Taylor Swift becomes the first musician chosen as Time’s person of the year

Taylor Swift has been named by Time magazine as its Person of the Year.

She has certainly had a standout year: having released the year’s fastest-selling album and broken box office-records with her concert film, Swift capped off 2023 by making Grammy Awards history as the first person to be nominated seven times for song of the year.

But she has revealed that her career nearly never left the ground, when an opportunity to open for country superstar Kenny Chesney, at the age of 17, was derailed.

“This was going to change my career,” Swift told Time, but Chesney’s tour announced a late sponsorship from a beer company that rendered Swift too young to partake.

Though she was initially “devastated”, she later received a cheque from Chesney on her birthday.

This year’s other finalists included Vladimir Putin, Barbie, King Charles III and Xi Jinping. Volodymyr Zelensky and the “spirit of Ukraine” were named as last year’s Person of the Year.

Since 1927, Time has sought an “individual, group, or concept that has had the most influence on the world throughout the previous 12 months,” with no requirement for effecting beneficial change.

Previous selections have included Martin Luther King Jr, Pope Francis, Angela Merkel, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, and Greta Thunberg.

Swift previously appeared on the 2017 Person of the Year cover alongside other “Silence Breakers” who spoke out against sexual misconduct.