Taylor Swift is the 2023 Times Person of the Year, following her iconic Eras tour which is currently on track to be the first ever to gross over one billion dollars. Times discussed this:
Her epic career-retrospective tour recounting her artistic “eras,” which played 66 dates across the Americas this year, is projected to become the biggest of all time and the first to gross over a billion dollars; analysts talked about the “Taylor effect,” as politicians from Thailand, Hungary, and Chile implored her to play their countries. Cities, stadiums, and streets were renamed for her. Every time she came to a new place, a mini economic boom took place as hotels and restaurants saw a surge of visitors.
I've seen a lot of people questioning this decision, but as soon as I saw the shortlist of people (see below), I was sure that Swift was going to win. Even as someone who is not her biggest fan (I appreciate her music, I just don't go out of my way to listen to it), it is absolutely impossible to deny her cultural impact. I'm curious on NSG's opinion, but I believe the following quote from the article adequately sums up the decision to choose her:
Swift’s accomplishments as an artist—culturally, critically, and commercially—are so legion that to recount them seems almost beside the point. As a pop star, she sits in rarefied company, alongside Elvis Presley, Michael Jackson, and Madonna; as a songwriter, she has been compared to Bob Dylan, Paul McCartney, and Joni Mitchell. As a businesswoman, she has built an empire worth, by some estimates, over $1 billion. And as a celebrity—who by dint of being a woman is scrutinized for everything from whom she dates to what she wears—she has long commanded constant attention and knows how to use it. (“I don’t give Taylor advice about being famous,” Stevie Nicks tells me. “She doesn’t need it.”) But this year, something shifted. To discuss her movements felt like discussing politics or the weather—a language spoken so widely it needed no context. She became the main character of the world.
