Gary Miller/FilmMagicIt says a lot about Taylor Swift‘s power in the pop culture world that she can go a whole year without releasing any music — under her own name, that is — but still dominate the headlines, though not always in a good way. Here are some of the things Taylor did in 2016:
— In February of 2016, Taylor won three Grammys, including her second Album of the Year Grammy, for 1989. That made her first female artist ever to win twice in that category. During her acceptance speech, she appeared to take a swipe at Kanye West‘s “Famous” lyric, in which he took credit for her fame, warning girls that “there are going to be people along the way who are going to try to undercut your success or take credit for your accomplishments or your fame.”
— In April, Taylor poked fun at herself by starring in a viral ad for Apple Music, which featured her running on a treadmill while lip-syncing to the song “Jumpman” by rappers Drake and Future, and wiping out hard. In November, Drake made his own version of the ad, in which he lifted weights to “Bad Blood” until he wiped out.
— In June, Taylor split up with Scottish deejay/producer Calvin Harris, whom she’d dated for 18 months. A month later, she was seen kissing Thor actor Tom Hiddleston. The couple, dubbed “Hiddleswift,” also flew to Europe and Australia together, and posed for a series of lovey-dovey Instagram pics. The whole thing seemed so abrupt that some believed it was actually part of an elaborate video shoot. The two broke up in September.
— In July, news broke that Taylor had co-written Calvin’s hit with Rihanna, “This Is What You Came For,” under a pseudonym, at her request. Calvin acknowledged Taylor’s contribution, but then bashed her and her team for trying to “make ME look bad.” He tweeted, “I figure if you’re happy in your new relationship you should focus on that instead of trying to tear your ex bf down for something to do. I know you’re off tour and you need someone new to try and bury like Katy…but I’m not that guy, sorry.” This marked the first-ever confirmation that Taylor and Katy Perry were, indeed, in a long-rumored feud.
— Also in July, it was Taylor vs. Kanye Round Two, with an assist from Kim Kardashian. In a GQ cover story, Kim said that in a phone call, Taylor had “approved” the line in Kanye’s song “Famous,” “I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex/Why? I made that b***h famous.” Kanye had said as much in February, but her rep denied that he’d ever called Taylor. Then, Kim released video of the call on Snapchat, which showed Taylor discussing the song enthusiastically. Taylor fired back, saying Kanye never actually played her the song, or told her that he planned to call her a b***h. “I would very much like to be excluded from this narrative,” she wrote.
— In September, Taylor’s BFF Gigi Hadid told Entertainment Tonight that the singer was working on new music. This started speculation that the singer would drop a surprise album at the end of October to coincide with the 10-year anniversary of her self-titled debut, but it never happened.
— In October, Taylor announced she’d signed a huge deal with AT&T which, among other things, would see her performing at DirecTV’s annual pre-Super Bowl concert, scheduled to take place in Houston in February of 2014. Also in October, Taylor performed her first real concert of 2016, at the Formula 1 United States Grand Prix in Austin, Texas. Some 80,000 fans watched her sing 15 songs, including the Calvin Harris co-write, “This Is What You Came For.” Also in October, Taylor won Halloween by dressing like Deadpool…in the actual Deadpool outfit her pal Ryan Reynolds wore in the movie.
— In November, AT&T announced that Taylor would have her own “on-demand video experience” called Taylor Swift Now, on all of its video platforms and apps, featuring exclusive original content. Also in November, Taylor topped Forbes’ list of the highest-paid musician in the world, thanks to a haul of $170 million. Additionally, it was revealed that month that Taylor had written “Better Man,” the new single from superstar country group Little Big Town. They performed the song at the 50th annual CMA Awards, where Taylor herself was on hand to present the award for Entertainer of the Year to Garth Brooks.
— In December, Taylor Swift Now went live on the singer’s 27th birthday with 13 video chapters, including “That One Time…I Was Nostalgic,” about the people who have been with Taylor since the beginning of her career, and “That One Time…I Surprised My Fans,” about Taylor sending gifts to her fans and showing up when they aren’t expecting her.
— Also in December, Taylor released a surprise duet: she teamed up with ex-One Direction member Zayn Malik for “I Don’t Wanna Live Forever,” from the soundtrack of the upcoming movie Fifty Shades Darker.
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