Has Taylor Swift peaked?

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TAYLOR SWIFT has a strong claim to being the most popular entertainer of the 21st century—and perhaps of all time. Five of the ten most popular albums in America in 2023 were hers, according to Luminate, an analytics firm. Ms Swift's albums have now cumulatively racked up 384 weeks in the top ten of the Billboard chart, beating a record previously held by the Beatles. She is halfway through the most lucrative concert tour ever. A film version of it grossed over $260m at the box office last year.

On April 19th she released a double album entitled "The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology". Over the course of 31 songs, Ms Swift wields her scalpel and dissects every inch of her recent relationships. Few songwriters have been better at transmuting heartbreak into hits. ("The high", as she sang on "Blank Space", has surely always been "worth the pain".) Unfortunately, on this album, she has eschewed danceable pop for something as downcast as the title implies.

This article appeared in the Culture section of the print edition under the headline "Has Taylor Swift peaked?"

From the April 27th 2024 edition

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