Taylor Swift: The Debut Years

In this exceptional biography, Washington Post reporter Emily Yahr chronicles the formative years of the world's biggest superstar: Taylor Swift. 'It was so obvious she had something. You know, she was 13, and she had that sparkle' - Renee Bell, head of A&R at RCA Records Meet Taylor, 2003. She's a teen who came to Nashville with blisters on her fingers from a 12-string guitar. In every room she enters, she’s the youngest person by decades. And if anyone asked if she could see herself becoming a global superstar, her answer probably would have been yes. Writing alongside industry veterans after school, Taylor’s song-writing skills instantly set her apart. But her origins are more complex than a teen tapping into a new generation of country music fans. It’s a story of taking risks, like walking away from powerhouse label RCA to strike out with a new unknown label, and of trusting her instincts when no one else did. With never-before-published interviews, Washington Post reporter Emily Yahr pulls back the curtain on the country music industry from executives who said yes to Taylor (and those who regret saying no), to collaborators like Scott Borchetta, Nathan Chapman and Liz Rose, to Nashville itself. Taylor Swift: The Debut Years tells the definitive origin story of today’s biggest star, and how she ultimately changed the landscape of country music itself long after she left the genre.