Taylor Swift was one of seven honorees for the Milestone Award tonight at the 2015 ACM Awards, but nobody was expecting such an emotional introduction. The singer's mother Andrea Swift, who just recently revealed she's been diagnosed with cancer, was front and center to present her daughter with the award.
Walking in to a room of roaring applause, Andrea says, "I've watched this milestone artist from the time she was a tangled-hair little girl...Full of imagination and creativity until right now when she prepares for her next world tour."
She continues to share that Taylor's "favorite thing to do is to write a song, tell a story, play guitar or piano, and I've seen those things carry through her every emotion, every experience in her life, good or bad," adding that sometimes her family is the inspiration.
"Somebody once told me that you truly see who a person is when you tell them something you don't wanna hear," the young singer begins, and explains that the warm welcome she got after transitioning to pop music is something she'll never forget.
"You showed me who you are with the grace that you accepted that with," she says, and concludes with, "I'm so unbelievably proud that I learned to treat people with kindness and respect through country music."
Taylor Swift's mum had her daughter's fans shedding a tear or two when she made a touching speech ahead of presenting her with a trophy at the 2015 Academy of Country Music Awards in Texas. Andrea Swift spoke of watching her daughter, who on Sunday was one of seven recipients of the 50th Anniversary Milestone Award, grow up from "a tangled-haired little girl" to a young woman.
"I've watched this milestone artist from the time she was a tangled-haired little girl growing up on our farm, full of imagination and creativity, until right now, as she prepares for her next world tour," Andrea, 57, began. "And ever since then, her favourite thing in the world to do has been to write a song, tell a story, play guitar or piano. And I've seen those things carry her through every emotion, every experience in her life, good or bad."
Andrea, who Taylor recently revealed had been diagnosed with cancer, continued: " I witnessed a young girl with very few friends become a young woman with many, learning to stand up for herself and the things she believes in, being brave enough to explore her musical curiosity, having a voice against those who hate, and giving of herself to those in need."
Becoming visibly emotional, Taylor's mum concluded by thanking everyone for supporting the Style singer: "Like many of you with children of your own, I am a very proud mum. So I'd like to thank the ACMs for honouring her in this way, but I'd also like to thank the entire music community for taking such good care of her. And to the fans, I know you love her as I love her, and for that I thank you eternally." Taylor then took to the stage to warmly embrace her mum before making her own speech. "I learned how to treat people with kindness and respect from country music," said the star.
What happened to Taylor Swift? While we have known, intellectually, for some time that she is the blonde, sweet, multi-platinum-selling country star, we can't swear that in Britain, we always really got her, can we? In fact, for many years, you'd have sooner flashed your knickers on the bus than let anyone see her name flash up on your iPod.
Now? She is owning us all - a global phenomenon of an album, an obsession to her 25.5million Instagram followers. A Saturday Night Live sketch from a few months ago sums it up nicely, where a bunch of adults rush to their doctors suffering from a new sincere and unironic enjoyment of Taylor Swift tunes. The joke being, this is confusing and alarming for them. I think most of us can relate. Her album 1989 is one of the most ludicrously catchy collections of 'proper' pop songs since Gaga's The Fame. Resistance has been futile. And not only is it now politely tolerated, but actually totally frickin' cool to unashamedly adore Taylor Swift. Hell, even Kanye, who once famously stormed a stage because she won 'Beyoncé's' VMA award, is now a fan.
"We actually, I guess, could be called friends now!" laughs Taylor, her gazelle-like legs poured into black skinnies and twisting around each other in an armchair. "I honestly think I needed to continue to prove myself in my career and I think it finally got to a place where he realised he respected what I do as a musician." She is pure guts and steel. For she hasn't been chasing your, mine or Kanye's love. She's stuck to her guns, done her own thing and guess what, we've all come running to her. From her days as an 11-year-old Pennsylvanian who would ask her mum every night at bedtime, "Do you think I'll ever get a record deal?" to the Grammy award-winning pop princess who's giving me a precious hour before rushing off to be the headline performer at the 2015 Brits, she was always going to fail or succeed at this music thing, 100% her own way. And to think her biggest triumph has come with 1989, the album her record company didn't even want her to make.
"That was very surprising to me," she says. "The one thing they had a problem with was me making a pop album. They were very scared that we wouldn't be able to maintain the level of success we had with Red. But I didn't care. It would have been all on me if we hadn't sold half of what they wanted, and I knew that. But I knew that you can't let fans get comfortable with what you make. We're supposed to entertain people. Repeating one thing over and over again is not entertaining." "Every woman has different things that make them feel strong and powerful. For me, I don't have any need or urge to write about overt sexuality. It just never occurs to me. I appreciate girls who sing about whatever they want, because that's what they want to sing about."
You see? Nice. Something that Taylor Swift has, single-handedly, made cool."Well, I just don't place much priority on looking cool," she shrugs. "And I think at 25, I'm finally OK with feeling that. I've said this before. I think there's this priority on having this persona of being edgy or cool or bored. And those things are all sexy. All those things are chic, when you seem not to care about anything other than yourself. And I just don't buy into it. I'm really excited by lots of things. I think enthusiasm is the best protection. It can protect you from anything. And I don't feel bored by any of this, so I don't strive to look bored by any of this."
"Yeah, I do feel jaded about relationships, to be honest," she says. "I think the media has sent me a really unfair message over the past couple of years, which is that I'm not allowed to date for excitement, or fun, or new experiences or learning lessons. I'm only allowed to date if it's for a lasting, multiple-year relationship. Otherwise I'm a, quote, 'serial dater'. Or, quote, 'boy crazy'. The narrative has been so wrong, every time it was the same. It's 'Taylor spotted talking to this guy, she's chasing him.' They create a beginning to the story that didn't happen most of the time, so then they have to create an ending. So they always go to the same fabricated ending that every other tabloid has used in my story, which is, 'She got too clingy', or 'Taylor has too many emotions, she scared him away'. Which has honestly never been the reason for any of my break-ups. You know what has been the reason? The media. You take something very fragile, like trying to get to know someone, and it feels like walking out into the middle of a gladiator arena with someone you've just met. And all of a sudden the public and the media are allowed to say thumbs up or thumbs down. So I just don't try it any more."
Taylor Swift: Singer, songwriter … shepherdess? Not so fast. On Monday, the pop star posted a video on Instagram of herself talking to some sheep with the caption “1) Sheep are impossible to reason with. 2) Sheep are rude.”
The animals seem to be more interested in whether she brought food for them than listening to whatever the seven-time Grammy winner has to say. And they do not look a bit sheepish about interrupting her either. Maybe they just want her autograph? Regardless, she is turned off by their dismissiveness. Talk about bahhh-d blood.
@austinspacy: Can’t believe it’s almost here. #The1989WorldTour @taylorswift13 #stoked
We already knew that Taylor Swift and Ed Sheeran were best buds (remember that time Taylor made Ed a Drake-themed needlepoint?) But now, we get a direct glimpse into their friendship thanks to a recent Instagram from Tay-Tay. She shared a screenshot of a late-night texting session with Sheeran:
In the snap posted on Instagram, the messages started with Taylor writing to Ed: ‘Got to sleep, I’ll talk to you soon.’
