LABELS AND TEXT PANELS - National Museum of Women in the Arts

AYLOR SWIFT
Taylor Swift was born in December 1989 in Wyomissing, Pennsylvania. When she was only 11 years old,
she went to Nashville to try to get a record deal. She failed, but when she returned home she performed the
national anthem at the U.S. Open tennis tournament. Her performance captured the attention of people in the
music industry. She eventually signed with Big Machine Records and, at age 14, she became the youngest person
ever hired as a staff songwriter at Sony/ATV publishing.
Swift released her first single, “Tim McGraw,” in mid-2006. It reached Number Six on the country chart.
Her debut album, Taylor Swift, also came out in 2006. It spent eight weeks at the top of the country chart, and it
reached Number Five on the pop chart. The album went multi-platinum, and Swift was nominated for a Best New
Artist Grammy. Her second album, Fearless, came out in November 2008. It won four Grammy Awards, including
Album of the Year. Swift’s third album, Speak Now, was released in October 2010. It sold more than a million
copies in its first week.
In January 2010, Nielsen SoundScan listed Swift as the most commercially successful country (or countrypop
crossover) artist in music history, with more than 28 million digital tracks sold. As of December 2010, she had
sold more than 16 million albums worldwide.
“Change”
Written by Taylor Swift
Recorded by Taylor Swift
Released on the album Fearless, 2008
Collection of Taylor Swift
Taylor Swift said she wrote this song “the day after I won the CMA [Country Music Association] Horizon Award. . . .
[It’s] about being on a small record label in this huge music industry.” She also said the song has an “alternative
meaning for competition…. The Olympics is either make it or break it, and this song encompasses that.” The song
was selected as part of a soundtrack supporting the United States team in the 2008 Olympics. Swift performed the
song at the 2010 Academy of Country Music Awards show.
Taylor Swift Dress, 2009
Collection of Taylor Swift
Taylor Swift wore this dress on the CMT network’s Crossroads show, when she appeared with Def Leppard. The
show pairs country artists with musicians from other genres. Def Leppard lead singer Joe Elliott and Swift swapped
vocals on such hit songs as "Photograph," "Hysteria," "Pour Some Sugar on Me," "Picture to Burn" and "Love
Story."
Taylor Swift 12-String Guitar
Ovation 1755 Custom Balladeer, c. 2000
Collection of Taylor Swift
This was Taylor Swift’s first guitar. Her parents purchased it for $350 from a guitar teacher when Swift was 12. She
learned her first chords on this guitar and wrote all of her early songs on it. After a while, however, the teacher
regretted selling the instrument, so her parents sold it back to him and bought Swift another guitar. Then, in 2009,
they bought the guitar back from him and gave it to Taylor as a surprise Christmas present.
ALICIA KEYS
Alicia Keys was born Alicia Augello Cook in 1981. She started playing classical piano at age seven. Her
debut album, Songs in A Minor, was released in 2001. The album sold 12 million copies worldwide and garnered
five Grammys. Her second album, The Diary of Alicia Keys, was released in 2003 and won four Grammys. Her third
album, 2007’s As I Am, earned three Grammys. The Element of Freedom, released in 2009, debuted at Number
Two and earned Keys a Grammy for the single “Superwoman.” Keys collaborated with Jay-Z on the song "Empire
State of Mind" from his 2009 album, The Blueprint 3. The song topped the chart and became her fourth Number
One single. Keys has also appeared in films, including 2007’s Smokin’ Aces and 2008’s The Secret Life of Bees. She
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