Taylor Swift accepts award for Entertainer of the Year at the 45th annual CMA Awards at the Bridgestone Arena on November 9, 2011 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Rick Diamond/Getty Images)

Taylor Swift has been a force in the music industry since her self-titled debut in 2006. In 2011 alone, Taylor toured the world, tripped the 20 million mark on number of albums sold and won numerous awards, including two Entertainer of the Year trophies.

Taylor spent 2011 touring the world on her Speak Now World Tour. Taylor played shows in Asia, Europe, the United States and Canada in 2011 and will take the Broadway-inspired show to Australia and New Zealand in 2012. In total, the tour will have played more than 100 shows once the Australian leg wraps. The Speak Now World Tour was ranked as the fifth-biggest tour of the year by Billboard, behind the likes of U2 and Bon Jovi, grossing $97,368,416 and playing for 1,356,720 fans.

Before a show in London during the European leg of her tour, Taylor was surprised with a plaque commemorating more than 20 million albums sold world wide. Taylor also surpassed more than 40 million digital single downloads in 2011.

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“I’m absolutely blown away by the 20 million records plaque,” Taylor told the Associated Press. “It’s just sort of beyond my comprehension to get a plaque like that. The fact that the fans have done that much for me in such a short period of time is just unreal and I’m so excited and so thankful.” Continue Reading

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Taylor Swift accepts Country Favorite Female Artist award onstage at the 2011 American Music Awards held at Nokia Theatre L.A. LIVE on November 20, 2011 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)

Taylor Swift’s winning streak continued as she swept the fan-voted American Music Awards, taking home the top prize for Artist of the Year. She was also named Favorite Country Female Artist and her Speak Now album was voted Favorite Country Album.

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“I ended up writing the record by myself, so the fact that you would honor it this way, you have no idea what this means to me,” Taylor said after receiving the trophy for Favorite Country Album, presented to her by  Josh Kelley and his wife, Katherine Heigl. After the show, she took to Twitter to express her excitement.

“I had one of the most magical nights with my friends tonight! Hopping on a red eye to play our last 2 shows at Madison Square Garden!!” she tweeted . Taylor also received congratulations via Twitter from her pal Katy Perry as well as from Martina McBride.  Continue Reading

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Taylor Swift photo courtesy of Big Machine Records.

Taylor Swift and The Band Perry are the most nominated country acts for the 2011 American Music Awards. Nominated for three awards each, the awards will air live on ABC on November 20.

Taylor is nominated as Favorite Female Artist and Favorite Album in the country category as well as for the all-genre Artist of the Year Award which she won in 2009. The Band Perry is up for Favorite Band, Duo or Group and Favorite Album as well as Sprint New Artist of the Year. Any win for Taylor will be a repeat win for her in the category, while these are the first AMA nominations for The Band Perry. Continue Reading

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Taylor Swift photo courtesy of Big Machine Records.

Taylor Swift has been named Billboard’s Woman of the Year. At 21, Taylor is the youngest artist in history to receive the honor. She will be presented with the award during the 2011 Billboard Women in Music event on December 2 in New York City.

“Taylor has shown the power of good songwriting with music that has transcended genres, and we’re thrilled to recognize all of her successes over the past year by honoring her with the Billboard Woman of the Year Award,” Bill Werde, Billboard‘s Editorial Director, said. “At the young age of 21, Taylor has already made a major impact on music and has been an incredible role model for aspiring singers/songwriters and young women everywhere. I look forward to watching her career continue to flourish in the years to come.”

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Gloriana photo courtesy of Emblem Records.

Just over a week ago the 2009 American Music Awards were handed out and Gloriana took home the all-genre, fan-voted award for “Breakthrough Artist of the Year.”   During the acceptance speech lead singer Tom Gossin said “we’re Gloriana from Nashville, Tenn., we’re a country group. Could we get a show of hands of everybody that just said, ‘Who the heck is Gloriana?’ Well, you’re not alone.”   If you’re wondering too, GAC’s upcoming presentation of INTRODUCING: Gloriana might just help.

GAC takes fans up close and behind the scenes to help tell the story behind one of country’s hottest new bands.  Viewers can learn about the pact Tom Gossin made with younger brother Mike.  “We promised each other, we were, like, ‘We’ll play anywhere for any amount of money; we’ll play for dinner, let’s just play as much as we can.’”  Ten dues-paying years later the brothers moved to Nashville, a move that has clearly served them well. Continue Reading

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Taylor Swift gives her acceptance speech live from London via satellite during the 2009 American Music Awards help on November 22 broadcast live on ABC from the NOKIA Theatre in L.A. Photo courtesy of ABC. Photo credit Craig Sjodin.

Just over a week ago at the 43rd Annual CMA Awards show held on November 11, Taylor Swift took home four big awards, including ‘Entertainer of the Year’.  Tonight, at the 2009 American Music Awards (AMAs) Taylor one-upped herself.

The AMAs were broadcast live on ABC from the NOKIA Theatre in Los Angeles and featured a wild cross section of awards and performances ranging across all of today’s most popular genres of music.  Outside the country specific categories, it was country that took home the night’s major all-genre awards. The five awards  Taylor Swift took home included:  ‘Artist of the Year’, ‘Favorite Pop/Rock Female Artist’, ‘Favorite Country Female Artist’, ‘Favorite Adult Contemporary Artist’, and ‘Favorite Country Album’.

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One of the big surprises of the night came when new group Gloriana took home the AMA for  ‘Breakthrough Artist of the Year’, beating out Lady Gaga, Keri Hilson and Kid Cudi.  Gloriana, comprised of brothers Tom and Mike Gossin, Rachel Reinert and Cheyenne Kimball,  got their big break this year opening for Taylor Swift. The band gave thanks saying, “We’ve got so many people to thank … starting with Miss Taylor Swift. She believed in us and took us out on tour this year before anybody knew who we were, so thank you, Taylor.”

Taylor Swift beat out Kings of Leon, Lady Gaga, Eminem and the late Michael Jackson for the Artist of the Year award.  After receiving the final award of the night, a shocked and emotional Taylor had this to say via satellite from London where she was rehearsing for an upcoming show at Wembley Stadium. Continue Reading

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Keith Urban photo courtesy of Capitol Nashville.

The dust has barely settled here in Nashville from last week’s 43rd Annual CMA Awards Show and here we go again, sort of…

The 2009 American Music Awards will air this Sunday, November 22 at 8 p.m. CT on ABC LIVE from the NOKIA Theatre in L.A.  The AMA’s honor artists in the categories of Pop/Rock, Country, Rap/Hip-Hop, Soul/R&B, Alternative, Adult Contemporary, Latin and Contemporary Inspirational.   For the third year in a row, the winners are determined by fan voting.  Voting has already closed for all the major categories with the exception of the “Breakthrough Artist Award.”  Fans that want to show their love of country can vote for Gloriana in this category all the way up until show time. Continue Reading

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Taylor Swift photo courtesy of Big Machine Records.

The American Music Awards! The Musicians Hall of Fame! The CMA Broadcast Awards! The Inspirational Country Music Awards!

Another wave of awards news rolled in this week. As always (unless Kanye West is involved), that means something good for Taylor Swift. This time around is no exception: Taylor snagged a total of six nominations Tuesday in the American Music Awards, putting her ahead of Michael Jackson, Eminem and a gaggle of pop and rock stars in the all-genre competition.

Taylor entertained her way into the Pop or Rock Music field and the Adult Contemporary category in addition to garnering expected country tabs. The Zac Brown Band snared a pair of country nods plus a nomination for T-Mobile Breakthrough Artist. Rascal Flatts was also a double nominee for the show, which airs on ABC Nov. 22.

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