Most people know Taylor Swift and Billie Eilish for their music, awards, and performances, but they are so much more than just their songs: both women are excellent role models on what it is to be an outspoken woman in today’s world.
Swift has been in the spotlight since she was 14 years old, and her career has progressed a lot over the past 19 years, switching genres, re-releasing albums, and telling stories through her songs.
Bella Stoppa ‘26 shared, “Swift has forever changed how women in the music industry will live out their careers.”
Her songs are full of truths that speak to fans. Her song, “You’re on Your Own Kid” (YOYOK), in particular stood out to her listeners and inspired them to bring friendship bracelets to The Eras Tour.
As Mischa Ali ‘25 said “ YOYOK” has this effect because “it just kind of details through challenges and battles all the things you can go through in life, you can constantly grow stronger and you’re always going to be your own best friend and your biggest cheerleader.”
She is very dedicated to her music. She is a musician because that is how she shares her stories. Her authenticity is part of the reason for her success. Ms. Desio, English teacher, shared, “I love that she cares so deeply about her craft, stays true to herself and her goals no matter what anyone else says, and keeps her support system close.”
The singer is arguably one of the best lyricists of modern music. As Stoppa explained, “She is a true lyrical genius that is able to connect with any demographic if only people give her the chance.”
When she was only 14 she was signed with Sony/ATV as a songwriter and was scouted by Big Machine Records while performing in Nashville. Her debut platinum album had songs spending weeks on the charts.
Winning Grammys and Video Music Awards (VMAs) for Fearless, her second studio album, she was a big name with huge success from the start.
Her groundbreaking career is an inspiration to other people in the music industry and fans alike.
“She is an inspiration to me because she has never let the haters bring her down. Swift perfectly represents what staying true to yourself and your image can get you,” Stoppa shared.
Even with her success, her career has not come without conflict and setbacks.
A long-running controversy with Kanye West best displays her ability to “Shake It Off” and come back stronger than ever. This feud resulted in West’s wife at the time, Kim Kardashin, calling Swift a “snake” on Twitter, and causing the mid-twenty year old to disappear from the spotlight over a year.
When she reappeared in the public eye, she deleted her entire Instagram page, and started posting about the release of her sixth studio album, reputation. The album and tour following was snake themed, a sign that she was re-owning the term Kardashian used to criticize her, showing that she was here to take back her reputation. The album was darker, and had a whole new sound from her fifth studio album, 1989, which was Album of the Year in 2015.
Her comeback is a sign to all women to not take back down without a fight, and shows you can recover from anything if you own what you did and tell the truth, using the criticism as inspiration. That is what makes her such a good role model.
Swift shows that “if you set your mind to something no matter who and what and where is blocking you or what obstacles you have, you can come back stronger,” Ali said.
Even with pushback from the media and other celebrities, Swift has built an amazing career and maintains a mostly positive image in the public eye.
Before the release of her seventh studio album, Lover, Swift learned that her first six studio albums had been sold to Scooter Braun after she left Big Machine Records. Devastated by learning she no longer had control over her music, she used this as motivation to once again, take back something that was hers.
Even in facing this issue, Swift managed to stay positive, and her song, “Daylight,” exhibits how she can do that. At the end of that songs, there is a recording of her saying, “I wanna be defined by the things that I love, not the things that I hate, not the things that I’m afraid of (afraid of), not the things that haunt me in the middle of the night, I just think that… You are what you love.”
This statement also speaks to fans. “That quote helps me in staying positive and trying to radiate positivity to everyone I meet,” Ms. Desio shared.
She is currently in the process of re-releasing her albums as hers with the addition of “(Taylor’s Version)” to the titles, making some new music videos, releasing songs “From The Vault,” and even making a short film with the elongated version of her song “All Too Well,” “All Too Well (Ten Minute Version) (Taylor’s Version) (From the Vault).”
Fans are currently guessing, or as the Swfities call it “clowning,” for the final two re-releases of Taylor Swift (Taylor’s Version) and reputation (Taylor’s Version). The 14-time Grammy award winner’s fans are always looking forward to what she has in store for them, and she has one of the biggest followings in modern music. As science teacher, Ms. Cromer, said, “She inspired a new way that fans interact not only with the artist, but also with other fans as well.”
The 35-year-old has been open about her political views in recent years, standing up for LGBTQ+ rights and women’s rights alike, while also maintaining a mostly non-controversial image.
Through her songs, “You Need to Calm Down” and “The Man,” she shows why she finds it important to stand up for different minority groups in American culture.
Ms. Cromer shared that she finds “The Man” to be an inspirational anthem for her. “The theme of the song talks about the criticism successful women face…The scrutiny that would not be faced if they were a man.”
She is never afraid to stand up for what she believes in. In her Netflix documentary, Miss Americana, Swift talks about why she believes that these issues are important, talks about her break from public life, her stolen albums, her struggle with her body image, and so much more.
In more recent years, Swift has only managed to find more success. She is the first person to win album of the year four times, breaking a different record each time she won it. Her latest tour is the third highest grossing tour in history. She recently achieved a net worth of $1.6 billion, the first woman to do so strictly off her music. The Eras tour was also named Tour of the Century at the 2025 iHeartRadio Awards.
In 2019, Swift won Woman of the Decade. In 2011 and 2014, she won Woman of the Year. When Eilish won that same award in 2019 when she was just 17, she spoke on something Swift said in her acceptance speech.
“In 2014 [Swift] won this award and her speech was … right now your future women of the year is somewhere in a piano lesson, in a choir and we need to take care of her and I was 11 at the time and I was in a choir and I played piano and you took care me,” said Eilish.
Young singers can use what Eilish said as motivation to keep working hard and not give up on their dreams, seeing the success the 23-year-old has now. “I think she inspires younger girls in choir because she was in choir as a young kid and then grew into this popular artist,” Reagan Millbern ‘26 said.
Eilish also thanked her mother, her father, her brother FINNEAS, her team, and the women in the past “who have been the reason that I can be the way that I am and do what I want and pave the way for me and an entire generation of young women”.
Along with the women in the past, Eilish has found a way to pave the way for women in current times and in the future. In 2015, she released her first single “Ocean Eyes” and gained traction which later led to signing a label with Darkroom in 2016.
Three years after signing she released her debut album When We All Fall Asleep Where Do We Go? reaching No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart as well as winning Grammy Album of the Year. “Bad Guy,” a song on that record, was No. 1 single on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart, Grammy’s Song of the Year, and the Grammy’s Record of the Year.
“She inspires younger girls to keep going in the music industry or to be bigger,” Millbern said.
Similar to Swift, Eilish’s career was a smashing success from the beginning, winning five of the six awards she was nominated for at the 2020 Grammys. She won Album of the Year, Best New Artist, Record of the Year, Best Pop Vocal Album, and Song of the Year.
In 2021, Eilish released her second studio album Happier than Ever. This album contained confessional songs and the stories of downside to fame.
While writing award-winning albums and songs, Eilish was also writing songs for movie soundtracks including James Bond: No Time To Die, Turning Red, and Barbie. With these films she has won two Oscars for Best Original Song, a Grammy for Song of the Year, and a Golden Globe for Best Original Song.
In the face of her success, Eilish had struggled with her mental health, revealing she has had thoughts of suicide in the past. Through her mental health journey, she has found refuge in her music, using her music as an escape from the world.
She speaks more on her mental health journey as well as her songwriting methods in her 2021 Apple TV documentary The World’s A Little Blurry. Her openness about her mental health struggles helps her listeners realize that they are not alone in their journey and that they can get through what they are dealing with, finding relatability and a home in her music.
“Some of her songs talk about what she’s going through and that sometimes relates to what I’m going through and over the course of her albums you can see certain times of her life are different,” said Sofia Conte ‘26.
One thing that makes her standout from the rest is the fact that “Eilish performs her own stunts in her music videos, using special effects rather than CGI,” Mrs. Cromer said. This dedication to her craft is unmatched, showing that she wants to be as real as possible in not only her songs, but in her videos as well.
The nine-time Grammy award winner has never been afraid to stand up for what she believes in. Similar to Swift, she stands up for the rights of women and the LGBTQ+ community, but she also has taken a firm role in climate activism, taking part in a documentary in 2022 called “Overheated.”
At the age of 11, Eilish was diagnosed with Tourette’s Syndrome, and currently is working to reduce the stigma surrounding people diagnosed with it. She also has synesthesia, which causes her to associate two things, sometimes unrelated, with each other, including sound with color, which is part of what makes her music correlate so well with her performances and videos.
Even after reaching massive success, the singer is still thriving in the music industry.
In 2024, she released her third studio album HIT ME HARD AND SOFT where critics praised her for its female centric songs. The album was competing for Album of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Album at this year’s Grammys. “Birds of a Feather,” a hit from that album, was also contending for Song of the Year, Record of the Year, and Best Pop Solo Performance.
This year, both performers had an upset at the Grammys, being nominated for multiple awards and taking home none. However, both of their most recent albums are some of the most streamed in the world on Spotify, and are large signs of their achievements and hard work throughout their careers. Fans can not wait to see what the singers have in store for them in the future.
