Time Magazine revealed singer Taylor Swift was “Person of the Year” for 2023.
Sam Jacobs, the magazine’s editor-in-chief, highlighted Swift’s ability to “transcend borders and be a source of light.”
Swift earning the title from the magazine comes as she is currently in the middle of her Eras Tour, has released re-recorded albums, released her concert film “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour” and has several universities offering Taylor Swift-themed classes.
“Each year contains light and dark; 2023 was a year with significant shares of darkness,” Jacobs wrote in Time’s profile on Swift. “In a divided world, where too many institutions are failing, Taylor Swift found a way to transcend borders and be a source of light. No one else on the planet today can move so many people so well. Achieving this feat is something we often chalk up to the alignments of planets and fates, but giving too much credit to the stars ignores her skill and her power.”
While speaking with the magazine, Swift described where she currently is as being a “breakthrough moment” in her career after having experienced so many ups and downs in her life.
“I’ve been raised up and down the flagpole of public opinion so many times in the last 20 years,” Swift said. “I’ve been given a tiara, then had it taken away. It feels like the breakthrough moment of my career, happening at 33. And for the first time in my life, I was mentally tough enough to take what comes with that.”
Swift revealed that ahead of her Eras Tour, she started “training six months ahead of the first show.”
“Every day I would run on the treadmill, singing the entire set list out loud,” Swift explained. “Fast for fast songs, and a jog or a fast walk for slow songs. Then I had three months of dance training, because I wanted to get it in my bones. I wanted to be so over-rehearsed that I could be silly with the fans, and not lose my train of thought.”
Top contenders for the “Person of the Year” nomination from Time were Chinese President Xi Jinping, Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, the prosecutors of former President Donald Trump, the Barbie film, and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Each year, the magazine picks a group, person, thing, or concept, that has influenced the world over the course of the year, whether good or bad.
In 2020, President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris were chosen as the magazine’s Person of the Year. Elon Musk earned the title of Person of the Year in 2021, and in 2022, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky earned the title.