Taylor Swift Biography

Name: Taylor Swift, singer

Birthdate: December 13, 1989

Birthplace: Wyomissing, PA

Sign: Sagittarius

Singer Taylor Swift burst onto the country music scene in 2006 as a 16-year-old and became almost an instant sensation. With her head full of long curly blonde hair and songs she wrote herself, Swift easily proved there was room for a teenage star among the country music set.

Her first self-titled album featured five singles released that became hits including "Tim McGraw," "Teardrops on My Guitar," "Our Song," "Picture to Burn" and "Should've Said No." Her second album "Fearless," was released November 11 and its lead-off single "Love Story" has become her highest Hot 100 hit.

In two short years Swift has also managed to decorate her shelves with the awards she has won, including the 2008 Top New Female Vocalist from the Academy of Country Music, Female Video of the Year and Video of the Year from the CMT Music Awards for "Our Song," Favorite Female Country Artist from the American Music Awards and Breakout Artist from the Teen Choice Awards. She has also received plenty of nominations including Best New Artist at the 2008 Grammy Awards.

Swift was born in Wyomissing, Pennsylvania on December 13, 1989, to Scott and Andrea. She has a brother named Austin. Music was ever-present in her home while growing up and Swift said she was inspired by her maternal grandmother, a professional opera singer. Swift took up singing early in life and at the age of 10 she began performing around town at karaoke contests, festivals and county fairs, and even recording rough demos at a studio.

When she was 11, Swift performed the national anthem at a Philadelphia 76ers NBA game in front of thousands of fans. But it wasn't until she picked up a guitar at 12 and learned to write her own songs that Swift discovered how readily she could channel the turbulent emotions of growing up into her music. That year, she wrote "The Outside," a heartbreaking lament about loneliness. Before long, she was spending every available moment playing and writing. "I was playing four hours a day until my fingers were bleeding and my mom called me to dinner," she has said.

No strangers to the music business, Swift's family recognized both her talent and determination. They began taking regular trips to Nashville to shop her music around, and she began writing with local songwriters. After a few years, her family made the decision to move to nearby Hendersonville, Tennessee. Then, a showcase at the Bluebird Cafe caught the attention of music-industry veteran Scott Borchetta, who was planning to launch a new label. After meeting with Swift, he knew she was one of the first artists he wanted to sign.

Now 18, Swift has appeared on the covers of magazines, appeared on talk shows and performed on a variety of music award shows. While she writes about her personal life in all of her songs, she also talked about her relationship with Joe Jonas, from the Jonas Brothers, on talk shows. The song "Forever & Always," which appears in her new album "Fearless" is about Joe, who supposedly broke up with Swift over the phone in a record 27 seconds. The song just made it onto her new album as the thirteenth song, and Swift's lucky number is 13.