The 18-year-old country wunderkind, whose eponymous debut is the Energizer Bunny of the Billboard 200, announced today that her follow-up album, Fearless, will drop Nov. 11.
Swift wrote or cowrote all of Fearless' 13 tracks, including the Colbie Caillat collaboration "Breathe," the coming-of-age scorcher "Fifteen" (first heard at the Country Music Hall of Fame last fall) and "Change," which will be in heavy rotation the next couple weeks—Team USA and NBC selected it for use in the daily Summer Olympics highlight reels.
Swift is also set to launch a Stephen Colbert-esque new site, called TheTaylorNation.com. Beginning Aug. 22, fans will be able to preorder Fearless and become eligible to get their mugs on the album cover.
The first 10,000 fans to order a limited box-set edition can upload their photos for a mosaic image to be featured on the artwork and CD. The deluxe set includes the Fearless CD, a leather bracelet, T-shirt, picture book and a Taylor Nation decal, all shipped in special packaging.
After releasing her debut album at age 17, Swift became the first female solo artist to score five top-10 country hits from a rookie release. With the irresistibly poppy "Our Song," she also became the youngest person to write and sing a No. 1 country hit on her own, and she's country music's first solo female artist to write or cowrite every song on a platinum-certified debut.
The self-titled release currently ranks at No. 13 in its 93rd week on the Billboard 200 and has sold nearly 3.3 million copies. (Her recent Wal-Mart exclusive EP, Beautiful Eyes, currently sits at No. 16, giving her two current top 20 albums.)
Swift's debut album wasn't just the No. 9 bestselling album of last year, it's currently No. 6 for 2008, ahead of Leona Lewis and Usher.
On top of all this, Swift won the CMA Horizon Award, the ACM Top New Female Vocalist award, a trio of CMT Music Awards trophies, including Video of the Year, and just scored the Teen Choice Award for Breakout Artist. Last February, she was nominated for the Best New Artist Grammy.
And if she does decide to go to college, that'll make for one heck of an application.
(E! Online articles will no longer appear on Yahoo! after Fri., Aug. 15, but you can always find them at www.eonline.com.)
Taylor made? All eyes on Swift at CMA awards
Nov 9, 2009 1:33 pm PST
Kenny Chesney has made the very hard work of dominating country music look easy. And Taylor Swift is paying close attention. The 19-year-old sensation has the record sales. She beat out every living artist — no matter the genre &...
Taylor Swift first U.S. tour dates sell in minutes
Oct 23, 2009 10:00 am PDT
Tickets to four of country singer Taylor Swift's 2010 tour dates sold out in two minutes after going on sale on Friday, her publicists said. All tickets released on Friday for 15 U.S. shows in the 19 year-old singer's 2010 Fearles...
AP: Taylor Swift to host 'Saturday Night Live'
Oct 15, 2009 9:00 am PDT
Taylor Swift will have the stage to herself next month — with no interruptions — when she hosts "Saturday Night Live." The only question is: Who will play Kanye West? Last month, West hijacked Swift's acceptance speech after ...
Taylor Swift on cloud 9 after 6 AMA nods
Oct 14, 2009 9:00 am PDT
Taylor Swift says she is "absolutely walking on a cloud" over her six nominations for the American Music Awards. "I've never been nominated six times for any award show," the country star said Tuesday before a benefit concert in Nashville...
Beyonce sued by Abercrombie & Fitch over fragrance
Sep 16, 2009 4:00 pm PDT
Fierce is the battle against a pop diva's perfume. Abercrombie & Fitch, the apparel chain known for its racy marketing and casual look, has sued Beyonce Knowles to try and stop the singer from launching a new line of fragrances. In a...