most beautiful female singers/musicians
List activity
1.9K views
• 44 this weekCreate a new list
List your movie, TV & celebrity picks.
102 people
- Actress
- Executive
- Soundtrack
Lalisa Manobal (birth name: Pranpriya Manobal, born March 27, 1997 in Buriram Province, Thailand) better known by her stage name, Lisa, is a Thai rapper, singer and dancer, based in South Korea. She is a member of Blackpink.
Her birth name is Pranpriya Manobal, she later legally changed her first name to Lalisa. Her ethnicity and nationality is Thai. Lisa's biological parents' names have not been released to the public, her stepfather is Marco Bruschweiler, a Swiss renowned chef, active in Thailand.
As a child, Lisa was part of a dance group called We Zaa Cool, that performed shows in her home country before she made a successful audition to the YG Entertainment Competition in 2010 when she was only 13 years old. She ranked first place in the said competition, and was offered by Yang Hyunsuk to become a YG Entertainment trainee, Lisa agreed to the offer. In 2011, she moved to South Korea, to begin her formal training in performing, for her K-pop Idol career, which lasted five years.
In 2016, she took her stage name of Lisa and became the main dancer, lead rapper, a supporting vocalist and the youngest (aka maknae in the k-pop industry) of K-pop girl group, Blackpink, which debuted on August 8, 2016. Lisa is also the first non-Korean YG Entertainment artist.- Actress
- Composer
- Music Department
Dido was born on 25 December 1971 in Kensington, London, England, UK. She is an actress and composer, known for 127 Hours (2010), Crossroads (2002) and Love Actually (2003). She has been married to Rohan Gavin since 2010. They have one child.- Music Artist
- Actress
- Composer
Shania Twain was born as Eilleen Regina Edwards in 1965 in Windsor, Ontario, Canada, one of three daughters of Clarence and Sharon (Morrison) Edwards (sister Jill is two years older and Carrie-Ann three years younger). When she was age six, her mother remarried Jerry Twain, a full-blooded Ojibwa native from Timmins, Ontario, who adopted her as his own. She started out singing in bars as a child after hours, and, at thirteen, appeared on The Tommy Hunter Show (1965). When she was 22, her parents were killed in an accident, and she became the legal guardian of her half-brothers (Mark, then 13, and Darryl, then 14) and sister, putting her musical career on hold to raise her family. In 1991 she changed her name to Shania (meaning "I'm on my way" in Ojibwa, it was the name of a co-worker), and signed a contract with Mercury Nashville that same year. Her first album went by without notice, but her second album (produced with Mutt Lange, who she wed in 1993) broke world records with its sales!- Actress
- Writer
- Producer
Amanda Leigh Moore was born in Nashua, New Hampshire, on April 10, 1984, to Stacy (Friedman), a former news reporter, and Don Moore, an airline pilot. During her childhood, her family moved to Orlando, Florida, where she was raised. She has Russian Jewish (from her maternal grandfather), English, Scottish, and Irish, ancestry.
After seeing the musical "Oklahoma!", she decided that she wanted to pursue a career in singing. As a child, she performed the National Anthem at several athletic events around her hometown of Orlando, Florida, and became known as the "National Anthem girl". At the ripe age of fourteen, while she was recording in a studio in Orlando, a Fed-Ex worker who happened to be passing through heard her and was interested in her talent. He happened to know someone at Sony as well. Moore worked on cutting a demo and shortly thereafter signed a record deal with Sony 550 Music. At 15, her first record "So Real" was released. Her first tour was with the Backstreet Boys.
As her touring and recording schedule demanded more of her time, Moore withdrew from Bishop Moore Catholic High School in Orlando and opted for a tutor/correspondence. She has stated that her education is important to her and says that the fact that she wants to go to college motivates her to continue with her schooling.
Though Moore's record sales were not up in the ranks of Britney Spears or Christina Aguilera, she has proved to be a formidable talent both in singing and in acting, and snagged an MTV Movie Award in June 2002 for her first feature film role in A Walk to Remember (2002). Her biggest dream, though, is to perform on Broadway someday.
Throughout the 2000s, Mandy headlined several films, ranging from the little-seen drama Try Seventeen (2002) to mid-level releases like How to Deal (2003), Chasing Liberty (2004), Racing Stripes (2005), and the more broadly comedic Because I Said So (2007) and License to Wed (2007). She also appeared in the odd-ball sci-fi film Southland Tales (2006), and voiced Rapunzel in the Disney blockbuster CGI animation Tangled (2010).
In the mid 2010s, she re-emerged as a star actress, headlining the show This Is Us (2016) and the hit thriller film 47 Meters Down (2017), with more film roles to come.- Music Artist
- Actress
- Music Department
Norah Jones first emerged on the world stage with the 2002 release of Come Away With Me, her self-described "moody little record" that introduced a singular new voice and grew into a global phenomenon, sweeping the 2003 GRAMMY Awards including Album of the Year, Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best New Artist. Since then, Jones has become a nine-time GRAMMY-winner, sold more than 52 million albums, and her songs have been streamed ten billion times worldwide. She has released a series of critically acclaimed and commercially successful solo albums-Feels Like Home (2004), Not Too Late (2007), The Fall (2009), Little Broken Hearts (2012), Day Breaks (2016), Pick Me Up Off The Floor (2020), the live album 'Til We Meet Again (2021), her holiday album I Dream Of Christmas (2021), and Visions (2024)-as well as albums with her collective bands The Little Willies, El Madmo, and Puss N Boots featuring Sasha Dobson and Catherine Popper. The 2010 compilation ...Featuring Norah Jones showcased her incredible versatility by collecting her collaborations with artists as diverse as Willie Nelson, Foo Fighters, Outkast, and Herbie Hancock. In 2022, Jones launched her podcast Norah Jones Is Playing Along which features candid conversations and impromptu musical collaborations with some of her favorite musicians.- Music Artist
- Actress
- Music Department
Actress and singer Selena Gomez was born on July 22, 1992 in Grand Prairie, Texas. She is the daughter of Mandy Teefey and Ricardo Gomez. Her mother is of part Italian ancestry, and her father is of Mexican descent. She was named after Tejano singer Selena, who died in 1995.
Her first acting role was as "Gianna" in the popular '90s children's television show Barney & Friends (1992), alongside Demi Lovato from 2002-2004. Gomez also had roles in Spy Kids 3: Game Over (2003), Walker, Texas Ranger: Trial by Fire (2005), and House Broken (2006).
Gomez moved to Los Angeles, California when she booked the lead role of "Alex Russo" and rose to fame in the Disney Channel series Wizards of Waverly Place (2007). She then starred in Another Cinderella Story (2008) on ABC Family, had her first voice-role in the animated film Horton Hears a Who! (2008), and co-starred with childhood friend, Demi Lovato, in Princess Protection Program (2009).
In 2009, Gomez released her first album with her band called "Selena Gomez & the Scene," which ranked #9 on the Billboard 200 album charts. Gomez later released two other albums with her band and starred in Monte Carlo (2011), Spring Breakers (2012), and Hotel Transylvania (2012).
In 2013, she released her first solo album "Stars Dance" and the lead single "Come & Get It" from the album, became Gomez's first top ten entry on the Billboard Hot 100 list. She starred in Getaway (2013), Rudderless (2014), and Behaving Badly (2014).
In 2015, she released her second solo album "Revival," which debuted #1 on the Billboard 200 list, and starred in Hotel Transylvania 2 (2015), The Fundamentals of Caring (2016), In Dubious Battle (2016), and Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising (2016). She made her third solo album "Rare" in 2020.- Music Artist
- Actress
- Composer
Helene Fischer was born on 5 August 1984 in Krasnoyarsk, Russian SFSR, USSR [now Russia]. She is a music artist and actress, known for Die Helene Fischer Show (2011), Tatort (1970) and Das Traumschiff (1981).- Actress
- Composer
- Writer
Delta Goodrem is a singer, songwriter, performer, actress, and philanthropist. Born and raised in Sydney, New South Wales, she enrolled in dancing, acting, singing and piano classes at a young age.
At the age of 15, Goodrem signed a record deal with Sony Music Australia. Her first album, Innocent Eyes, was one of the highest-selling debut albums in Australian history. The album spent a record-breaking 29 weeks at #1 in Australia and reached number two on the UK Albums Chart. It topped the Australian Albums Charts and reached 23x platinum in sales. Delta became the first-ever artist to have five #1 singles on the Australian charts from a debut album and was awarded the ARIA Albums Artist of the Decade in 2010 having sold more albums and singles than any other domestic or international artist over the decade. The album won the Highest Selling Album award at the ARIAs two years running, heralded a record seven awards for a female artist in one ARIA year, as well as holding the record for being honored with 16 ARIA #1 Chart Awards.
Since then, Delta has achieved multi-platinum selling status, nine #1 singles, five #1 albums, 17 top 10 hits, 12 ARIA Awards, a Silver Logie Award & three World Music Awards and started her own label imprint with Sony Australia, The House of Oz Records. Her latest album Wings of the Wild debuted at #1 with the platinum hit song "Wings", the singer's 9th #1 single. The album's accompanying sold out arena tour broke records as Delta became the highest-selling female Australian touring artist in 2016. The record setting tour was filmed for a live concert DVD that rocketed to #1 on the ARIA Music DVDs chart.
As an accomplished songwriter, Delta has written and performed songs for Olivia Newton-John, Celine Dion, Tony Bennett, Michael Bolton, LeAnn Rimes and Westlife. Delta also toured with Michael Bolton across the US, joined good friend and renowned maestro tenor Andrea Bocelli on legs of Bocelli's Asian, American and Australian world tours, and toured with Ricky Martin as part of his 2015 Australian tour.
In 2015 & 2016, Goodrem played to critical acclaim in the role of Grizabella in Andrew Lloyd Webber's iconic musical CATS, performing a breathtaking rendition of the powerful ballad "Memory" and bringing legions of her multi-generational fans to experience the joys of musical theatre.
With a television resume that started at the age of seven, appearing in regular prime time shows, Hey Dad..! (1987), A Country Practice (1981) and Police Rescue (1989), at the age of 16, Delta joined the cast of Neighbours (1985) that later earned her a Logie Award for Most Popular New Talent and the lead role in 2005's movie Hating Hating Alison Ashley (2005). In 2005, Delta guest starred on Fox's prime time soap opera North Shore (2004). In 2011, Delta voiced Little Beatrice for the animated film Santa's Apprentice (2010). For 9 years Delta was a Coach on the number one rated, multiple Logie Award winning TV show The Voice (2012) Australia. Goodrem mentored her artists to victory, as the winning coach for the 2016 & 2017 seasons of The Voice (2012). She also won the only edition of The Voice Kids (2014) Australia in 2014. Delta also returned to Australian TV with a special guest role in Nine Network's, House Husbands (2012) and filmed the lead role of her mentor, idol, and good friend, Olivia Newton-John in the superstar's biopic, Olivia Newton-John: Hopelessly Devoted to You (2018) that released in 2018.
In 2017, Goodrem launched her debut fragrance Delta by Delta Goodrem, smashing records as it debuted as the highest selling fragrance in Australian history. In 2018 she released her second fragrance of her collection "Dream" and in November 2019 released her third fragrance "Destiny".
While 2020 saw the world go through unprecedented times, for Delta Goodrem was a year that has saw her release incredibly powerful pieces of music and connect with fans like only she can do.
In January 2020, Delta was inspired to write 'Let It Rain' after seeing the devastation from the bush fires across Australia. She teamed up with Apple Music, Sony Music, and iHeart radio in Australia & the US for the release, with all proceeds going to aid with Red Cross bush fire relief. In February, she took to the stage in front of 70,000 fans at ANZ Stadium as part of the Fire Fight Australia concert which was broadcast nationally. Her incredibly moving performance of 'Let It Rain' was included on the album release of songs from the day, Artists Unite For Fire Fight: Concert For National Bush Fire Relief.
In April 2020, Global Citizen together with Lady Gaga reached out and invited Goodrem to perform as part of the online One World: Together At Home festival in support of the Covid-19 Solidarity Response Fund for the World Health Organization. Delta was the only artist performing in Australia, with the event capturing over 270 million viewers who had tuned in around the world.
Keen to connect with her fans from all over the world, Delta launched The Bunkerdown Sessions via her social media beginning of April 2020. Performing live deep cuts from her extensive catalog, debuting new songs she had recently written, and performing favorite covers, on the seventh week Delta surprised and delighted fans by performing and releasing new music from her upcoming 6th studio album.
Delta launched the Delta Goodrem Foundation in June 2020, which strives to spread kindness, hope and support for those facing illness, hardship and inequality. With a lead collaboration with St Vincent's Hospital in Sydney, to help fund medical research in cellular therapy for blood cancers and auto-immune diseases.
In November Delta released her #1 holiday album Only Santa Knows, which was complimented by the Nine network TV special Christmas with Delta that was produced in conjunction with Delta's production company Atled Productions. Delta performed alongside guests Kylie Minogue, Robbie Williams, Olivia Newton-John, Pentatonix, Morgan Evans, Hugh Sheridan, Sheppard, and Montaigne.
In May 2021, Delta released her 6th studio album, Bridge Over Troubled Dreams and her first book of the same title, published by Simon & Schuster - both her album and book heralded a #1 chart position.
Delta has announced her Bridge Over Troubled Dreams headlining arena tour throughout Australia and New Zealand in September and October 2021. $1+ GST from every ticket purchased for the tour is being donated to the Delta Goodrem Foundation.- Actress
- Composer
- Additional Crew
Victoria Justice is an American actress and singer. She was born on February 19, 1993 in Hollywood, Florida, USA. She is the daughter of Serene Reed and Zack Justice. Her mother has Puerto Rican ancestry, while her father is of English, German, and Irish descent. She has a younger half-sister, Madison Reed.
She rose to fame on Nickelodeon, starring as Lola Martinez in the television series, Zoey 101 (2005), and Tori Vega in the sitcom, Victorious (2010).
She starred in the films, The Boy Who Cried Werewolf (2010), The First Time (2012) and Fun Size (2012).
She released her debut single "Gold" on June 18, 2013.
She starred in the film, Naomi and Ely's No Kiss List (2015) in the MTV television series, Eye Candy (2015).- Music Artist
- Actress
- Composer
Dua Lipa is an English singer, songwriter, and model. Her musical career began at age 14, when she began covering songs by other artists on YouTube. In 2015, she was signed with Warner Music Group and released her first single soon after. In December 2016, a documentary about Lipa was commissioned by The Fader magazine, titled See in Blue. In January 2017, Lipa won the EBBA Public Choice Award. Her self-titled debut studio album was released on 2 June 2017. The album spawned seven singles, including two UK top-10 singles "Be the One" and "Idgaf" and the UK number-one single "New Rules", which also reached number six in the US. In 2018, Lipa won two Brit Awards for British Female Solo Artist and British Breakthrough Act.
Lipa was born in London, to Albanian parents from Kosovo who had left Pristina in the 1990s. She attended Sylvia Young Theatre School, part-time, before moving to Kosovo with her family in 2008. Lipa grew up listening to her father, singer Dukagjin Lipa. Her given name means "love" in Albanian; its atypical nature was cause for distaste in her youth, but she grew to "enjoy" it as it eliminated the need for a stage name. At the age of 14, she began posting covers of her favorite songs by artists such as P!nk and Nelly Furtado on YouTube. At the age of 15, she moved back to London with aspirations of becoming a singer. Shortly after, she began working as a model. In 2013, she starred in a television advertisement for The X Factor.
In 2015, Lipa began working on her debut album for Warner Music Group. In August 2015, she released her first single "New Love", produced by Emile Haynie and Andrew Wyatt. She released her second single "Be the One", in October 2015. "Be the One" achieved success across Europe, reaching number one in Belgium, Poland and Slovakia, as well as charting within the top 10 in over 11 European territories. In Australia and New Zealand, the song became an airplay success, reaching numbers 6 and 20 respectively. Lipa describes her musical style as "dark pop". On 30 November 2015, she was revealed as one of the acts on the BBC Sound of...2016 long list. Her first tour in the UK and Europe began in January 2016. In November 2016, Lipa concluded her tour through Europe.
In January 2018, Lipa received nominations in five categories at the 2018 Brit Awards, more nominations than any other artist that year. She was nominated for British Female Solo Artist, British Breakthrough Act, MasterCard British Album of the Year (Dua Lipa), British Single of The Year ("New Rules") and British Video of The Year ("New Rules"). This was the first time that a female artist had received five nominations.[36] She performed at the awards ceremony held on 21 February at the O2 Arena in London and collected the awards for British Female Solo Artist and British Breakthrough Act.
Lipa announced via social media that she had begun working on new material for her second album. She is working with MNEK, who previously co-wrote her single "Idgaf". The singer also collaborated with electronic music producer Whethan on a song called "High" for the Fifty Shades Freed soundtrack released in February 2018.- Music Artist
- Actress
- Composer
Katie Melua was born on 16 September 1984 in Kutaisi, Georgian SSR, USSR [now Republic of Georgia]. She is a music artist and actress, known for Miss Potter (2006), The Tourist (2010) and Just Like Heaven (2005). She was previously married to James Toseland.- Danielle Marsh was born on 11 April 2005 in Newcastle, Australia. She is an actress, known for NewJeans: Ditto (Side A) (2022), NewJeans: Cool with You (Side A) (2023) and NewJeans: Cool with You (Side B) (2023).
- Music Artist
- Producer
- Actress
Audrey Faith McGraw known professionally as Faith Hill, is an American singer, actress and record producer. She is one of the most successful country music artists of all time, having sold more than 40 million albums worldwide. Hill's first two albums, Take Me as I Am (1993) and It Matters to Me (1995), were major successes and placed a combined three number ones on Billboard's country charts. She then achieved mainstream and crossover success with her next two albums, Faith (1998) and Breathe (1999). Faith spawned her first international success in early 1998, "This Kiss", while Breathe became one of the best-selling country albums of all time, led by the huge crossover success of the songs "Breathe" and "The Way You Love Me". It had massive sales worldwide and earned Hill three Grammy Awards.- Music Artist
- Actress
- Writer
Halsey was born Ashley Nicolette Frangipane on September 29, 1994 in Edison, New Jersey to Nicolette "Nicole" Frangipane (née Jacobs), an emergency medical technician & Christopher Michael "Chris" Frangipane, a car dealer. She is of Italian, Hungarian, and Irish descent on her mother's side and African-American on her father's side. Growing up, Halsey played the violin, viola, and cello until moving onto the acoustic guitar when she was 14. In one of her first interviews, Halsey stated she was diagnosed with bipolar disorder around the age of 16 or 17. When she was 18, Halsey encountered financial trouble and music became a way to pay her rent. She played numerous acoustic shows in different cities under various stage names. She chose "Halsey" as her moniker because it is an anagram of her real name as well as a street in Brooklyn where she spent a lot of time as a teenager. Halsey originally planned on going to college to major in fine arts, but after realizing she could not afford it, she instead enrolled in a community college as a creative writing major.
In an interview, Halsey allegedly used the term "tri-bi" (biracial, bisexual, and bipolar) to identify herself, although she has since distanced herself from it, claiming she was misquoted.- Music Artist
- Actress
- Composer
Freya Ridings was born on 19 April 1994 in Enfield, London, England, UK. She is a music artist and actress, known for After (2019), Ruby Gillman: Teenage Kraken (2023) and Batwoman (2019).- Actress
- Composer
- Music Department
Pop icon Belinda Carlisle experienced full-blown American success twice in the 1980s, first with the all-female rock band The Go-Go's and then, on an international level (which she always wanted), as a solo artist. The Go-Go's first album, 1981's "Beauty and the Beat", spent six weeks at number 1 and they are still the only all-female band ever to have a number 1 album. (Band meaning where all the members play their own instruments). In 1982, the group released the album "Vacation" and set out on a major sell out tour of the states. The album debuted in the top 10 (one of the first albums to ever do so) peaking at number 8. It would eventually go on to sell over 1 million copies though their record company only had it certified as gold. Problems were rising in the band as tensions grew between member Jane Wiedlin and Belinda as Jane felt too much focus was placed on Belinda as the star. Members Gina Schock and Charlotte Caffey both experienced health problems and all of the members were experiencing drug addiction. The group also consistently had problems with their record label as they were not paid royalties when they should have been. 1984 saw the group releasing "Talk Show" and despite having one of the biggest tours of the summer of 1984, the album was considered a commercial disappointment. The band broke up in spring 1985. 1986 saw Belinda releasing her first solo album called, aptly, "Belinda". Drug free, married, happy, and healthy, she continued to experience major solo success through 1989 with the releases of her albums "Heaven On Earth" (1987) and "Runaway Horses" (1989). With the onslaught of grunge moving in during the early 1990s, Belinda's 1991 effort "Live Your Life Be Free" barely made a dent on the charts and its first single peaked at #83 on the Billboard Hot 100. By 1993, her solo album "Real" also tanked and her American record company MCA Records dropped her a year later. MCA technically should be to blame as they hardly promoted her work and most of it sold on its own. They did the same to Olivia Newton-John some 10 years earlier. But just because a pop star isn't experiencing American success does not mean they are not experiencing it elsewhere. Belinda proves to be a huge commodity in Europe, almost as big as Madonna, and sells out stadiums in the United Kingdom where they truly seem to appreciate her. Today, Belinda only occasionally records both as a solo artist and as a member of The Go-Go's. She considers herself a part-timer in these fields as she prefers her home life as opposed to the nail-biting entertainment industry. She appeared in the 1984 Goldie Hawn vehicle Swing Shift (1984) and, in 2001, she showed that a 43-year-old with no plastic surgery and who isn't a size 0 can still be sexually viable when she posed nude for Playboy.- Actress
- Writer
- Soundtrack
Ilse DeLange was born on 13 May 1977 in Almelo, Overijssel, Netherlands. She is an actress and writer, known for Bride Flight (2008), The Dinner (2013) and Fighting Fish (2004).- Music Artist
- Actress
- Composer
Beatrice Egli was born on 21 June 1988 in Lachen, Switzerland. She is a music artist and actress, known for Beatrice Egli: Fliegen (2016), Beatrice Egli: Terra Australia (2019) and Beatrice Egli: Zuhaus (2019).- Actress
- Writer
- Soundtrack
Patti Page was born Clara Ann Fowler in Oklahoma in 1927. She began her professional singing career at KTUL, a Tulsa radio station. Since the program was sponsored by Page Milk, she adopted the moniker Patti Page, and it stuck. Patti toured the US in the late 1940s with Jimmy Joy, and notably sang with the Benny Goodman band in Chicago. In 1950 she recorded "With My Eyes Wide Open I'm Dreaming", her first platinum-selling record. In 1951 her rendition of "The Tennessee Waltz" became the biggest hit of her career. It was #1 on the Billboard charts and stayed there for 30 weeks; over the years it would sell 10 million copies. Patti was the best-selling female vocalist of the 1950s, and was wildly popular all through the 1960s. She got national exposure on TV shows, appearing on such top-rated television programs as The Dean Martin Show (1965). In 1968 she recorded what some consider her signature song, "Have a Little Faith and Love Will Come to You." Patti continued to thrill fans for decades. In 1999 she received a Grammy for her "Live at Carnegie Hall" album, a compilation from her 50th-anniversary concert. Patti has millions of fans, and we can live by the words of her famous song: "Beyond the clouds the sky is always blue / Have a little faith and love will come to you."- Music Artist
- Actress
- Composer
Taylor Alison Swift is a multi-Grammy award-winning American singer/songwriter who, in 2010 at the age of 20, became the youngest artist in history to win the Grammy Award for Album of the Year. In 2011 Swift was named Billboard's Woman of the Year. She also has been named the American Music Awards Artist of the Year, as well as the Entertainer of the Year for both the Country Music Association and the Academy of Country Music, among many other accolades. As of this writing, she is also the top-selling digital artist in music history.
Taylor Alison Swift was born on December 13, 1989, in Reading, Pennsylvania, to Andrea (Finlay), a one-time marketing executive, and Scott Kingsley Swift, a financial adviser. Her ancestry includes German and English, as well as some Scottish, Irish, Welsh and 1/16th Italian. She was named after James Taylor, and her mother believed that if she had a gender neutral name it would help her forge a business career. Taylor spent most of her childhood on an 11-acre Christmas tree farm in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. When she was nine years old the family moved to Wyomissing, PA, where she attended West Reading Elementary Center and Wyomissing Area Junior/Senior High School. Taylor spent her summers at her parents' vacation home at the Jersey shore. Her first hobby was English horse riding. Her mother put her in a saddle when she was nine months old and Swift later competed in horse shows. At the age of nine she turned her attention to musical theatre and performed in Berks Youth Theatre Academy productions of "Grease", "Annie", "Bye Bye Birdie" and "The Sound of Music". She traveled regularly to New York City for vocal and acting lessons. However, after a few years of auditioning in New York and not getting anything, she became interested in country music. At age 11, after many attempts, Taylor won a local talent competition by singing a rendition of LeAnn Rimes' "Big Deal", and was given the opportunity to appear as the opening act for Charlie Daniels at a Strausstown amphitheater. This interest in country music isolated Swift from her middle school peers.
At age 12 she was shown by a computer repairman how to play three chords on a guitar, inspiring her to write her first song, "Lucky You". She had previously won a national poetry contest with a poem entitled "Monster in My Closet", but now began to focus on songwriting. She moved to Nashville at age 14, having secured an artist development deal with RCA Records. She left RCA Records when she was 15--the label wanted her to record the work of other songwriters and wait until she was 18 to release an album, but she felt ready to launch her career with her own material. At an industry showcase at Nashville's The Bluebird Café in 2005, Swift caught the attention of Scott Borchetta, a Dreamworks Records executive who was preparing to form his own independent record label, Big Machine Records. Taylor was one of the new label's first signings.
Taylor released her debut album, "Taylor Swift", in October of 2006 and received generally positive reviews from music critics. The New York Times described it as "a small masterpiece of pop-minded country, both wide-eyed and cynical, held together by Ms. Swift's firm, pleading voice". Her single "Our Song" made her the youngest solo writer and singer of a #1 country song. The album sold 39,000 copies during its first week. In 2008 she released her second studio album, "Fearless". The lead single from the album, "Love Story", was released in September 2008 and became the second best-selling country single of all time, peaking at #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Four more singles were released throughout 2008 and 2009: "White Horse", "You Belong with Me", "Fifteen" and "Fearless". "You Belong with Me" was the album's highest-charting single, peaking at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100. The album debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 Album Chart. It was the top-selling album of 2009 and brought Swift much crossover success.
In September 2009 she became the first country music artist to win an MTV Video Music Award when "You Belong with Me" was named Best Female Video. Her acceptance speech was interrupted by rapper Ye, who had been involved in a number of other award show incidents. West declared Beyoncé's video for "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)", nominated in the same category, to be "one of the best videos of all time". When Beyoncé later won the award for Video of the Year, she invited Taylor onstage to finish her speech. In November 2009 Taylor Swift became the youngest ever artist, and one of only six women, to be named Entertainer of the Year by the Country Music Association.
She released her third studio album in October 2010, "Speak Now", and wrote all the songs herself. She originally intended to call the album "Enchanted" but Scott Borchetta, her record label's CEO, felt the title did not reflect the album's more adult themes. Swift toured throughout 2011 and early 2012 in support of "Speak Now". As part of the 13-month, 111-date world tour, Swift played seven shows in Asia, 12 in Europe, 80 in North America and 12 in Australasia (three dates on the US tour were rescheduled after she fell ill with bronchitis). The stage show was inspired by Broadway musical theatre, with choreographed routines, elaborate set-pieces, pyrotechnics and numerous costume changes. Swift invited many musicians to join her for one-off duets during the North American tour. Appearances were made by James Taylor, Jason Mraz, Shawn Colvin, Johnny Rzeznik, Andy Grammer, Tal Bachman, Justin Bieber, Selena Gomez, Nicki Minaj, Nelly, B.o.B., Usher, Flo Rida, Tip 'T.I.' Harris, Jon Foreman, Jim Adkins, Hayley Williams, Hot Chelle Rae, Ronnie Dunn, Darius Rucker, Tim McGraw and Kenny Chesney. In May 2012 Taylor featured in B.o.B's song "Both of Us".
Swift's fourth studio album, "Red", was released on October 22, 2012. She wrote nine of the album's 16 songs alone; the remaining seven were co-written with Max Martin, Liz Rose, Dan Wilson, Ed Sheeran and Gary Lightbody. Nathan Chapman served as the album's lead producer but Jeff Bhasker, Butch Walker, Jacknife Lee, Dann Huff and Shellback (aka Shellback) also produced individual tracks. Chapman has said he encouraged Swift "to branch out and to test herself in other situations". She has described the collaborative process as "an apprenticeship" that taught her to "paint with different colors". "Red" examines Swift's attraction to drama-filled relationships; she believes that, since writing the record, such relationships no longer appeal to her. Musically, while there is some experimentation with "slick, electronic beats", the pop sheen is limited to a handful of tracks sprinkled among more recognizably Swiftian fare. "Rolling Stone" enjoyed "watching Swift find her pony-footing on Great Songwriter Mountain. She often succeeds in joining the Joni/Carole King tradition of stark-relief emotional mapping . . . Her self-discovery project is one of the best stories in pop." The Guardian described Swift as a "Brünnhilde of a rock star" and characterized "Red" as "another chapter in one of the finest fantasies pop music has ever constructed". "USA Today" felt that the "engaging" record saw Swift "write ever-more convincingly--and wittily and painfully--about the messy emotions of a young twenty something nearing the end of her transition from girl to woman". The "Los Angeles Times" noted the exploration of "more nuanced relationship issues" on "an unapologetically big pop record that opens new sonic vistas for her".
As part of the "Red" promotional campaign, representatives from 72 worldwide radio stations were flown to Nashville during release week for individual interviews with Swift. She made television appearances on The Ellen DeGeneres Show (2003), Good Morning America (1975), The View (1997), Late Show with David Letterman (1993), ABC News Nightline (1980) and All Access Nashville with Katie Couric (2012). She performed at Los Angeles' MTV VMAs and London's Teen Awards, and will also perform at Nashville's CMA Awards, Frankfurt's MTV Europe Music Awards, Los Angeles' AMA Awards and Sydney's ARIA Music Awards. Swift offered exclusive album promotions through Target, Papa John's and Walgreens. She became a spokesmodel for Keds sneakers, released her sophomore Elizabeth Arden fragrance and continued her partnerships with Cover Girl, Sony Electronics and American Greetings, as well as her unofficial brand tie-ins with Ralph Lauren and Shellys. The album's lead single, "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together", was released in August 2012. The song became Swift's first #1 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, recording the highest ever one-week sales figures for a female artist. Two further singles have since been released: "Begin Again" (country radio) and "I Knew You Were Trouble" (pop and international radio).In her career, as of May 2012, Swift has sold over 23 million albums and 54.5 million digital tracks worldwide.
Taylor Swift is only beginning to emerge as an acting talent, having voiced the role of Audrey in the animated feature The Lorax (2012). She also made appearances in the theatrical release Valentine's Day (2010) and in an episode of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (2000). She contributed two original songs to The Hunger Games (2012) soundtrack: "Safe & Sound featuring The Civil Wars" and "Eyes Open". Taylor released her fifth album, titled "1989", on October 27, 2014. This album is when she finally made the complete transition from country to pop. She says that she will not be going to any Country Music Award shows. The album is named after the year she was born, and is a sort of '80s-sounding album, in the sense that it's more electronic.
In March 2015 she began dating Scottish Disc Jockey Calvin Harris after having met at the Brit Awards in February. They were together for thirteen months.- Actress
- Composer
- Writer
Françoise Hardy was born on 17 January 1944 in Paris, France. She is an actress and composer, known for The Dreamers (2003), The Boat That Rocked (2009) and 8 Women (2002). She has been married to Jacques Dutronc since 30 March 1981. They have one child.- Music Artist
- Producer
- Actress
Toni Braxton was born on 7 October 1966 in Severn, Maryland, USA. She is a music artist and producer, known for The Oogieloves in the Big Balloon Adventure (2012), Boomerang (1992) and Toni Braxton: Unbreak My Heart (2016). She was previously married to Keri Lewis.- Music Artist
- Actress
- Composer
Louane Emera was born on 26 November 1996 in Hénin-Beaumont, Pas-de-Calais, France. She is a music artist and actress, known for The Bélier Family (2014), Les affamés (2018) and Take a Chance on Me (2023).- Actress
- Composer
- Music Department
Neneh Cherry was born on 10 March 1964 in Stockholm, Stockholms län, Sweden. She is an actress and composer, known for The Long Kiss Goodnight (1996), Alone in the Dark (2005) and The Fan (1996). She has been married to Cameron McVey since 1990. They have two children. She was previously married to Bruce Smith.- Music Artist
- Composer
- Actress
Sade was born on 16 January 1959 in Ibadan, Nigeria. She is a music artist and composer, known for A Wrinkle in Time (2018), True Lies (1994) and Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010). She was previously married to Carlos Scola.