From Taylor Swift to Ed Sheeran: 5 songs that defined an artist’s career

Peaks and troughs in a musician's career is a far-from-new concept. However, the 21st century has seen artists deciding to take a risk and step away from their roots for the sake of progression.

Taylor Swift and Miley Cyrus are among those who have shed their image in a bid to rebrand in a single three-minute record.

Here's our top five career defining songs that have created global-sensations:

1. ‘The old Taylor is dead’: Taylor Swift- Look What You Made Me Do

Swift, 28, kicked off her career with a country-bred sound, making her debut in 2006 with single Tim McGraw. The song received a wave of support for its strong melody and romantic lyrics. She went on to develop her sound with a total of six studio albums to her name.

Over time, the now pop sensation dabbled at cross-genre with her record Red but soon found herself buried in pop symphony with 2014 album 1989. Swift had created waves by simply pulling away from her root-sound, with lead single Shake it Off splitting critics on her new direction.

But the real change came last year when she released electro-pop record Reputation. Lead single Look What You Made Me Do shed Swift’s previous “eras” declaring them all “dead.” The brutally honest, rebellious version of the country queen catapulted Swift to pop-princess territory overnight.

The song shocked fans and critics alike by taking an aim at the media for the constant reporting of her “relationships”, as well as “snake” friends. Sharp smoky-eye makeup, metaphorical death and crystals feature heavily throughout.

1. ‘We can do what we want to’: Miley Cyrus - We Can’t Stop

Much like Swift, Cyrus had her roots firmly planted in the country music scene, inspired by father Billy Ray Cyrus. She had her first taste at pop music as alter-ego Hannah Montana, becoming renowned for her country-pop sound fused with her hits The Best of Both Worlds, Who Said and The Other Side of Me. Cyrus’ strong Disney-star upbringing in the industry became a token for her branching out in later years.

At the age of 25, Cyrus also has six albums under her belt, spanning the breadth of the pop-country genre. It wasn’t until she came crashing on to the scene with We Can’t Stop, released in 2013, as a straight-pop anthem that she broke away from the country queen image. The song sparked mass controversy for its raunchy video and rebellious lyrics.

1. ‘Feel it rushing through you from your head to toe’: Ed Sheeran - Sing

Singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran has always received high praise for his ability to pen emotionally intense and thought-provoking lyrics. Breakout single The A Team gained mass support for its tackling of “taboo” topics including drugs and prostitution. He went on to enjoy success with ballads including Lego House, Small Bump and I See Fire.

Sheeran quickly began to climb the charts with his strong song-writing ability making him appealingly unique to the chart music at the time. The 27-year-old became precious to fans for his romanticised perspective of life and honest lyrics. However he shocked onlookers by collaborating with American rapper Pharrell Williams with pop-R&B-driven song Sing, as the first single from album X. Critics slammed the record for diverging from his path of “meaningful” and “emotional” lyrics.

Intentionally or not, the track paved the way for Sheeran to play around with lyrics and feeling in his forthcoming album Divide which featured party-song Shape of You and upbeat Irish-pop-led Galway Girl.

1. ‘Half of my heart is in Havana’: Camila Cabello- Havana

Cuban-American Cabello landed in the industry as part of five-piece girl group Fifth Harmony who were born and bred on X Factor USA. The pop-R&B fused group spanned five years together before Cabello went solo. The 21-year-old dropped solo single Crying in the Club and received a wave of support from fans.

However, it wasn’t until she released Havana that Cabello was found to have come into her own sound. The song dived head-first into the Never Be The Same singer’s Latin roots. As a Latin-pop ballad, Cabello attained her first solo number one and a legion of new supporters for her new sound.

1. ‘It's our paradise and it's our war zone’: Zayn Malik- PILLOWTALK

Warning: Explicit language

Former One Direction member Malik similarly departed from his epic industry start in 2015 after five years in One Direction. The boyband's global success was repeatedly compared to that of The Beatles, which saw them break records left untouched for decades by the icons.

The 25-year-old debuted PILLOWTALK in 2016, an alternative- R&B track that explored avenues Malik was unable to while in a group. The number-one single received mixed reviews for its direction and mature themes, such as sex.

The track opened up doors for Malik to go on to collaborate with hip-hop and R&B artist Kehlani on his debut album Mind of Mine, which showed a much more vulnerable side to the Bradford-born singer.