Flashback to ‘Fearless’: Revisiting Taylor Swift’s ‘Fearless’ Era
When Taylor Swift released Fearless, her sophomore album, on Nov. 11, 2008, she was an 18-year-old rising with a platinum-certified debut album and five Billboard 100 Top 40 singles to her name. Fearless, though, would put her on an even faster track to superstardom.
“Fearless was an album full of magic and curiosity, the bliss and devastation of youth,” Swift said in early 2021. “It was the diary of the adventures and explorations of a teenage girl who was learning tiny lessons with every new crack in the facade of the fairytale ending she’d been shown in the movies.”
“Love Story,” the lead single from Fearless, is now one of Swift’s biggest smashes: It’s sold more than 18 million copies worldwide and hit No. 1 on a variety of charts in numerous countries, including Billboard‘s Hot Country Songs, Adult Contemporary and Mainstream Top 40 charts. The track earned CMA and CMT Music Awards, as well as an ACM Awards nomination, for its music video.
In addition to “Love Story,” Swift earned two more Top 10 Billboard Hot 100 singles from Fearless: “You Belong With Me” and “Fearless.” “Fifteen” peaked just outside the Top 20 (No. 23), while “White Horse” made it to No. 13.
Fearless became the best-selling album of 2009 and spent 11 weeks at the top of the all-genre Billboard 200 — especially impressive feats as Swift’s primary focus at that point was still country music. The album has been certified diamond by the RIAA and is one of the best-selling albums of the 21st century.
In addition to those aforementioned music video awards nominations, Fearless was named CMA and ACM Album of the Year in 2009, as well as Favorite Country Album at the American Music Awards. At the 2010 Grammy Awards, Swift won Best Country Album and the all-genre Album of the Year honor for the record.
Also among the album’s awards wins is a particularly infamous trophy: The 2009 MTV Video Music Award for Best Female Video. That’s the victory that prompted hip-hop artist Kanye West to crash the stage during Swift’s acceptance speech to proclaim Beyonce’s “Single Ladies” music video “one of the best videos of all time.” The moment touched off a feud that continues to this day.
On Friday (April 9), Swift will release Fearless (Taylor’s Version), a newly recorded version of her sophomore album that features all 20 of the album’s original songs, as well as seven new “From the Vault” tracks from the same time period. Among the new releases are “You All Over Me” featuring Maren Morris and “That’s When” featuring Keith Urban.
“I’ve decided I want you to have the whole story, see the entire vivid picture, and let you into the entire dreamscape that is my Fearless album,” Swift explains of the new songs. “These were the ones it killed me to leave behind.”
Swift is re-recording Fearless and her five other albums from her BMLG days following her split from the label — after the completion of her original record deal, she signed with Universal Music Group in 2018 — and a very public battle over her master recordings.
Revisiting Taylor Swift’s ‘Fearless’ Era:
Released when she was 18 years old, Fearless was Swift’s sophomore album. The best-selling album of 2009, it spent 11 weeks at the top of the all-genre Billboard 200, has been certified Diamond by the RIAA and is one of the best-selling albums of the 21st century.
Fearless was a hit at awards shows, too: In 2009, it was named CMA and ACM Album of the Year, as well as Favorite Country Album at the American Music Awards. At the 2010 Grammy Awards, Swift won Best Country Album and the all-genre Album of the Year honor for the record.
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