During a September 7 sit-down interview with Variety, Elton John compared pop icon Taylor Swift with the boy band The Beatles, describing her as "a phenomenon."
"She is a great songwriter, she is a great artist, she's phenomenal. I've never seen such a phenomenon since The Beatles."
Taylor Swift's Eras Tour broke the record set by Elton John and his Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour, which ran from 2018 to 2023. While Elton John's tour grossed $939 million, Taylor's tour is the first to cross the $1 billion mark, per Pollster's 2023 year-end charts. According to experts, by the time the tour winds up, it could generate more than $4 billion.
In March 2024, Swift surpassed The Beatles on the Billboard chart records for most weeks spent in the top 10 on the Billboard 200 albums chart. While Taylor Swift is making waves around the world with her Eras Tour, news of her revenue generated through the tour has sent the media into a frenzy. Amidst all this, the pop icon is being compared to The Beatles, the band long regarded as the most influential music act in music history.
Who is bigger? Taylor Swift or The Beatles
Many factors go into comparing Taylor Swift's success with The Beatles'. While both pop icons reached fame in different eras, population growth, streaming, social media, and inflation are also considered.
According to News Sky, Swift has more awards than the band. Taylor has 26 Teen Choice Awards, 40 American Music Awards, and 14 wins out of 52 Grammy nominations, while the Beatles have 7 Grammy wins out of 23 nominations.
Taylor's re-recorded version of Fearless topped the UK charts in less than 12 months, breaking The Beatles' long-held record. As per Guinness, while Taylor has around 77 records, The Beatles have 29.
As per Sky News, The Bootleg Beatles, UK's tribute band, while commenting on comparing Taylor's success to The Beatles, said,
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"The music of The Beatles has already stood the test of time. The reaction we get as we continually tour around the UK- we're back this month - and indeed the world is testatment to that. So, while Taylor Swift is undoubtedly a wonderful talent, it's probably 50 years too early to judge her against the Fab Four."
Radio presenter Tom Green noted that "everyone was watching the same thing" in the 1960s during The Beatles' reign, and "it's a lot harder to create something that everyone is looking at." Green also mentioned that while Taylor is "constantly keeping our attention," it's difficult to compare both artists since their music is also subjective.
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