Taylor Swift continues to rack up accolades and the latest sees the Pop force named TIME Magazine‘s Person of the Year.
To celebrate the honor, the megastar poses it up for a stunning spread lensed by Inez & Vinoodh.
More than just fancy snaps, the feature brought with it a deep-diving profile interview with the ‘Cruel Summer’ chart-topper.
During the insightful sit-down, Swift reflects on various corners of her journey – including the contentment she feels at this juncture of her career, preparation for the blockbuster Eras Tour, and stan wars.
On the latter, Swift opened up about her admiration for Beyonce, their friendship dynamic, and how both of them rise above the online duels between stans to embrace their true status – game-changers and innovators.
Head below for pics and quotes:
On Her Current Mindset:
“This is the proudest and happiest I’ve ever felt, and the most creatively fulfilled and free I’ve ever been. Ultimately, we can convolute it all we want, or try to overcomplicate it, but there’s only one question. Are you not entertained?”
On Stan Wars:
“There were so many stadium tours this summer, but the only ones that were compared were me and Beyoncé. Clearly, it’s very lucrative for the media and stan culture to pit two women against each other, even when those two artists in question refuse to participate in that discussion. I think it’s radical and beautiful that the two of us actively reject that conversation. I know we’ve evolved past that conversation because she and I are trying to do bigger things.”
On Beyonce:
“She is the most precious gem of a person. When I’m talking to her, she is so warm and open and funny.”
On Being Inspired By Beyonce:
“The most precious gem of a person. When I’m talking to her, she is so warm and open and funny.
She’s such a great disruptor of music-industry norms. She taught every artist how to flip the table and challenge archaic business practices. She’s always thinking in an innovative way.”
On Preparing for The Eras Tour:
“Every day I would run on the treadmill, singing the entire set list out loud. Fast for fast songs, and a jog or a fast walk for slow songs. Then I had three months of dance training, because I wanted to get it in my bones. I wanted to be so over-rehearsed that I could be silly with the fans, and not lose my train of thought.”
On Her AMC Theater Deal For The Eras Tour:
“We met with all the studios, and we met with all the streamers, and we sized up how it was perceived and valued, and if they had high hopes and dreams for it. Ultimately I did what I tend to do more and more often these days, which is to bet on myself.”
On Dating Travis Kelce Before Anyone Knew:
“This all started when Travis very adorably put me on blast on his podcast, which I thought was metal as hell. We started hanging out right after that. So we actually had a significant amount of time that no one knew, which I’m grateful for, because we got to get to know each other. By the time I went to that first game, we were a couple. I think some people think that they saw our first date at that game? We would never be psychotic enough to hard launch a first date.”
On Her Public Perception:
“I’ve been raised up and down the flagpole of public opinion so many times in the last 20 years. I’ve been given a tiara, then had it taken away. It feels like the breakthrough moment of my career, happening at 33. And for the first time in my life, I was mentally tough enough to take what comes with that.”