Whether you’re the impossibly lucky streamer who snagged that sacred No. 13 spot on the Spotify Wrapped top fan leaderboard or you’ve just sashayed into the season by cueing up ‘Opalite’ under the mistletoe, it’s a blessed time to be a Swiftie. Our 13-obsessed pop deity didn’t just deck the halls—she soundtracked them—stuffing our musical stockings all year long with nostalgia from eras gone by and, of course, unveiling her most glitter-dusted alter ego yet: the feathered, fabulous The Life of a Showgirl. With 2025 sparkled shut, let’s twirl back through some of her most iconic moments—because in Swiftie time, every month’s an era. ✨
🌍 Global? She Invented It.
Five. And no, not the tracklisting slot of a gut-punch Taylor ballad you’d get caught clutching your fury-folklore Benji to at 3 a.m. It’s the number of times she’s snagged IFPI’s Global Recording Artist of the Year—complete with a cheeky third consecutive win. Announced back in February, so while it’s technically for 2024, it still counts in spirit; the Eras Tour and The Tortured Poets Department basically boosted her streams into the stratosphere.
🎤 The Only Tour That Needed Its Own Era
Speaking of the confetti-storming, surprise-song-stirring spectacle, snagging a ticket to The Eras Tour may have been a Herculean feat, but watching Taylor claim iHeartRadio’s Tour of the Century was basically child’s play. Probably scribbling a 13 on her hand between the 22 shows she personally popped into, comedian Nikki Glaser delivered the announcement. Taylor, being terminally booked and blessed, skipped the ceremony—but she still fed us, dropping an HD video of ‘Mirrorball’ from the very first Eras Tour stop in Glendale, Arizona’s acoustic set.
💿 reputation Restored: How Taylor Swift Outsmarted The Industry
Maybe you can cold-recite every lyric to ‘My Tears Ricochet,’ or maybe you’ve curated your own angsty slideshow with Scooter Braun photos aggressively crossed out à la Mean Girls to relive the era when Taylor’s masters were swiped out from under her—only for her to turn around and glow-up her entire catalog with the (Taylor’s Versions). But in May, something downright wonderstruck (pun, obviously, duh) happened: deploying mama Swift, Andrea, and her brother, Austin, Taylor pulled a full-blown ‘Mastermind’ and bought her masters back from Shamrock Capital, securing the ownership she’d always daydreamed about.
This was a business deal to them, but I really felt like they saw it for what it was to me: My memories and my sweat and my handwriting and my decades of dreams. I am endlessly thankful. My first tattoo might just be a huge shamrock in the middle of my forehead.
Taylor Swift on her website
💸 100 Million Reasons She’s Mother
Doing it for the gals, Taylor just casually became the first woman to crash the boys’ club of artists who’ve surpassed 100 million RIAA-certified album units—yes, elbowing her way right between hip-shaker Elvis Presley and crosswalk-strutters The Beatles. The Recording Industry Association of America announced the milestone, with her heavy hitters leading the charge: 1989 topping out at a massive 14 million units, Fearless at 11 million, and a three-way tie at 8 million for Red, her self-titled debut, and The Tortured Poets Department.
🏈 “New Heights Of Manhood…”
We’ve had sneaky snakes slithering and the shock of a VMAs Midnights countdown, but The Life of a Showgirl marked the first time Taylor ever ushered in a new era on her lover’s podcast— fiancé Travis Kelce and brother Jason’s New Heights—which later cheekily popped up in ‘Wood.’ On the episode, Taylor opened up about the emotional rollercoaster of reclaiming her masters (yes, we might’ve teared up, too), chatted about winding down the Eras Tour, and then casually pulled out the sparkly Showgirl vinyl case destined to become Swiftmas gold, eventually landing in the merch drop.
💋 Feathers, Fame, And False Lashes: The Life of a Showgirl
Who’s more likely to ring in the new year with a whole new album? Swifties, obviously. Our vanilla-perfumed, sparkly-spiral Showgirl made it clear there was zero glitter left on the floor after the Eras Tour—because instead of taking even a micro-sabbatical, she dropped a 12-track album produced by reputation legends Max Martin and Shellback, with our five-foot-something sequin dream Sabrina Carpenter featured on the title track. The record arrived a mere nine months after the tour wrapped, landing on October 3rd and immediately spinning into Taylor Swift: The Official Release Party of a Showgirl, which lit up cinemas worldwide that same weekend.
🇦🇺 Down Under, Still On Top
Speaking of worldwide, Taylor isn’t a household name for nothing. She hasn’t just bewitched America; she’s got Australians—currently sweating through a very hot girl holiday season—wrapped around her glittery pinky, too. Picture the GRAMMYs, but everyone’s wearing thongs, and you’ve basically got the ARIA Awards: a celebration of Aussie music and the music Aussies are obsessed with. At their 39th annual show on Wednesday, November 19th, Taylor snagged Most Popular International Artist, beating out Sabrina, our dancing queen, Tate McRae, and Noah Kahan, who is probably somewhere in the woods strumming about it right now.
🏰 Happily Ever After (Taylor’s Version)
Maybe you’ve played Santa yourself, or maybe you’re just manifesting an Eras Tour snow globe under your tree; either way, you know it’s the centerpiece for your The End of an Era viewing party. In a six-part documentary series pulling back the curtain on the Eras Tour, Taylor chose to wrap the year the way we’d all prefer to live every year: by celebrating her own legacy. Directed by Don Argott, co-directed by Sheena M. Joyce, and produced by Object & Animal, the series gives us weekly hangouts with Taylor plus cameos from pals like Ed Sheeran, Florence Welch, Gracie Abrams, and even a pop-in from Travis. Capping it all is a final concert film spotlighting The Tortured Poets Department section—with new costumes, fresh set pieces, and of course, that archer move.
If we know anything about Taylor, it’s that she doesn’t sleep. She’s somewhere right now, stroking her cat’s fur and plotting Easter eggs we won’t decode until next spring. We can practically feel the surprises brewing for next year, especially with that ever-elusive 13th album shimmering on the horizon. What about you—what was your favorite Swiftie moment of the year? Spill it on our socials (Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook) and let’s scream-cry about it together. 💅🎁✨
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Rachel Finucane
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