The American pop star Taylor Swift, who shook the music industry with a very successful tour, was named Person of the Year 2023 by Time magazine on Wednesday.
"Much of what (Taylor) Swift has accomplished in 2023 is immeasurable... She is committed to giving value to the dreams, feelings and experiences of people, especially women," who "feel abandoned and regularly undervalued," said the magazine's editor, Sam Jacobs.
At 33 years old, the country singer adds a new distinction to a long list of hits and albums, with her albums or their reissues frequently occupying the top positions on the American charts, as is currently the case with 1989 (Taylor's Version), which topped the list. Billboard 200.
For a year now, he has also distinguished himself by criticizing the ticketing giant Ticketmaster for the cacophony around the sale of tickets for his tour, The Eras Tour, which has brought to the platform, often criticized for its monopoly position , having to give explanations in the American Congress.
Amid the enormous success of her tour, the concerts were also shown in theaters and Taylor Swift topped the North American box office the weekend of her film's release.
Time notes that the Shake It Off and Cruel Summer singer, who succeeds Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, is "the first person in the arts to be named person of the year for her success as an artist."
The editor notes that the distinction usually falls to heads of state or titans of industry, but "Taylor Swift has found a way to transcend borders and be a source of light."
"For building a world that was hers but that made room for so many people, for making her story a global legend, for bringing joy to a society that desperately needed it, Taylor Swift is Time's 2023 person of the year," he writes. Also Sam Jacobs.
Time published a list of finalists on Monday: alongside Taylor Swift, there were Russian and Chinese leaders Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping, British King Charles III, US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, as well as the head by OpenAI Sam Altman, the Hollywood strikers, the prosecutors who accused Donald Trump and... the character of Barbie, at the center of the hit film of the year.
