Taylor Swift: Career Growth
Feb 2001: Wrote her first full-length song, 'Lucky You'
June 2002: Signed a development deal with RCA Records at 14 years old
Sept 2002: Wrote her first set of songs with Liz Rose
May 2003: Began recording demos with Nathan Chapman
June 2004: Walked away from RCA Records after being told she couldn't record an album until she was 18 years old
Aug 2004: Became the youngest songwriter ever to be hired by the Sony/ATV Tree publishing house
Mar 2005: Performed at an industry showcase at The Bluebird Cafe and got noticed and ultimately signed by Scott Borchetta on Big Machine Records
June 2005: Interned as an artist escort at the CMA Music Festival
Sept 2005: Began working on her debut album
June 2006: Released her very first single, 'Tim McGraw', which has since sold over 1 million copies and has been certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America
Oct 2006: Released her eponymous debut album, selling 39,000 copies in its first week
Nov 2006: Opened for Rascal Flatts on the final nine dates of their Me & My Gang Tour
Dec 2006: Began promoting her debut album on a radio tour and made various TV appearances including on The Grand Ole Opry and Good Morning America
Feb 2007: Released the second single from her album, 'Teardrops On My Guitar', which peaked at number 13 on the Billboard Hot 100
Jul 2007: Was named the Nashville Songwriters Association's Songwriter/Artist of the Year, becoming the youngest person ever to be honored with the title
Sept 2007: Released her third single, 'Our Song', which shot to number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, making her the youngest person in history to single-handedly write and sing a number-one country song
Oct 2007: Released a holiday album, 'Sounds of the Season: The Taylor Swift Holiday Collection'
Dec 2007: Won the Country Music Association's Horizon Award for Best New Artist, claiming it to be "the highlight of her senior year" in her acceptance speech
Mar 2008: Opened for Rascal Flatts again on their Still Feels Good Tour
Jul 2008: Began promoting her second album on various chat shows including The Ellen DeGeneres Show, which dedicated a whole episode to the album's launch
Sept 2008: Released her upcoming second album's lead single, 'Love Story', which became the second-best-selling country single of all time and became her trademark track
Nov 2008: Released her second studio album, 'Fearless'
Dec 2008: Released her second single from the album, 'White Horse'
Feb 2009: 'Fearless' debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 Album Chart with sales of 592,304 in its first week, becoming the top-selling album of 2009
Apr 2009: Released her third single from the album, 'You Belong With Me'
Apr 2009: Began her debut 105-date world tour, The Fearless Tour, which grossed $63,705,590 with 1,138,977 fans in attendance
Aug 2009: Released her fourth single from the album, 'Fifteen'
Sept 2009: Became the first country music artist to win an MTV Video Music Award when "You Belong with Me" was named Best Female Video, but her speech was interrupted by Kanye West
Jan 2010: Released the fifth and final single from her second album, its title track, 'Fearless'
Jan 2010: Won four Grammy Awards from eight nominations including Album Of The Year, making her the youngest person ever to achieve that
Feb 2010: Began promoting her upcoming third album on various talk shows and gave free mini-concerts in unusual locations, including on an open-decker bus on Hollywood Boulevard and a departure lounge at JFK airport
Aug 2010: Released her third album's lead single, 'Mine'
Oct 2010: Became the youngest ever artist and one of only six women to be named Entertainer of the Year by the Country Music Association
Oct 2010: Released her third studio album, 'Speak Now', which sold 1,047,000 copies in its first week and became the fifth biggest debut in history for a female artist
Nov 2010: Released the album's second single, 'Back To December'
Feb 11: Began her second tour, the Speak Now World Tour, which earned $97 million from 89 shows and 1.6 million fans
Mar 11: Her debut album was re-calculated to have sold 5.5 million copies worldwide
Mar 11: Released her third album's third single, 'Mean'
Apr 11: Released her third album's fourth single, 'The Story Of Us'
Jun 11: Was named Songwriter/Artist of the Year by the Nashville Songwriters Association
Jun 11: Released her third album's fifth single, 'Sparks Fly', with its music video of the ongoing world tour
Oct 11: Was named Entertainer of the Year by the Academy of Country Music and Entertainer of the Year by the Country Music Association
Dec 11: Released her third album's six and final single, 'Ours', a bonus track which went on to peak at number one on the Billboard Country Songs Chart
Dec 11: Was named Billboard's Woman Of The Year
Feb 12: Won Best Country Song for 'Mean' at the 54th Annual Grammy Awards, which she later performed live
Jul 12: Contributed two original songs to 'The Hunger Games' soundtrack album, 'Safe and Sound' and 'Eyes Open'
Aug 12: Announced her upcoming fourth studio album via a livestream online chat and released the album's lead single, 'We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together', which became her first number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart
Sept 12: Released her fourth album's second single, 'Begin Again'
Oct 12: Released her fourth studio album, 'Red', selling 1.21 million copies in its first week and becoming the third biggest debut in history for a female artist and the fastest-selling album in over a decade
Oct 12: Released her fourth album's third single, 'I Knew You Were Trouble'
Mar 13: Began her third world tour, The Red Tour, for which she played 86 dates and was attended by over 1.7 million fans, grossing just over $150 million
Mar 13: Released her fourth album's fourth single, '22'
May 13: 'Red' was re-calculated to have sold 6 million copies worldwide
Jul 13: Released her fourth album's fifth single, co-written and performed with Ed Sheeran, 'Everything Has Changed'
Oct 13: Co-wrote and released 'Sweeter Than Fiction' for the 'One Chance' movie, which received a Best Original Song nomination at the 71st Golden Globe Awards
Oct 13: Released her fourth album's sixth single, 'The Last Time'
Nov 13: Was honored by the Country Music Association with a special Pinnacle Award for "unique" levels of success, presented by various country artists and friends including Tim McGraw, George Strait and Faith Hill
Jan 14: 'Safe and Sound' won Best Song Written For Visual Media at the Grammy Awards
Feb 14: Began The 1989 Secret Sessions, where she invited groups of fans from different countries into each of her houses to listen to her upcoming album prior to its release
Aug 14: Announced her upcoming fifth album via another livestream online chat, claiming it to be her "first documented pop album", and released the album's lead single, 'Shake It Off'
Aug 14: 'Shake It Off' instantly reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 after being made available on iTunes
Oct 14: Released her fifth studio album, '1989', which debuted at number one on the U.S. Billboard 200 and sold 1.287 million copies during the first week of release
Nov 14: Released the album's second single, 'Blank Space'
Dec 14: '1989' became the best-selling album of 2014, selling 3.66 million copies in only three months
Dec 14: Was again named Billboard's Woman Of Year, the only artist to be awarded this title twice
Jan 15: '1989' became the highest-selling first-week album from a female artist ever, topping Britney Spears' 'Oops I Did It Again' from back in 2000
Feb 15: Released the album's third single, 'Style'
Feb 15: '1989' was re-calculated and has been said to have sold 8.6 million copies worldwide
Mar 15: Became the first artist in history to have three consecutive albums sell over 1 million copies in their first week
Mar 15: 'Shake It Off' was nominated for three Grammy Awards including Record of the Year and Song of the Year
Apr 15: She was named by Time magazine as one of the 2015 Time 100 in the "Icons" category
Apr 15: Was one of only eight artists to receive a 50th Anniversary Milestone Award at the Academy of Country Music Awards
May 15: Released the album's fourth remixed single, 'Bad Blood', premiering the official music video at the start of the Billboard Music Awards
May 15: Began her fourth concert tour, The 1989 World Tour, from which only five shows from the North American run (May 20–June 6 2015) generated a total of $16.8 million from 149,708 ticket sales
Jun 15: Wrote to Apple Music, criticizing how it doesn't offer royalties to artists during the streaming service's free three-month trial period. A day later, Apple changed their policy.
July 15: '1989' became the fastest selling album in more than a decade