This year, Taylor Swift crushed it. Early in her career, Swift conquered Nashville by tapping into a previously unrecognized audience: teenage girls who listen to country. That acute connection to her audience and sheer will power have carried her through to become one of the biggest pop stars alive.
What separates Swift from Beyonce or Katy Perry is that she makes her fans believe any one of them could be her, too. Swift frequently talks and acts like a goofy teen, but happens to have remarkable songwriting craft, and she knows how to meld the two into a potent force (this will likely be her first year making over $100 million on touring).
She's also a savvy marketer, bringing celebrity gal-pal guests (everyone from Selena Gomez to Julia Roberts) on stage to reinforce her message of female solidarity. For all of this, she has been called "calculating," to which Swift has a canny defense: As she told GQ, "Am I shooting from the hip? Would any of this have happened if I was?" She has a good point.