D.O.B: 13th December, 1989
Home town: Pennsylvania, USA.
Star sign: Saggitarius
Meet Taylor Swift; the coolest thing to happen to country music for a long time. Before you turn your nose up and say "Oh, but I don't like country music", we have to say that Taylor is no twanging country bumpkin, y'all.
If you like girls who play guitar and sing about love, then you'll probably like Taylor. And even if you don't dig her music, there's another reason you might be interested: she's the girl Joe Jonas dumped over the phone in 27 seconds! Read on for the juice ...
See the Taylor Swift gallery
At only 10 years of age, Taylor was performing on stage at every event she could enter, from karaoke contests and festivals to country fairs and singing to hundreds of spectators in an effort to get her music out there. This was certainly one determined little lady!
While the rest of us were colouring in pictures in primary school and playing with our Tamagotchis, Taylor was delivering home-made demo tapes to all the top music labels, hoping for that big break. She was only 11. No wonder her latest album is titled Fearless.
At 14, Taylor and her family moved to Nashville Tennessee, the country music capital of the world, where signed her first record deal before she could even get her learner's licence!
Now she's huge in the US, so much so that despite country music suffering a major decline in CD sales, more than four million copies of Fearless were sold in 2008!
People are just going crazy for Taylor — her single 'White Horse' was her sixth top 20 debut in the American charts in one year, which is a record in the chart's 50-year history. And guess who she stole that record from? None other than The Jonas Brothers, her ex-boyfriend Joe's band!
Read the transcript of Taylor's exclusive Live Chat on DOLLY.com.au
Taylor's relationship with Joe helped cast her into the Hollywood spotlight, but it wasn't until they broke up that things got really interesting. Taylor told American talk show host Ellen DeGeneres that Joe broke up with her over the phone, in just 27 seconds.
"I looked at the call log; it was like 27 seconds. That's got to be a record," Taylor said.
Taylor continued to wear her heart on her sleeve. Obviously upset that Joe had started dating Camille Belle not long after their split, Taylor told US OK! Magazine: "They've been together since we broke up. That's why we broke up — because he met her."
It was this comment that forced Joe to issue a public statement.
"I never cheated on a girlfriend. It might make someone feel better to assume or imply I have been unfaithful but it is simply not true," Joe posted on The Jonas Brothers' blog in response to the cheating accusation.
And as for the 27-second phone call biz?
"I called to discuss feelings with the other person. Those feelings were obviously not well received. I did not end the conversation. Someone else did," Joe shot back. "Phone calls can only last as long as the person on the other end of the line is willing to talk.
"A phone call can be pretty short when someone else ends the call. The only difference in this conversation was that I shared something the other person did not want to hear.
A song on Fearless, 'Forever and Always', is reportedly about Joe.
"It's a song about watching somebody completely fade away in a relationship and wondering what you did wrong," Taylor told People magazine.
We're loving the tune and the fact it's about a Jonas Brother makes it's an instant hit!
Another thing we love about Taylor (since we're on the soapbox, we might as well stay up here!) is how open she is with her fans, and not just about all this break-up stuff.
Watch Taylor's video blog from her recent trip to Australia:
Those stars burn like diamonds.
Check out Taylor's MySpace page, where she gives a lot more away about herself than other celebs. An example of her down to earth nature:
"I just got back from a [five]-show run on the road. Now I'm sitting in my kitchen … on the counter. Eating cool whip. And trying to think of things to do with my free time. Other than talking to my cat and making playlists of sad songs. Sad songs are awesome, by the way."
Watch this space!
Random facts about Taylor
