Taylor Swift is the Billboard staff's No. 2 Greatest Pop Star of 2025 for her 'Life of a Showgirl' album and masters reacquisition.
on the Greatest Pop Stars rankings who hasn’t fallen outside of our yearly top five yet this decade: Taylor Swift.Bad Bunny Takes Colbert Questionert and Reveals Favorite Movie, Describes Life in 5 Words: 'Happy, Retired, Eating, Living in Puerto Rico'After a relatively quiet beginning to the year sitting alone in her tower, just honing her powers — and yes, dancing the night away at the Grammys and making her second Super Bowl appearance — Taylor Swift called upon us to pledge allegiance to her hands, her team and her vibes in 2025.
Naturally, we obeyed. Her well-deserved break since finishing the blockbuster, globe-traversing Eras Tour in December 2024 ended when she lit the sky up in May. A nearly six-year battle had concluded: The superstar finally owned her masters. “I’ve been bursting into tears of joy at random intervals ever since I found out that this is really happening. I really get to say these words: All of the music I’ve ever made… now belongs… to me,”– all now totally hers. “I can’t thank you enough for helping to reunite me with this art that I have dedicated my life to, but have never owned until now.”for her work began in 2019 when Scooter Braun bought her label – Big Machine Records. The following year, Braun sold only the rights to Swift’s music to Shamrock Holdings, where they stayed until Swift’s purchase. The news of her catalog re-acquisition sparked a: her sixth full-length rose from 78-5 on the chart, possibly fueled by the ever-present desire from Swifties for her re-recorded version; definitely powered by the wont to support an artist in her most personal creation.If that was all she accomplished in 2025, Swift still would have loomed large in the pop world. While the singer-songwriter wasn’t the first to re-record her early albums, no artist made their re-recordings such an event, or such a commercial success: the Taylor’s Versions ofeven scoring a bigger debut week than the blockster original a decade earlier, and two of her From the Vault tracks from those recordings, “All Too Well ” and “Is It Over Now? ,” debuting atop the Billboard Hot 100. Swift’s acumen in turning a career setback into a defining achievement set a precedent that will reverberate in the industry for decades to come. But even with that full-circle moment, Swift wasn’t nearly done for the year. In June, she jumped on stage at her then-boyfriend Travis Kelce’s Tight Ends and Friends Nashville concert – borrowing a guitar from Chase Rice – to perform a joyfully countrified “Shake It Off” for a screaming crowd, as well as for everyone watching at home from their phones. For those who know, their Swifty senses began to tingle: When she makes a surprise appearance in this manner, she usually hason the sports-and-pop-culture show. “This album is about what was going on behind the scenes in my inner life during ,” she explained at the time. As Jason deftly questioned his brother’s girlfriend about not just about, but also Eras, her family, her newly acquired taste for sourdough bread, and her relationship with Travis, the world watched a two-hour broadcast that. When Taylor Swift opens her mouth — even if it’s just to make silly bread puns — we all listen.. As Taylor, Travis and Jason yapped, we’d later learn that the future Hall of Fame tight end had his own surprise. When they finished recording, Travis dropped to one knee and proposed in the garden of his Kansas City home. “Your English teacher and your gym teacher are getting married,” Swift and Kelce posted weeks after the podcast aired – a millennial caption to beat all millennial captions, which instantly became part of pop culture lore. Staying mostly quiet again – aside from attending a Cincinnati football game at Arrowhead Stadium and celebrating the wedding of her bestie Selena Gomez aside – Swift waited until the curtain pulled back oncollaborators Max Martin and Shellback, her latest full-length arrived in October with a dizzying display of pop panache, anchored by a Shakespearean twist with opener “The Fate of Ophelia” and its gorgeous Swift-directed video, co-starring all of her Eras pals. Beyond that lead single, the Swift-Martin-Shellback trifecta offered the shimmering “Opalite,” the stunningly heartbreaking “Ruin the Friendship,” the funny and irreverent ode to her fiance’s, um, instrument in “Wood,” the-esque brash exegesis on loyalty with “Cancelled!” and the gloriously audacious title track – a duet with Sabrina Carpenter about fame, fortune and the ones clawing their way up the ladder. And no matter where anyone turned, everyone poked, prodded and dissected the sounds, lyrics and yes, muses – a prospect faced by no other artist in 2025.couldn’t stop what happened next. Buoyed by a wide variety of variants, a barrage of radio and late-night appearances as well as the promise of a return to a big, bright sunny pop after’ downcast vibes – Swift broke Adele’s record of units moved in its first week with 4.002 million. The album spent 12 non-consecutive weeks on top of the Billboard 200 — and was No. 1 on the year-end Billboard 200 for 2025, despite the album arriving on the year’s very last tracking week — and ”Ophelia” would go on to become Swift’s longest-leader on the Hot 100 with 10 weeks on top, outlasting 2022’s “Anti-Hero.” , debuted Dec. 12 Beginning with her return to London in August of 2024, following the thwarted attacks on her shows in Vienna and the tragedy in Southport, England, Swift delicately bared her soul, owning what she felt was her responsibility to keep calm and carry on. Over the course of the six hours, Swift used the platform to highlight her team – fan-favorite sidekick Kam Saunders’ journey, backup singer Jeslyn Gorman’s health struggles, and dancer Whyley Yoshimura’s career among them – while also shedding shed more light on her close-knit family , and giving fans an insider look at her love story with Kelce, which blossomed beautifully under the bright lights. Two decades in, Swift keeps upping the ante with her storied, almost unrivaled career. Landing at No. 1 on this list in, Swift’s competition is often predominantly held to her past selves – as well as some artists who sync up their dominance more naturally with the calendar, when Swift often makes her full arrival in the later months. Nonetheless, her headshot permanently cemented to the wall, she bossed up, settled down and cleared her schedule for 2026 – perhaps save for her now-imminent nuptials. Can Swift possibly keep her Greatest Pop Stars streak going with yet another top finish next year? Just leave it to her.‘Cry Baby Is Dead:’ Melanie Martinez Ushers In New Era With ‘POSSESSION’ Bruce Springsteen Drops Searing Anti-ICE Protest Song, ‘Streets of Minneapolis’: ‘King Trump’s Private Army From the DHS/ Guns Belted to Their Coats’. We use vendors that may also process your information to help provide our services. // This site is protected by reCAPTCHA Enterprise and the Google
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Pennsylvania Game Commission Rejects Hunting Plan, Sets Course for 2026 Season Similar to 2025The Pennsylvania Board of Game Commissioners has voted to reject a hunting plan for 2026, opting instead to maintain a season structure similar to 2025. Final season details will be decided at the April 11th meeting. Simultaneously, local law enforcement is investigating incidents in Bucks and Dauphin counties, and school closures are announced due to the freezing temperatures following a recent snowfall.
Read more »
High school girls basketball rankings, Jan. 27, 2025: Bay Area News Group Top 20Los Gatos reenters the rankings after big win over Los Altos; Riordan, SI slide up after Wildcats’ key win; Half Moon Bay flips with Menlo-Atherton after nail-biter
Read more »
It Was a Legacy-Cementing 2025 for Lady Gaga — Did She Also Prove to Still Be One of Pop’s Most Vital Stars?This Greatest Pop Stars podcast episode looks at Lady Gaga's No. 3-ranked year on our Greatest Pop Stars of 2025 list.
Read more »
Billboard’s Greatest Pop Stars of 2025: No. 3 — Lady GagaLady Gaga is the Billboard staff's No. 3 Greatest Pop Star of 2025 for her 'Mayhem' album, hit 'Abracadabra' and Mayhem Ball arena tour.
Read more »
Hobby Lobby recalled these cute stuffed toys after discovering a dangerous defectThe toys were sold from May 2025 to December 2025.
Read more »
How Do We Measure the Kind of History That Taylor Swift Made as a Pop Star in 2025?This Greatest Pop Stars podcast episode looks at Taylor Swift's No. 2-ranked year on our Greatest Pop Stars of 2025 list.
Read more »