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Magazine cover with Taylor Swift: "Source of Light"

Photograph:

TIME / Inez and Vinoodh

Since 1927, the U.S. magazine »Time« has chosen a person who, in the opinion of the editors, has shaped the year that is coming to an end – for better or for worse. The first "Man of the Year" was Atlantic crosser Charles Lindbergh; Gandhi, Haile Selassie, Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela, 14 US presidents, three popes, dictators such as Hitler or Stalin, groups such as the Hungarian freedom fighters or "the American women" followed.

Pop stars, on the other hand, have rarely enjoyed the honour so far. In 2005, U2's Bono made the front page, not so much as a musician as one of the "good Samaritans," alongside Bill and Melinda Gates. In order to mend the historical injustice, it took a special artist – Taylor Swift.

In 2023, the »Time« editorial team named her »Person of the Year«, the first time a musician was explicitly honored for her artistic work. Swift has little to do with the typical cover characters of the annual balance sheet, the US magazine admits in an accompanying text. Nevertheless, her unique influence shaped the year. "In a divided world where many institutions are failing, Taylor Swift has managed to push boundaries and be a source of light," the editorial board writes.

No one in the world can move as many people as well as she can, it is said about Taylor Swift. She is described as a person who is "both the author and the heroine of her own story." Taylor Swift had an economic impact in 2023, triggered a small earthquake with a concert and was the subject of academic research. Along the way, she broke chart records – also because she had taken her career into her own hands and re-recorded her early albums.

The choice of Taylor Swift was announced by »Time« editor-in-chief Sam Jacobs in the NBC program »Today«. The pre-selection had previously been presented there. These included China's President Xi Jinping, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, Open AI founder Sam Altman, prosecutors in the trials of Donald Trump, movie heroine Barbie, Britain's King Charles III and Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell.

"Choosing a person who represents eight billion people on the planet is not an easy task," said Editor-in-Chief Jacobs. With Taylor Swift, they have made a choice that stands for joy. "It was like the weather," said the editor-in-chief: "it was everywhere."

Feb