Time Dubs Taylor Swift the 'Main Character of the World'

To say that 2023 was a good year for Taylor Swift would be a gross understatement, and Time just made it even more so. The magazine chose the 33-year-old singer as its Person of the Year for 2023. The pick was announced on the Today show, which notes that Time's 96th pick marks the first time a solo entertainer has been chosen. Bono got the nod in 2005, but he was one of a group of philanthropists honored. Here's an excerpt from the magazine's profile by Sam Lansky:

• "Swift's accomplishments as an artist—culturally, critically, and commercially—are so legion that to recount them seems almost beside the point. As a pop star, she sits in rarefied company, alongside Elvis Presley, Michael Jackson, and Madonna; as a songwriter, she has been compared to Bob Dylan, Paul McCartney, and Joni Mitchell. As a businesswoman, she has built an empire worth, by some estimates, over $1 billion. And as a celebrity—who by dint of being a woman is scrutinized for everything from whom she dates to what she wears—she has long commanded constant attention and knows how to use it. ("I don't give Taylor advice about being famous," Stevie Nicks tells me. "She doesn't need it.") But this year, something shifted. To discuss her movements felt like discussing politics or the weather—a language spoken so widely it needed no context. She became the main character of the world."

The New York Times notes Swift beat out eight others for the honor; those finalists were King Charles III, Xi Jinping, the Hollywood actors and writers who went on strike, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell, Vladimir Putin, the prosecutors who have brought charges against former President Trump, and Barbie. In announcing the selection on Today, the magazine's editor in chief, Sam Jacobs, had this to say: "Picking one person who represents the eight billion people on the planet is no easy task. We picked a choice that represents joy. Someone who's bringing light to the world. She was like weather, she was everywhere." (Read the profile in full—yes, she talks about her relationship with Travis Kelce—and see the cover shots, here.)