Taylor Swift Refers to Herself as a ‘Geriatric’ Pop Star
Love it or hate it, Taylor Swift has hit a home run with her new album, Midnights. Her 10th studio album received a five-star rating from Rolling Stone. She also broke the record for the most-streamed album in a day in Spotify history. Furthermore, if her sales and streams continue, she is projected to become the first artist to occupy the top 10 spaces of the Billboard Hot 100. But even at this point in her career, Swift seems to be surprised by her staggering success. And it seems a fair amount of that surprise is due to her age and how long she’s been on top.
Taylor Swift has broken records with her new album, ‘Midnights’
Swifties have always been extremely loyal to the “Bigger Than the Whole Sky” singer. And their support for Swift’s newest album is certainly no exception. Midnights is on track to sell over 1 million copies in its first week. It also became the best-selling album of the year in a single day. While appearing on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Swift got candid about her reaction to how her latest record is being received.
The ‘Bejeweled’ singer is surprised that she’s still having such success at her age
“I’m feeling very overwhelmed by the fans’ love for the record,” Swift admitted. “I’m also feeling, like, very soft and fragile. The two can exist at once. But the fact that the fans have done this –like, the breaking of the records…and the going out to the stores and getting it…” Continuing on, the folklore artist shared that she was especially surprised by her continued success due to her age.
“I’m 32,” Swift asserted. “So, we’re considered geriatric pop stars. They start trying to put us out to pasture at 25. I’m just happy to be here.” Of course, 32 is still so very young, and Swift’s friend Fallon was quick to remind her of that. “Oh, you’re just getting started, buddy,” the late-night host stated. But being pushed out of the music industry due to her age is something that Swift has worried about for years.
Swift has spoken about her fears of people losing interest in her and her music due to her age
Having gotten her start in her teens, Swift has been in the spotlight for half her life. Like any celebrity, her popularity has ebbed and flowed. However, she’s shown tremendous longevity overall, arguably getting more popular with age. But Swift has asserted that she feels that the music industry doesn’t tolerate older female pop stars very well. In her documentary, Miss Americana, she spoke about the women in her industry constantly having to reinvent themselves in order to stay relevant and keep their jobs.
“I just really don’t want to do this after people get tired of me,” Swift shared in the film. “I want to know where that line is.” Continuing on “the 1” singer explained that if she overstayed her welcome, she would go and write songs for other artists. Swift has even talked about a fear of being aged out in her songs. Her tune “Nothing New” speaks about her fear of people losing interest in her in favor of a younger ingenue. But it seems that Swift’s fans are proving to her that age is nothing but a number. Clearly, her success isn’t stopping anytime soon.
