From breaking records to writing a feature film.
Taylor Swift’s 2022 turned out to be one long lavender haze. The prolific musician had one of the biggest years in her career thanks to the release of her 10th studio album, Midnights, This included making history on the Billboard charts to dominating every award show where she’s nominated.
Add on unprecedented mayhem for tickets to her highly-anticipated The Eras Tour and an announcement that she’s directing her first feature film, and this year was proof that Swift isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. Time and time again, she’s proven that she continues to push herself creatively.
Since Swift achieved so much this year, refresh your memory with her biggest 2022 highlights below.
Swift kicked off 2022 with a bang: a remix of Ed Sheeran’s 2021 track “The Joker And The Queen.” The song originally appeared on his fifth studio album, Equals. This marked Swift and Sheeran’s fourth collaboration together, and the duo sent fans into a frenzy by inviting back child actors Ava Ames and Jack Lewis from their 2013 “Everything Has Changed” music video to star in the music video for “The Joker And The Queen.” Talk about a throwback.
After Swift dropped her Fearless and Red re-recorded albums in 2021, fans have been wondering which album she’ll re-release next. On May 6, she dropped an updated version of her fan-favorite track “This Love,” which was featured in the Amazon Prime Video series The Summer I Turned Pretty. “This Love” first appeared on 1989, so of course, the 1989 (Taylor’s Version) theories kicked into high gear.
Though Swift never went to college, she received her first collegiate certification — an honorary doctorate from New York University. Oh, and she also delivered a speech at the school’s graduation ceremony in front of thousands of people. In a May 18 Instagram, Swift revealed she wore a cap and gown “for the very first time” to the event at Yankee Stadium.
During her speech, Swift told graduates not to fear making mistakes because they’re inevitable. “Learn to live alongside cringe. No matter how hard you try to avoid being cringe, you will look back on your life and cringe retrospectively,” she said. “Cringe is unavoidable over a lifetime.”
Swift’s next music release this year came in June when she dropped “Carolina” for the Where The Crawdads Sing soundtrack. In a March 22 Instagram, Swift revealed she asked to record a song for the film since she loved the book.
“As soon as I heard there was a film in the works starring the incredible @daisyedgarjones and produced by the brilliant @reesewitherspoon, I knew I wanted to be a part of it from the musical side,” she wrote.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Swift’s All Too Well: The Short Film is eligible for a 2023 Oscar nomination for Best Live-Action Short. On Aug. 12, the publication reported Swift was “working with a top consulting firm” to launch an awards campaign for her short film. Just a few weeks later, the singer kicked things off by holding a screening for her short film at the Toronto International Film Festival on Sept. 9.
There’s before the 2022 VMAs and after in the Swiftverse. While accepting the Video of the Year award for All Too Well: The Short Film, she unexpectedly teased a major announcement. “I thought it would be a fun moment to tell you that my brand new album comes out [on] Oct. 21,” Swift said, which made the audience erupt in applause.
Later that night, she announced on her website that her new album is called Midnights.
By far, Swift’s biggest moment of 2022 was when she released Midnights on Oct. 21. The star made history several times over with the release, including becoming the first artist to occupy all Top 10 spots on the Billboard Hot 100. Swift broke Drake’s previous record after he sent nine songs to the Hot 100 in September 2021 following the release of his sixth studio album, Certified Lover Boy.
According to Billboard, Midnights also had the biggest week for an album in seven years by selling 1.578 million equivalent album units in the states.
Following Midnights’ release, Swift announced plans to do something she hasn’t in years: tour. “I’m going back on tour,” she said on Good Morning America. “The tour is called The Eras Tour, and it’s a journey through all of my musical eras of my career.”
Unfortunately, the initial tour excitement didn’t last long. When presale tickets for Swift’s tour went live on Nov. 15, Ticketmaster crashed. According to Live Nation Entertainment’s chairman Greg Maffei, over 14 million people and bots tried to purchase presale tickets. “We could've filled 900 stadiums,” Maffei told CNBC during a Nov. 17 interview. Since there was an “insufficient” amount of tickets remaining for Swift’s tour following the presale, the general sale was canceled.
Swift responded to the fiasco with a Nov. 18 statement on Instagram telling fans she hopes to create “more opportunities” to connect in person. She made that happen just weeks later when Ticketmaster announced that they would be having another, smaller sale for Swift’s tour specifically for Verified Fans after being asked by her team to give fans another chance to score tickets.
The same day that Swift crashed Ticketmaster, the Recording Academy announced that All Too Well: The Short Film received a 2023 Grammy nomination for Best Music Video. It was the music video’s latest achievement following months of award show wins at the MTV Video Music Awards, MTV Europe Music Awards, and American Music Awards.
Swift has directed many of her own music videos over the years and expressed interest in making movies one day. Well, it seems her dream is becoming a reality because Variety reported on Dec. 9 that Swift will direct her first feature film for Searchlight Pictures. She reportedly wrote an original script to be produced by the studio, which is known for its Oscar-winning films like 12 Years A Slave and The Shape of Water.
No release date for Swift’s directorial has been announced.
After five long years, Taylor Swift’s legal battle surrounding “Shake It Off” was finally shook off. Variety reported on Dec.12 that songwriters Sean Hall and Nathan Butler’s lawsuit over Swift’s 2014 single “Shake It Off” had ended.
According to Variety, Hall and Butler filed a copyright lawsuit in 2017 claiming Swift stole lyrics they wrote for the girl group 3LW’s 2001 single “Playas Gon’ Play.” Swift denied having heard of the song or the group. A trial date was set for January 2023, but both parties agreed to drop the lawsuit and avoid going to trial.
Swift has scored a major legal victory as she can now move forward with re-recording her 1989 album, on which “Shake It Off” first appeared.
Clearly, 2022 was a great year for Swift but she isn’t slowing down. She’s speeding up actually, literally. Next, she’ll reunite with fans on her tour. Talk about iconic.
