30 things you didn’t know about Taylor Swift (2024)

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She grew up on a Christmas tree farm-

Born in Reading, Pennsylvania, Swift spent the first 14 years of her life living on a Christmas tree farm with her family. In 2019, she even released a Christmas song called 'Christmas Tree Farm,' and the video featured clips from her childhood.

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Her middle name is Alison-

While she's known as Swifty, T-Swizzle, Tay, and T-Swift, she's officially named Taylor Alison Swift.

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She's named after James Taylor-

Swift's parents are big fans, and so they named her after the musician. She got the chance to perform with him at a benefit in 2011.

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She learned to play guitar on a 12-string-

Despite being told her hands were too small, Swift learned to play a 12-string guitar before picking up a six-string.

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Music runs in her family-

Swift's maternal grandmother, Marjorie Finlay, was an opera singer who even toured around South America and released an album in Mexico. Swift has cited Finlay for inspiring her to pursue a career in music.

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She has a brother named Austin-

Austin Swift is an actor, and he's two years younger than his famous sister.

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She's the youngest person to get a songwriting deal at Nashville's Sony/ATV Music Publishing-

At 14 years old, after turning down a deal with RCA Records because she wouldn't have the opportunity to sing her own music, Swift signed with Sony/ATV Music Publishing in Nashville.

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She framed a photo of the infamous Kanye West VMAs scandal-

Taylor has a framed photo of the infamous moment Kanye West hijacked her acceptance speech during the 2009 VMAs.

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The quickest and longest songs she wrote-

In a 2016 interview for Vogue's '73 Questions,' Swift revealed that 'Blank Space' took the least amount of time to write, but that 'All Too Well' took the longest. "It's a really emotional song, I kept putting it down for months on end," Swift explained.

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She has an impressive real estate portfolio-

According to The Wall Street Journal, Swift's real estate portfolio is made up of eight properties, worth more than US$150 million in total. Her places go coast to coast, with her first one being purchased in 2010.

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Blake Lively's daughter, James, is featured and credited in one of her songs-

Swift featured Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds' oldest daughter saying "gorgeous" for the first line of 'Gorgeous' on her album 'Reputation.' James received her credit in the album's booklet: "Baby intro voice by James Reynolds."

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Some of her lyrics are things she's wanted to text people in real life-

Swift once told Rolling Stone that, "Sometimes the lines in a song are lines you wish you could text-message somebody in real life."

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She has film and television credits on her CV too-

Swift has acted in a few roles, including in films like 'The Giver' (2014) and 'Cats' (2019), and series like 'New Girl' and 'CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.'

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She's the youngest Grammy winner for Album of the Year-

Swift took home a trophy in 2010 for her album 'Fearless.' She was 20 at the time, making her the youngest person to receive the award.

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She wouldn't allow her music to stream on Spotify-

In 2014, Taylor wrote an op-ed for The Wall Street Journal saying, "It's my opinion that music should not be free." However, in 2017, following record-breaking album sales, she finally allowed her music on the platform.

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Swift owns three cats-

Her oldest cats are named Olivia Benson and Meredith Grey. In 2019, Swift adopted a new kitty and named him Benjamin Button.

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She wrote and sang 'Our Song' for her ninth-grade talent show-

A hit single on her debut album, 'Our Song' was originally written for a school performance but ended up getting featured on her debut album, 'Taylor Swift.'

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After her concerts, she sometimes watches 'Friends'-

The singer-songwriter has shared that 'Friends' is her favorite show, and sometimes after performing she likes to go home and have a mini-marathon.

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She's got her go-to drive-thru order down-

When asked by Vogue what she'd order at a drive-thru, Swift answered that she'd order a cheeseburger, fries, and a chocolate shake.

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She's the reason GoFundMe increased its donation limit-

When Swift donated US$50,000 towards a fan's medical bills, the money had to be processed in four installments because of the site's donation cap. After this, they upped the maximum donation limit to $50,000.

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She has a doctorate-

Even though she never received a college diploma, New York University honored her with a doctorate in fine arts in 2022.

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'Reputation' is the first album on which she uses a curse word-

In her song 'I Did Something Bad,' Taylor sings: "If a man talks s***, then I owe him nothing."

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She rode horses as a kid-

Taylor Swift has shared that her mom had aspirations for her to be a horseback rider. She rode competitively until the age of 12.

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She's written a lot of songs for other artists-

Swift has written songs like 'Better Man' for Little Big Town, and the iconic song from the 'Hannah Montana' (2009) movie, 'You'll Always Find Your Way Back Home.'

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She wrote every song on her third album, 'Speak Now'-

In response to critics who doubted she had been writing her own music, Swift wrote her third studio album on her own, with the exception of one song she co-wrote with Martin Johnson.

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13 is her lucky number-

The singer was born on December 13, and has incorporated the number in her music many times.

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She's into American history-

Swift once told Rolling Stone about her interest in reading about the early days of the US, including books about the Founding Fathers and the Kennedy family.

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She wrote a book when she was a teenager-

In a 2015 interview with GQ, Swift said that at 14 she wrote a novel titled 'A Girl Named Girl' and her parents still have a copy of it.

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She was a bridesmaid in her best friend Abigail's wedding-

This is the same Abigail she sings about in her song 'Fifteen.' Swift's BFF got married in 2017.

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'Kiss Me' was the first song she learned to play on guitar-

Swift shared with Vogue that the Sixpence None the Richer hit 'Kiss Me' was the first song she learned on guitar.

Sources: (Vogue) (Rolling Stone) (The Wall Street Journal) (GQ)

See also: Taylor Swift's impressive dating history

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