US superstar: This is all part of Taylor Swift’s universe

In a few days, US superstar Taylor Swift is coming to Germany. Hundreds of thousands of fans are looking forward to her concerts in Gelsenkirchen (17 to 19 July), Hamburg (23 and 24 July) and Munich (27 and 28 July). The 34-year-old has created her own universe around her music – what is behind the successful singer-songwriter?

Mom, dad and brother Austin – who supports her

Swift comes from a relatively wealthy family. Her father worked as an asset manager, and her mother was a marketing executive until she was born. They named their daughter after the singer James Taylor. Her little brother Austin was born around two years after Swift’s birth. From an early age, her parents drove her to local performances around her hometown of Wyomissing – a town of 11,000 people in Pennsylvania.

As a teenager, she and her family moved to Nashville, Tennessee, the world capital of country music. Even today, her brother and parents support Swift and attend concerts. According to reports, both her parents and her brother now work on her team. Swift took her parents with her to the after-show party at the Superbowl in February, as she herself showed in a video on Tiktok. The singer has dedicated several songs to her mother. The song “Soon You’ll Get Better,” for example, is about her battle with cancer.

Travis Kelce – To whom her heart belongs

After a few relationships – including with some celebrities – Swift has been dating American football player Travis Kelce for almost a year. The 34-year-old plays for the Kansas City Chiefs in the National Football League (NFL) and won three Super Bowls with the team. Kissing pictures of the couple went around the world, especially after their Super Bowl victory in February.

Joint romantic vacations and mutual visits to concerts and football stadiums – both present their love publicly. In the coming year, the two might have a little more time for each other. While the new NFL season, which starts on September 5th, ends with the Superbowl on February 9th, 2025, Swift is scheduled to end her world tour in Vancouver on December 8th, 2024.

“Girlsquad” – Who are their best friends

Swift’s private life doesn’t just make headlines when it comes to love. Her so-called Girl Squad, consisting of models, musicians and actresses, has cult status. Swift likes to bring celebrities together in a high-profile way. Be it at her legendary parties on the occasion of the US Independence Day on the 4th of July, her birthday parties or in the stands of the NFL, where parts of the “Girl Squad” cheered on the team of Swift’s partner Kelce – for example actress Blake Lively. And of course her friends – as well as numerous other celebrities – are regularly seen at the musician’s concerts.

Swift’s clique is famous. Friends like Gigi Hadid, Selena Gomez, Ellie Goulding, Cara Delevingne, Jessica Alba and Lena Dunham have been at the singer’s side for a long time and appeared in the music video for “Bad Blood” in 2015. Pictures of their girls’ outings regularly appear on social media.

Cat-Lady – What animal support she has

In addition to her friends, the singer also has animal companions. Swift is a passionate cat mom and has three house cats at home: the two Scottish Folds Olivia Benson and Meredith Grey and a Ragdoll named Benjamin Button. They are all named after Swift’s favorite TV and film characters. The latter posed with Swift on the cover of Time Magazine in 2023 when the singer was named Person of the Year 2023.

But the spotlight is on cat Olivia Benson. The furry friend not only appears in Taylor’s music videos – including “ME!” and “Blank Space” – but can also be seen in commercials. Swift has also designed a merch collection that is sold under Olivia Benson’s name.

Private jet – How she manages her work-life balance

Swift mainly flies to performances, romantic vacations, or NFL games in a private jet. Despite a concert in Tokyo, she was able to cheer on her loved one in Las Vegas on time on the eve of the Superbowl in February. Last year, Swift is said to have flown around the world around seven times. Her two private jets are expected to have covered 178,000 miles, the equivalent of over 285,000 kilometers, in 2023, as a YouTube video of her flight data shows.

The data was collected by a US computer science student who regularly tracks the movements of a number of celebrities’ planes. He distributes the publicly available data on social media channels. However, Swift and her management seem to be bothered by this. US media reported that lawyers sent the student a cease and desist letter at the end of last year. Swift is said to have sold one of her two jets in February.