Hit Parade: Taylors Version of Country, Part 1
Taylor Swift\u2019s new album is a reboot of an old album: Fearless, her 2008 chart-topping juggernaut that made her the biggest star on the Billboard charts. But Fearless (Taylor\u2019s Version)\u2014filled with banjos, steel guitars and fiddles\u2014is also a reminder for those who forgot: Swift was once the top act in country music, too. From Dolly Parton to Shania Twain, the Chicks to Faith Hill, no country artist has ever crossed over to pop the way Taylor did, utterly dominating one genre before she took over another.\n\xa0\nIn this episode, Chris Molanphy focuses on Taylor: the country years, dissecting how she gradually, step by step, became the new queen of pop one irresistible song at a time. She went from interviewing bigger stars on MTV\u2019s red carpet one year, to being the talk of the Video Music Awards the next\u2014even before Kanye took that microphone away from her. He told Taylor he would let her finish, but the game was already over. Swift had the most played song in the USA.\n\xa0\nPodcast production by Asha Saluja, with help from Rosemary Belson.\nLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices