The Legacy of a Showgirl: A Glance through Taylor Swift’s Career

By Kiera Garcia | November 10, 2025

   Photo Credit: Ronald Woan | Flickr 

Following the release of her new album, The Life of a Showgirl and announcement of her Disney Plus docuseries about the Eras Tour, Taylor Swift has become a popular subject of discussion. Swift has truly experienced the life of a showgirl throughout her career. Starting as a young girl singing on her Christmas tree farm to a self-made billionaire performing at sold out stadiums, she has created a legacy that expands beyond herself. Catching the eyes of generations of listeners, she has arguably one of the strongest and dedicated fanbases. Throughout her life, she has faced praise and criticism towards not only her music but also her life. 

Swift has switched genres multitudes of times, showcasing her musical diversity and adaptability. Her most recent shift being from her synth pop and lyrically advanced album The Tortured Poets Department, to her modern pop album The Life of a Showgirl. These shifts have also been met with heavy criticism. In her speech during her award for Billboard’s Woman of the Decade in 2019, she discussed all the criticism she received. Swift dwells on how she was criticized for her albums and the stories that occurred behind the scenes of these albums. The criticism towards her love life directly impacted her relationships alongside her writing. She discussed her first genre switch from her country album Red to her first pop album 1989. This stemmed directly from comments from people saying that she had too many breakup songs. After all the criticism she received and constantly conforming to what society wanted from her, she vanished from the public eye for years. After her vanishing, she came out of hiding and released a new album entitled Reputation that showcased self-discovery and emerging as a new version of herself.  Throughout these shifts and the criticism that followed her, we see how she used it in order to leave an honest and diverse legacy that follows her. 

From March 17, 2023 to Dec. 8, 2024, Taylor Swift held her biggest tour, one that housed her discography, The Eras Tour. This tour may be one of Swift’s biggest accomplishments yet, breaking records and creating an uproar across the globe. The Eras Tour not only traveled through Swift’s discography but also the world and tickets for every city went unbelievably quick. Grossing over two billion dollars, the tour made its mark. Following this event also came a new topic “Swiftonomics” that showcased how great of an impact The Eras Tour had on the economy. People flocked to each city Swift occupied, congregating in hotels and engaging in activities in their cities, impacting the globe's economy.

The presence this tour held illustrates just how dedicated and passionate “Swifties” are. Swift attracted this fan base with her lyricism and honesty about the narrative she follows. A prime example of this is Swift’s song “I Can Do It With a Broken Heart” which she released during the Eras Tour. This song reflected her  experience dealing with her public breakup while on tour. Throughout the song she contradicts this heartbreaking experience with an upbeat song about the struggle of putting on a brave face for the sake of her show. Swift constantly connects with her fans and allows them to relate to and share her experiences. 

Swift has lived a life of fortune and fame for over a decade, capturing the gaze of millions of individuals throughout her time as a performer. She has created one of the largest legacies for herself, executing it in a humble and graceful way all while staying true to herself and her own narrative. This transparency makes a great contribution to her growing popularity and fanbase. Throughout her discography, Swift has noted her flaws and faults, promoting her integrity and awareness that she is not perfect, therefore attracting more fans. This life and legacy she created has struck the globe and is ensured to be observed for years to come.