, and I think she’s built that for herself. She’s one of the highest paid actresses—actors in general, women or men—on television, and she’s been playing this very strong female character for, what, 15 years now, something like that." Taylor even named one of her cats after Hargitay's character on Law and Order!
As for the famous chef Ina Garten, Taylor said, "I really love her business, and how she sticks to who she is, and how people relate to it."
Source: TIME
She Expected to Go Into Finance
Taylor was supposed to carry on the family banking tradition, but clearly she took a more surprising route. Taylor said, "My parents were in finance. They thought I was going to be a stockbroker and go to business school and college."
Source: Wall Street Journal
She Was the First SNL Host to Write Her Own Monologue
SNL writers create the monologues for all the hosts, but when it was Taylor's turn to be on the legendary show, she made a mark all her own. She wrote her monologue herself, called “My Monologue Song," and it's filled with references to her public image, from her high-profile breakups to her Kanye fiasco.
Source: Phactual
She Wrote a Novel When She Was 15
While the rest of us were writing Harry Potter fan fiction in junior high, Taylor was writing an actual book. When Taylor was just 14, she wrote a 350-page novel called A Girl Named Girl, about a mother who wants a son but gives birth to a girl. Her parents apparently still have the book, and they can consider this an official plea to release it.
Source: GQ
She Grew Up on a Christmas Tree Farm
Turns out, Taylor's life has always been a fairy tale. She grew up surrounded by Christmas trees. Taylor says that "it was an actual Christmas tree farm. We had, like, 15 acres. It was really fun as a kid. I also spent my summers at the Jersey Shore, on the bay in Stone Harbor. I walked everywhere barefoot. It was just the most amazing, magical way to grow up."
Source: Philly Mag
Faith Hill Inspired Her Move to Nashville
Taylor begged her parents to take her to Nashville to further her career, but she had some inspiration first. A TV special on Faith Hill told the story of the singer's success, which had been made possible by her move to Nashville. So the young Taylor followed suit: "For spring break, we rented a car and drove up and down Music Row, handing my homemade demo CD to the receptionists at all the labels. I'd say, 'Hey, I'm eleven, and I want a record deal. Call me.'"
Source: Teen Vogue
Banking Seriously Runs in Her Family
Taylor's father is a stockbroker for Merrill Lynch, following in the tradition of a long line of money makers. He's a descendant of three generations of bank presidents, so the Swifts have been managing money since the nineteenth century.
Source: Salon
She Started Out in Theater
Taylor Swift always belonged on a stage, but in the beginning, she was performing something totally different. Acting was her early passion, and Taylor said, "I started out with community theater, like local theater. I loved being on stage. I loved telling a story through words and music. I actually ended up going to auditions in New York for Broadway stuff."
She may not have stuck with acting, but her theater roots totally influenced her musical style: "What I ended up coming back to is, I always was just so obsessed with the storytelling in country music."
Source: NPR
She Helped Write Lena Dunham's Future Wedding Song
As a bonus track on 1989, Swift co-wrote a song with Lena Dunham's boyfriend, Jack Antonoff of the band fun. and Bleachers. Lena and Taylor are very close, and Dunham says of her future with Jack: "if we ever do get married, there's no f*cking way Taylor is not playing that song."
Source: Rolling Stone