CELEBRITIES

Taylor Swift

BIO

Pennsylvania farm girl-turned-country teen queen Taylor Swift has achieved more success in the music industry before her 21st birthday than many industry vets have in their entire careers.

Introduced to music by her grandmother, a professional opera singer, Swift began competing in karaoke contests at the age of 10, and learned the guitar at 12. After her family relocated to Tennessee, Swift put the country music industry on notice when she was discovered at a café night and offered a record deal.

The young talent’s first single, “Tim McGraw” peaked at no. 6 on the Billboard charts and served as the lead track for her thrice Platinum-selling self-titled debut disc, released in 2006.

Drawing inspiration from her high-profile romances with her young Hollywood peers, including Joe Jonas and Taylor Lautner -- with whom she split in December 2009 -- Swift released her sophomore album, Fearless in fall 2008. For her efforts, she took home four Grammy Awards in 2010.

Swift dated Jake Gyllenhaal for three months in 2010.