Taylor's first four albums have been certified platinum a combined 21 times, but despite her unprecedented success in country music, '1989' is strictly pop.
Tavi Gevinson
Related First of all, I've been having a wonderful run of luck with cover albums, songs I didn't wri... BARRY MANILOW That's one wonderful thing about country music - it shifts, ebbs, and flows stylistically, unlik... STEVEN CURTIS CHAPMAN I've never believed that pop music is escapist trash. There's always a darkness in it, even ... THOM YORKE I've been married to Kris for 21 years, and there have always been rocky times. And it's not... CAITLYN JENNER I think the first thing you should know is that nobody in country music 'made it' the same w... TAYLOR SWIFT There are times pop music is the end result when I'm in the studio, but I don't really go in... POST MALONE My first five albums were triple-platinum, and I played a lot of concerts. DAVID CASSIDY There's just no great rock albums anymore. There's a lot of rock music out there, but it'... MARILYN MANSON What's missing from pop music is danger. PRINCE My music is very innovative, in a class by itself. Nobody else is saying anything of value. What I... WENDY O. WILLIAMS I can tell you that you will have your hearts broken more by the people you love than by the people ... MARGARET PETERSON HADDIX I like Sam Smith and Taylor Swift. I love pop music, but I also like Sam Smith's slow songs. Tha... MADDIE ZIEGLER We have a history in country music of writing about the darker side of things - maybe not as much in... CHRIS STAPLETON You know, if Kelly Clarkson wants to do country albums because that's what inspires her, then le... LUKE BRYAN There's a lot going on in country music, with indie-label hipsters and underground bloggers argu... STURGILL SIMPSON I think one thing you could probably say for all my albums is that they're all pretty eclectic p... KELLY CLARKSON One thing we have to remember as songwriters is that we have to consider that country music is the c... RANDY HOUSER People don't listen to one radio station. On iTunes you can mix different worlds and bring count... NATASHA BEDINGFIELD Pop is a little bit theatrical. That's the whole vibe. That's the point - is that it's g... ADAM LAMBERT Nirvana was pop. You can have distorted guitars and people say it's alternative, but you can'... KRISTIN HERSH Originally I'm a big pop-music aficionado, that's my love. DANNY BOYLE Pop music has greater power to change people and to affect people because it's a universal langu... PAUL EPWORTH I'm listening to a lot of Katy Perry, Taylor Swift, and Rihanna. A lot of pop female artists. I ... STEVE CARELL I'm still a big 'Grey's Anatomy' fan. BROOKE ELLIOTT I used to watch 'Grey's Anatomy' pretty religiously. ERINN HAYES Country music is still your grandpa's music, but it's also your daughter's music. It'... SHANIA TWAIN Sometimes with pop music, you have to see it to love it. With soul music, it's sparse. There'... ADELE 'Need You Now' is a universal subject matter. It's something that not just country fans,... HILLARY SCOTT My first albums as a little kid were Elton John's 'Goodbye Yellow Brick Road,' Simon and... ANN COULTER My music has always been sort of in between categories. Sometimes record stores - back when there we... LYLE LOVETT I'm not really a country singer, although I did make a couple albums and love its simple, straig... DINAH SHORE I do love brash pop music. It's fun. ROMY MADLEY CROFT There's always room for your hard-core country songs, and that will always shine through, and I&... LUKE BRYAN This is just strictly me wanting to make a record that is the real deal. It is all the stuff that I ... VINCE GILL It is not that I don't like contemporary country music because I do. I love it. I have recorded ... VINCE GILL There's something about 'Strictly Come Dancing.' Everywhere I go, people wish me good lu... CHERIE LUNGHI I love that sense of change that you'd get in pop music every three minutes, every four minutes. DANNY BOYLE Ronnie Spector's hair was taller and meaner and scarier than all four Shangri-La's combined,... ROB SHEFFIELD I never thought of having platinum albums and winning awards. I just wanted to write songs and sing ... RANDY TRAVIS There's a constantly applicable nature to soul music, whereas sometimes pop music can be a perio... JOHN MAYER Country's hip; it's cool music. RICKY SKAGGS Everyone wants to be an arena act, and it's making country music evolve. People are cutting thin... TRACY LAWRENCE Carrie Fisher was the most remarkable person I've ever known. I made my first three albums in he... JAMES BLUNT 'The Cauliflower' is not strictly a novel, as Barker says in her indispensable afterword. JUSTIN CARTWRIGHT I've made over 25 studio albums, and I think probably I've made two real stinkers in my time... DAVID BOWIE I think pop music is in such an exciting place right now, and I do kind of credit that to Lorde with... TROYE SIVAN I mean, there's times to rock and roll, and I love that too. But I think my first love is acoust... GRAHAM NASH Taylor was named after James Taylor and claims that she knows all the James Taylor songs, and I'... CHARLIE PUTH I was drawn to love songs, but I was just drawn to great music - no matter if it's hip-hop, pop,... NAYVADIUS CASH A lot of country music is sad. I think most art comes out of poverty and hard times. It applies to m... WILLIE NELSON The blues. It runs through all American music. Somebody bending the note. The other is the two-beat ... WYNTON MARSALIS She's been a smack addict, she's had big success in Europe in the '70s, and she's lo... NEIL TENNANT I've never really been a traditional country kind of guy. I wanted my music to sound more like t... BRYAN WHITE There is still some art in pop music. But it can't happen if you're not inspired. BEN FOLDS There's a certain type of indie fan who would balk at the prospect of there being value in pop m... AUTRE NE VEUT Country music was the music I was brought up on. It's the music that's closest to my heart a... TEDDY THOMPSON People think because I've got some success, I've made it, but in my eyes it's like, '... J. COLE I generally don't use an iPod for track work, as I'm focusing on heart rate and times. When ... LAURA ROBSON Taylor Swift dates guys so she can write a breakup song about them. I don't think she's dati... PATTI STANGER Thierry Mugler is about the power of glamour and walking straight into the future. He's been a g... NICOLA FORMICHETTI A lot of people say that India has been held back by its democracy. But let's remember that, des... ALEX TABARROK People always want to talk about who I was, but I've always been singing, always been experiment... NICKI MINAJ Are you taking us to the beach?" - Dan Cahill JUDE WATSON Let's head out to the ruins." - Dan Cahill ROLAND SMITH Speed is a great asset; but it's greater when it's combined with quickness - and there's... TY COBB I have a very pop voice, but there's so much of me I associate mostly with urban music, so I try... AUBREY O'DAY Difficult music is just a huge challenge. I've always been interested in music that didn't have pop ... JOSH BLAIR In a world of music where success is defined by gold or platinum, our friend Phil Walden was best de... TOM JOHNSON So dance music is now pop music. So now, as a dance producer, what do I have to do? So I'm start... DAVID GUETTA In the music world, concerts unfold strictly according to plan. But, as I'd been finding out, in... DAN HILL About f-f-ace!" she said to the horse, flailing with her boots. "Into the barn, please. It's time fo... PETER LERANGIS You see?" Damien leaned over his desk and spread out half a dozen charcoal sketches. "These are only... RICK RIORDAN I was on mad platinum albums... I produced and wrote on them. TRAVIS SCOTT Ironically, the success I've experienced at country radio has left me ostracized from pop and ot... DWIGHT YOAKAM Every year, there's some band that plays guitar-oriented pop music that has a single, but for th... ADAM SCHLESINGER I'm very into Taylor Swift. From her music to her wardrobe, she is absolutely killing it. Also, ... CONNOR FRANTA To me, country music's about life. It's about Monday through Friday. It's the blue-colla... GARY ALLAN Dick Clark's 'American Bandstand' spread the gospel of American pop music and teenage st... JOHN OATES I have had someone ask me to sign their 'Team Taylor' panties. She wasn't a teenager. Sh... TAYLOR LAUTNER I've been told I sold 110m albums and singles. If that's the case, I should've come here... ADAM ANT There's rock n' roll in hip-hop, there's rock n' roll in pop music, there's rock... JOHN VARVATOS Stone walls confine a tinker; cold iron binds a witch; but a musician's music can never be fette... CHARLES DE LINT Amy Winehouse was not a person I ever met, and I can't say that I am overly conversant in all of... HENRY ROLLINS I always find Victoria's Secret models a bit weird. EDIE CAMPBELL Country and western is the music of the devil. That's the real truth of the matter. My late Moth... RICK WAKEMAN For me there are two types of country: There's the shoot-yourself-in-the-head country, and then ... AVICII I used to be afraid to use the word 'pop' to describe my music, but underneath my tough, bad... ELLE KING It looks ancient," - Amy Cahill JUDE WATSON There have been a lot of people involved in the growth of EDM's support in the U.S., from DJ/pro... TIESTO It's always the music first for me. But if the music isn't selling, there isn't gonna be... AKON I have somebody I admire and want to keep at a distance. I've had the opportunity to meet her a ... TIG NOTARO I think every once in a while country has lost its way, but found its way back. It's always goin... RANDY TRAVIS Music is always there, but if you're asking me my first love, it's film. O'SHEA JACKSON, JR. For me, I can only do that from my own experience with people I've known and things that I'v... JON SECADA I have always been involved in my school's music program. MANIKA He's not very fast, but maybe Elizabeth Taylor can't sing. DARRELL ROYAL Wine is similar to music in that it's a purely experiential realm, and it's a purely subject... MIKE D Music has always been a huge passion in my life. I've just had such success with my acting that ... OLIVIA D'ABO I think what's cool about Slayer is no matter how old their albums are, it's the one band to... BLAKE ANDERSON When I opened the world's largest Internet cafe, certified by the 'Guinness Book of Records,... STELIOS HAJI-IOANNOU
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