To say Taylor Swift is an innovator seems to now sound like an understatement, considering the breadth of her work and the lasting impact it has brought forth to the world right now.
Releasing ten studio albums, in the midst of re-recording her old ones, touring the country with sold-out arena shows, and breaking (and setting) history-making statistics, is something that Taylor Swift does on the side, all while she's already thinking of the next big thing she is about to put out.
At the 2023 iHeartRadio Music Awards, Swift was recognized with the Innovator Award, a prestigious honor recognizing her for the innovation she had done in the music and entertainment space.
In a touching video and introduction, many artists have shared their kind words about the person endearingly called by many "the music industry."
Taylor Swift iHeartRadio Music Awards Introduction
Phoebe Bridgers, one of the very few female collaborators of Swift and a guest star on her record-breaking "The Eras" tour, is the one who introduced the award to Swift.
Bridgers recalled that when she was listening to country radio back then with her mom, one of Swift's songs came on - saying that she heard a girl older than her singing a song about her life, who she thought was something that she wanted to for herself.
Eventually, Bridgers followed her gut and became the singer-songwriter like Swift that she is today.
"She has always written songs about exactly where she is," Bridgers admitted. "I'm grateful to have grown up in a world with Taylor Swift in it. Or 'The World (Taylor's Version).'"
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Right after she shared her recollection of hearing Swift for the first time and her impact on her very own songwriting journey, a video was played in honor of Swift.
Country music icon Dolly Parton, her best friend Selena Gomez, Olympic medalist Simone Biles, style icon Jonathan Van Ness, NWSL superstar Alex Morgan, Justin Timberlake, Ed Sheeran, Miles Teller, and Simu Liu shared how Swift is much bigger than the Innovator title - something that she has brilliantly owned early on in her career.
Taylor Swift iHeartRadio Music Awards Speech
In her speech, Swift was very candid about her thoughts on innovation. For her, she never had a single waking moment and said - "You know what I'm gonna do today? I'm gonna innovate stuff."
Hence, Swift revealed that she embraced the hundreds and thousands of "dumb ideas" that she had before she actually ended up on the good ones.
"I want everyone to know - especially young people - that the hundreds and thousands of dumb ideas that I had led me to my good ideas. You have to give yourself permission to fail. I try as hard as I can not to fail because it's embarrassing, but I give myself permission to," she said.
Apart from taking home the Innovator Award, Swift also took home the Song of the Year and Best Lyrics for "Anti-Hero," Favorite Use of a Sample for "Question...?," and TikTok Bop of the Year for "Bejeweled."
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