November 14, 2017
Teardrops On My Guitar
One could say that she is the most successful female recording artist of all times. As such, it was on November 14, 2009 when six songs from her album, Fearless, were all in the Billboard Hot 100’s Top 40.
That artist: Taylor Swift.
She has inspired a generation of young women, capturing the angst and emotion of the teenage years through her catchy country tunes, and has since grown up to become a bona-fide pop diva.
Amazing to think, that at the ripe old age of 20, the Fearless album spawned 12 songs which reached the top 40, the most ever for any album.
During her career, she has (thus far) had 52 singles chart on the Billboard Hot 100, the most of any female performer ever. According to the infallible Wikipedia, she comes in fifth place as follows:
Most top 40 singles
- 114 – Elvis Presley(Pre–Hot 100 charts included)
- 69 – Lil Wayne
- 57 – Elton John
- 56 – Drake
- 52 – Taylor Swift
- 51 – GleeCast
- 50 – The Beatles
- 49 – Madonna
- 47 – Rihanna
- 46 – Stevie Wonder
- 45 – Jay Z
No doubt that number will increase this week as her latest album, Reputation, was released on November 10th and sold over 717,000 copies on the first day alone. It is expected that by the end of the first week it will have been purchased over one million times.
A search through the first linked Infallible Wikipedia article shows an impressive career. By holding down the CTRL plus “F” key (to do a search) and then typing in Taylor Swift produces 22 references to her accomplishments. One other notable ‘first’ in the article is that she possesses the all-time record for most top ten debuts on the Hot 100, with 14.
My daughter has been a huge fan of the artist since about age 12 and, as an advisor for the Rainbow Girls during those years, my car was often filled with Taylor Swift’s music with the girls – and their chaperone – singing along.
Taylor Swift mania reached its peak in our household, though, in 2013 when it was announced the artist would be coming to the Tacoma Dome at the end of August. My daughter sprang into action and put out the all points bulletin to her network of friends and found others who wanted to attend the concert with her. I bought the 6 tickets (all that were allowed any one purchaser) and then Michelle collected the funds from her friends. At some point prior to the concert, Michelle was entered into a ‘drawing’ for the opportunity to purchase two additional tickets. But these were not just ANY tickets. These were tickets to the Pit, that coveted area just in front of the stage. And she was chosen so now two additional lucky girls were added to the mix.
The day of the concert, we held a going away party for Michelle, as she was literally leaving to move to Nashville the next day. I drove some of the girls to the Tacoma Dome and the rest rode with her. No doubt that concert was a highlight for all of them.
These two photos of Taylor were snapped by Michelle with her phone from the “pit.”
Then, on September 1 as we made our way east on Interstate 90 the most amazing thing occurred. We came up behind and subsequently passed truck after truck which all bore huge photos of Taylor Swift and were carrying the staging, lights, sound, and other equipment. It became a game of sorts, to see how many Taylor Swift trucks were on the road. We saw the biggest number in Post Falls, Idaho, late in the afternoon as a six pack of them were parked in a trucker’s parking lot just to the north of the freeway.
We spent the night near Coeur d’Alene and the next day stopped at a rest area just east of the Continental Divide on I-90. There in the parking lot was an unmarked tour bus, its darkened windows a detriment to prying eyes. Was Taylor Swift on that bus? I like to think so. It is highly possible as the next stop on her tour was just five days away, September 6th, in Fargo, ND.
The tour bus was the last thing we saw that might possibly be related to Taylor Swift before we dropped south to go to Lewis and Clark caverns and Yellowstone National Park. From there Michelle and I traveled on through Wyoming, Nebraska, Missouri, Kentucky and, finally, Tennessee.
It was a magical week and a memory worth keeping. And in the two years Michelle was in Nashville not once did she ever see Taylor Swift.
And my favorite Taylor Swift song… has to be Teardrops on My Guitar.
As always, a couple links for your further education:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Billboard_Hot_100_chart_achievements_and_milestones
Barbara DeVore 