Taylor Swift makes history as Time's Person of the Year for 2023 - Action News
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Taylor Swift makes history as Time's Person of the Year for 2023

Time has named Taylor Swift as their Person of the Year for 2023, capping off an extremely successful year for the pop star.

Swift becomes first woman to get the distinction twice, according to Time

Swift, wearing a sky blue dress, stands in front of a display that reads Taylor Swift The Eras Tour.
Taylor Swift attends the Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour concert movie world premiere in Los Angeles on Oct. 11, 2023. (Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images)

Taylor Swift is in her Person of the Year Era ... again.

Time has named SwiftPerson of the Year for 2023. The achievement is an historic one, making her the first woman to appear twice on a Person of the Year coversince the franchise beganin 1927, according to Time.

Swift was also namedPerson of the Year in 2017, when she was recognized as one of the Silence Breakers, a group the magazine identified as vital to the #MeToo movement and inspired women to speak out about sexual misconduct.

After the latest announcement was made, Swift posted an image with a playful caption nodding to her caton Instagram.

From the stageto movie theatresto NFL stadiums, Swift was ubiquitous in 2023 not just capturing the year's zeitgeist, but defining it.

A record year

Swift's Eras tour, a retrospective recap of all her artistic"eras" with 66 dates across the Americas this year, is projected to become the biggest of all time and the first to gross over a billion dollars. The tour's economic success, along with Swift's knack for marketing,has been playfully coined by some as"Swift-onomics."

Swift's two shows in Colorado this summer led to a $186.9-million US boost to the state's GDP for the year, areportby the Common Sense Institute found. A similar boost wasreportedin Philadelphia after Swift performed three shows there in May.

"May was the strongest month for hotel revenue in Philadelphia since the onset of the pandemic, in large part due to an influx of guests for the Taylor Swift concerts in the city," the report read.

One estimate from research company QuestionPro says her tour alone could generate $4.6 billion for the U.S. economy.

#TheMoment Taylor Swift fans caused an earthquake at her concert

1 year ago
Duration 1:31
Fans at Taylor Swifts recent concert in Seattle caused an earthquake double the strength of the 'beast quake' during a Seahawks game in the same stadium.

Canada was initially left off the tour schedule, until Swift announcedshe was adding stops in Toronto and Vancouver to the tour, which continues in 2024.

The tour isn't without controversy, though.

Ana Clara Benevides Machado, a 23-year-old Swift fan, died in November while attending the star's concert in Brazil. Machado died in hospital shortly after collapsing during the concert. The exact cause of her death has not been confirmed.

Fans who attended the show said they were not allowed to bring water bottles into the stadium, even though most of Brazil, including Rio, experienced record-breaking temperaturesreportedly reaching just over 39 C amid a dangerous heat wave.

Conquering movie theatres

Despite a Hollywood writers' strike that lasted for months, Swift managed to turn movie theatres into concert halls after releasingher concert film Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour.

As the film's producer, Swift went around the Hollywood studio system to distribute the film, making a deal directly with AMC and giving the theatre chain its highest single-day ticket sales in history.

Swift also brought her cultural dominance to the world of sports after her relationship with Kansas City Chiefs tight endTravis Kelcewent viral in September.

A woman cheers at a football game.
Taylor Swift, centre, is seen at the Kansas City Chiefs game against the Chicago Bears on Sept. 24, 2023 in Kansas City, Mo. (Reed Hoffmann/The Associated Press)

When Swift attended Kansas City's matchup against the Chicago Bears, viewership among teen girls aged 12-17 spiked 53 per cent from the season-to-date average forSunday Night Football, part of an approximate increase of more than twomillion female viewers, according to an NBC Sports release.

Swift waschosen for Time's annual distinction from a groupof nine finaliststhat includedBritain's King Charles III; Chinese President Xi Jinping;Russian President Vladimir Putin;OpenAI CEO Sam Altman; the Hollywood actors and writers who went on strike; Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell; the prosecutors who have brought charges against former U.S. President Donald Trump; and Barbie, the inspiration for this year's hit movie featuring Margot Robbie as the titular character.

Swift becomes the first individual to be selected as Time's Person of the Year because of her achievement in the arts, and is only the fourth individual selection who was born in the last 50 years, according to Time.

As the first woman to be recognized more than once, Swift joins a small group of repeat designees, taking a spot alongside U.S. presidents and world leaders.

With files from the Associated Press