I feel like this is a new phenomenon though? I grew up with Taylor Swift, like I was in 8th grade when the Kanye VMAs things happened, and I definitely remember her being a huge artist and a lot of people being into her, but on this level? Like Beyhive, Barbz level, defend her to the death stans? That I don’t remember.
edit: now that I’ve been sent back into early 2010s nostalgia, yeah I feel like Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, Nicki Minaj, Beyonce were all bigger than her. Especially among (what would become) the queer community, which is interesting now that Taylor seems to have a good deal of currency among the queer community. Tbh most of the people I remember talking about her back then were straight dudes, but that could also be a function of hanging around mostly straight dudes. But the girls and (future) gays seemed more drawn to Lady Gaga and Nicki.
Boy bands and even single acts have gotten crazed fanbases since the 20th century. And K-Pop bands/stars have that in the 21st century.
Taylor Swift definitely wasn’t an international, influential celebrity back in the day, so yes it’s new in that sense. But I was referring more to this type of celebrity and fandom in general, which isn’t new.
I feel like this is a new phenomenon though? I grew up with Taylor Swift, like I was in 8th grade when the Kanye VMAs things happened, and I definitely remember her being a huge artist and a lot of people being into her, but on this level? Like Beyhive, Barbz level, defend her to the death stans? That I don’t remember.
edit: now that I’ve been sent back into early 2010s nostalgia, yeah I feel like Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, Nicki Minaj, Beyonce were all bigger than her. Especially among (what would become) the queer community, which is interesting now that Taylor seems to have a good deal of currency among the queer community. Tbh most of the people I remember talking about her back then were straight dudes, but that could also be a function of hanging around mostly straight dudes. But the girls and (future) gays seemed more drawn to Lady Gaga and Nicki.
Boy bands and even single acts have gotten crazed fanbases since the 20th century. And K-Pop bands/stars have that in the 21st century.
Taylor Swift definitely wasn’t an international, influential celebrity back in the day, so yes it’s new in that sense. But I was referring more to this type of celebrity and fandom in general, which isn’t new.