Taylor Swift Turns 25! Take a Walk Down Memory Lane with Snakkle

Taylor Swift, Age 2

Taylor Swift was still in diapers when she started singing her own tunes in the bathtub and then everywhere else, as the precocious cutie kept it lively in her family’s home in Pennsylvania. Home videos of Taylor easily prove that her parents couldn’t stop their little blond pixie from belting out her favorite songs when the music hit her.

Taylor Swift, Age 11

Swift played her first guitar chords at age 10 and not long after went to Nashville for the first time, hoping to score a record contract. She didn’t get a deal, but she was invited to sing the national anthem at the U.S. Open tennis tournament, where she knocked the socks off the attendees with her assured vocals.

Taylor Swift, Freshman Year, Hendersonville High School, Hendersonville, TN

Seth Poppel/Yearbook Library

Taylor Swift, Freshman Year, Hendersonville High School, Hendersonville, Tennessee

In 2005, Taylor was a freshman at Hendersonville High School in Hendersonville, Tennessee. The Swift family relocated to be closer to the industry so Taylor could pursue her music dreams.

Taylor Swift, Sophomore Year, Hendersonville High School, Hendersonville, TN (2006)

Seth Poppel/Yearbook Library

Taylor Swift, Sophomore Year, Hendersonville High School (2006)

Swift started writing her own songs when she was 10 and became obsessed with jotting down her thoughts onto paper, whether it was for song lyrics or for an unpublished novel she completed when she was 12.

Seth Poppel/Yearbook Library

Taylor Swift, Sophomore Year, Hendersonville High School (2006)

Life wasn’t a fairy tale for Taylor in Tennessee, as she admits to being bullied and scorned by her fellow students. Eventually her parents took her out of Hendersonville High and allowed their daughter to finish her last two years of high school as a homeschooled student.
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Taylor Swift (2006)

While Swift was finishing up high school, she was also pushing hard to get a recording contract, which she finally landed at Big Machine Records. In 2006 she released her self-titled album, which topped the Billboard Top Country Albums chart.

Taylor Swift in “Tim McGraw” (2006)

Taylor’s first single from the album was “Tim McGraw,” for which she shot her first music video. Swift says the song was written during her freshman year of high school for her older boyfriend, who was going away to college. That should clear up any confusion about it being an ode to the country singer, in case you were wondering.

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Taylor Swift (2007)

The success of her first album immediately propelled Swift into the spotlight. The video for “Tim McGraw” earned her the Breakthrough Video of the Year award at the 2007 CMT Music Awards.

Taylor Swift on Rolling Stone (2009)

In 2008 Taylor Swift was nominated for her first Grammy as Best New Artist, but she lost to Amy Winehouse. That didn’t slow Swift down a bit, as she finished recording her second studio album, Fearless, which hit shelves and the top of the Billboard Hot 100 in late 2008. Three months later, Swift was the February 2009 cover girl for Rolling Stone magazine.

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Taylor Swift (2009)

Eleven of the songs on Fearless made it to the Billboard charts. At only 19, Swift was the youngest artist to be nominated for the prestigious Country Music Association Awards Entertainer of the Year award, which she also won.

Taylor Swift and Kanye West (2009)

Swift became a fixture at a variety of industry awards shows, performing and also presenting and, more often than not, winning awards. One of her most memorable moments came at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, with rapper Kanye West. After Swift was announced as the winner of Best Female Video, West interrupted her to complain publicly that Beyonce had not received the award. Sure, it was a little bit embarrassing, but Swift’s poise throughout made her an even bigger media darling.
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Taylor Swift in Valentine’s Day (2010)

After taming the pop and country charts, Swift started to dip her toe into the acting world, taking small roles in Hannah Montana: The Movie and CSI and then hosting Saturday Night Live in 2008. In 2010 Swift took a role in Garry Marshall’s rom-com Valentine’s Day. She basically spazzes out for a video crew and makes out with Taylor Lautner for a few minutes, a job many of her peers envied.

Larry Busacca/Getty Images

Taylor Swift on Tour (2011)

In 2010 Swift also released her third studio album, Speak Now, which again dominated the charts and spawned a global world tour.

Rick Diamond/Getty Images for CMT

Taylor Swift (2011)

2011 was another big year for Swift: Shs won Entertainer of the Year at the Academy of Country Music Awards and Artist of the Year at the American Music Awards. Plus, plus she was nominated for three 2012 Grammys, of which she won two, and she performed live at the awards event. This year her new album Red looks to be her most adult yet. If 22 was this good, we’re almost scared to see what 23 has in store for her!

Red (2012)

Taylor Swift's fourth studio album Red was released in October 2012. The album was critically and commercially successful--as of May 2013 it had sold over 6 million copies.

1989 (2014)

Swift just dropped her latest album 1989 which cements her official move into pop music. The album has been hugely popular. Swift has held the Billboard #1 spot for the past 29 weeks.