It’s official: Taylor Swift is in Australia for The Eras Tour. She’s just performed her Melbourne leg and is kicking off her Sydney shows on Friday, 23 February.
With seven tour dates in total in Australia, The Eras Tour has amassed an impressive $129 million in total sales. It’s believed that Swifties will inject approximately $220 million into the local economy.
As Sydney concert-goers are on the countdown to finesse their Taylor Swift concert outfits, if you missed out on tickets, don’t fret, as you’ll soon be able to watch The Eras Tour movie at home on TV.
Here’s everything you need to know about Taylor Swift, from her string of ex-lovers to her celebrity feuds.
Where is Taylor Swift’s family from?
Born in 1989, Taylor Swift grew up on a Christmas tree farm in Pennsylvania with her parents Scott and Andrea, plus little brother Austin.
At age 14, everything changed for the singer when her family moved to Nashville so she could pursue her dreams. Not long after, Taylor landed her first record deal, impressing executives with her lyrics, which were stripped straight from her diary.
But her rise to the top didn’t come without its pitfalls. There have been persistent rumours about a rift between her and her actor brother Austin, who reportedly struggles living in his big sister’s shadow, while her mother has had her own battles after being diagnosed with breast cancer in 2015 and then a brain tumour in 2019.
Despite her mother’s illness, Andrea has been an unwavering support for her superstar daughter, now 34, and often travels around the globe with her.
Who has Taylor Swift dated in the past?
Taylor Swift’s love life has inspired many of her songs – and it’s certainly been a roller-coaster ride!
Her first notable public relationship was in 2008, when she dated popstar Joe Jonas.
Following her split from the singer, she had romances with John Mayer, Jake Gyllenhaal and Harry Styles.
In 2015, she began dating Calvin Harris, however, they split the following year and it was very messy, with the DJ slamming Taylor on social media, claiming she was trying to “tear” him down.
Taylor later enjoyed a whirlwind romance with Tom Hiddleston that captured plenty of media attention, before moving on to actor Joe Alwyn, whom she dated for six years. But despite her best attempts to keep their romance out of the public eye, the pair parted ways, with sources explaining they “weren’t the right fit for one another”.
After Joe, she dated The 1975’s Matt Healy, but this romance also buckled under pressure when her fan base, the Swifties, started a petition begging Taylor to break up with him due to his problematic comments in the past.
Is Taylor Swift’s boyfriend Travis Kelce joining her in Australia for The Eras Tour?
With just hours to spare before Taylor Swift touches down in Australia, fans are on the edge of their seats to find out whether her NFL superstar boyfriend Travis Kelce will be joining her!
And while we may have to wait until later this week to find out, sources tell Woman’s Day that whether the 34-year-old athlete makes an appearance or not, Taylor will be looking at snapping up a love nest Down Under!
“Taylor has every intention of scouting out some properties for her and Travis while she’s in Australia,” a source close to the singer spills.
“It’s very much like Ohio [Travis’ home state] in certain areas and he has expressed to her that he loves the idea of buying a ranch in Oz.
“Taylor couldn’t believe how clean the air was and how good the food tasted when she was there in 2018. If they do find the perfect home to buy, they’ll be back as soon as her world tour wraps. She couldn’t think of anything better than recuperating with Travis on their own private estate.”
While admitting that Tay-Tay’s motivation for snatching up property in Australia would be largely so they have an “escape estate”, the distance from all of the unrest in the Northern Hemisphere also makes the move enticing.
“Australia’s supposed to be one of the safest places in the world, and Taylor and Travis are very serious about their future together, so if they end up having kids together, the safety and security of their family is a big priority,” says our insider.
Taylor has long voiced her love for Australia, saying that her Aussie fans have made it one of her favourite places to visit.
“I feel very at ease here and very at home because I feel like they understand what I’m trying to do,” she has declared.
She’s also a big fan of New Zealand, having filmed her Out Of The Woods video in Auckland and Queenstown, before a family road trip throughout the South Island in 2016. Taylor said our scenery was “so surreal, all of us are just freaking out over it”.
Which celebrities has Taylor Swift had feuds with?
Taylor Swift’s celebrity feuds have made almost as many headlines as her music – most notably, her ongoing beef with Kanye West and Kim Kardashian.
They first clashed in 2009, when the controversial rapper crashed her MTV Awards speech to say Beyoncé deserved it.
Kanye later sang that he “made that b*h famous”, referring to Taylor.
When Kim, who was Kanye’s wife at the time, posted a video showing Taylor appearing to agree to Kanye using the controversial song lyric, an intense backlash began, with fans of the Keeping Up With The Kardashians star flooding Taylor’s socials with snakes to symbolise her shady behaviour. Taylor later embraced the snake imagery with her Reputation album.
The singer also infamously had bad blood with singer Katy Perry, who she claims “sabotaged” her arena tour by poaching her back-up dancers. The two women buried the hatchet in 2019, when Katy appeared in Taylor’s You Need To Calm Down music video.
Why did Taylor Swift re-record her albums?
Fans were thrilled to hear that Taylor was rerecording a significant back catalogue of her work. But many have questioned why?
Her reason goes back to her feud with Big Machine Records owner Scooter Braun. The two infamously fell out when Scooter bought her former label and she accused him of “incessant manipulative bullying”.
However, things came to a head when Scooter bought her back catalogue, meaning he would be the sole profiteer of all royalties from her music.
“Scooter has stripped me of my life’s work that I wasn’t given an opportunity to buy,” Taylor wrote in a scathing blog post. “Essentially, my musical legacy is about to lie in the hands of someone who tried to dismantle it.
“This is my worst-case scenario. This is what happens when you sign a deal at 15 to someone for whom the term ‘loyalty’ is clearly just a contractual concept. And when that man says ‘music has value’, he means its value is beholden to men who had no part in creating it. Sad and grossed out.”
In a stroke of genius, however, Taylor then vowed to rerecord and rerelease all of her albums, taking back what was rightfully hers.
Thankfully, Taylor has some of the most dedicated fans in the world and they now largely stream her new recordings, meaning she’s gone on to make millions from the royalties – perhaps even more than those she earned from the original albums.
What a girl boss!
How many awards has Taylor Swift won?
Let’s hope Taylor has a very large display cabinet at home for all her accolades. In her nearly-two-decade career, the songbird has racked up 14 Grammy Awards, 40 American Music Awards and 23 MTV Video Music Awards, just to name a few.
Not to mention she’s also smashed several records in the music industry, including being named the youngest person to ever win Entertainer of the Year at the Country Music Association Awards and recently becoming the first artist ever to win four Grammys for Album of the Year!
Who are Taylor Swift’s famous friends?
When it comes to a “celebrity squad”, look no further than Taylor’s group of famous friends. At every awards ceremony, Taylor is almost always flanked by some of the world’s most glamorous women, such as Gigi Hadid, Cara Delevingne, Selena Gomez, Lena Dunham and Zoë Kravitz!
Most recently, the Shake It Off singer flaunted her squad at a Kansas City Chiefs football match. Cheering on the team alongside Taylor were her long-time bestie Blake Lively and her husband Ryan Reynolds. Also in attendance were Hugh Jackman and Sophie Turner.
Throughout her career, Taylor has also been praised by many famous musicians, including Billy Joel, Dolly Parton and Carole King, but she has recently formed a special friendship with pop royalty, Sir Paul McCartney.
The pair posed together for a joint Rolling Stone cover in 2020 and have remained in touch ever since. In fact, the Beatles star even knew she was releasing her album Evermore before everyone else!
Why are cats often featured in Taylor Swift’s music videos and merchandise?
How many houses does Taylor Swift own?
Not only is Taylor one of the best-selling artists of all time, but she can also add property mogul to her résumé. The Anti-Hero singer is the proud owner of eight homes, with a total value of around $235 million!
In 2009, Taylor made her first home purchase, snapping up a condo in her hometown of Nashville that she still owns today.
Since then, she has amassed a portfolio of properties that includes a penthouse in Manhattan and the famed Samuel Goldwyn Estate in Beverly Hills, which she’s restoring to its former glory.
One of her most recognised properties is her seaside estate in Rhode Island, where she throws her famous Independence Day parties for her A-list friends.
Sitting atop a hill, the mansion features seven bedrooms, eight fireplaces, a glorious pool and stunning water views.
