One of Taylor Swift’s most-prominent creative collaborators is opening up about how the superstar songstress remains grounded amid her unprecedent run in the music industry.
Musician and songwriter Aaron Dessner, 47, chat with People on Tuesday as the singer covered the magazine’s issue chronicling the Most Intriguing People of the Year.
Dessner told the magazine: ‘I’ve spent a lot of time with her and I’ve never seen anyone wait on her. When I have stayed at her house, Taylor herself was cooking everyone breakfast and dinner.
‘She’s legitimately just a very down-to-earth and hardworking person.’
Dessner called the Grammy-winner, 33, ‘the hardest working artist [he’s] ever encountered,’ as she’s ‘involved in every aspect of writing and producing her songs and has an incredible attention span and focus on detail.’
One of Taylor Swift ‘s most-prominent creative collaborators, Aaron Dessner, 47, is opening up about how the superstar songstress remains grounded amid her unprecedent run in the music industry. Swift, 33, and Dessner were pictured onstage this past April in Florida
The Shake It Off singer ‘never really stops writing songs,’ according to Dessner, a member of the rock band The National who began working with Swift more than three years ago.
Dessner complimented Swift for her endurance onstage, amid her wildly-successful The Eras Tour.
‘The world has seen her play 44 songs a night on tour now, performing for over three hours,’ Dessner said. ‘She makes it look easy but it’s really a feat of incredible endurance.
‘It’s hard to think of an example of someone who matches that kind of output, except maybe Bruce Springsteen, but he doesn’t have to cover as much ground as Taylor does up there.’
Dessner said that he expects Swift ‘will keep writing better and better songs and experimenting stylistically,’ as she ‘has so many stories to tell.’
Said the musician: ‘She sometimes jokes that she likes to change what she writes her songs with literally, sometimes it’s an ink or glitter pen, or with me it’s often more like a 19th-century quill.
‘I think she’ll keep inventing new ways and methods of writing and keep expanding this enchanted universe of her own making that we all get to enjoy.’
Dessner told the publication about the ‘quite surreal’ way he came to work with Swift, which came at the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
‘When Taylor first texted me about writing remotely with her during the pandemic, I almost didn’t believe it was her at first,’ he said. ‘Taylor never made me feel any of the shadow of her previous work or success. There was no pressure at all.’
Dessner, a member of the rock band The National, began working with Swift more than three years ago. Pictured onstage in Madrid, Spain
Dessner complimented Swift for her endurance onstage, amid her wildly-successful The Eras Tour. She was pictured last month in Brazil
Swift, Jack Antonoff and Dessner were pictured accepting the Album of the Year award at the 2021 Grammys
He continued: ‘It was as though we were just making an album for ourselves and passing time during the pandemic. It felt like we were on our own private artistic life raft, just making songs to soothe our souls and get through such an uncertain and difficult time.’
Swift earlier this week became the first living musical artist in history to have five albums simultaneously in the top 10 on the Billboard 200, for the week of December 9, according to the outlet.
Swift is the first living performer to achieve the feat since the chart was combined into a single list between mono and stereo albums in August 1963, more than 60 years ago.
The top 10 included Swift’s albums 1989 (Taylor’s Version) in first place; Midnights in third place; Folklore in fifth place; Lover in sixth place and Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) in 10th place.
The massively-successful singer initially released 1989 (Taylor’s Version) this past October; Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) this past July; Midnights in 2022; Folklore in 2020; and Lover in 2019.
Prince is the only other artist to have five albums on the chart for the week of May 14, 2016, less than a month after his passing at the age of 57.
At the time, The Very Best of Prince was in second place; the soundtrack for the film Purple Rain by Prince and The Revolution was in third place; The Hits/The B-Sides was in fourth place; Ultimate was in sixth place; and 1999 was in seventh place.
Swift’s 1989 (Taylor’s Version) was in the top spot on the chart for the third overall week.
Swift this week became the first living musical artist in history to have five albums simultaneously in the top 10 on the Billboard 200, for the week of December 9, according to the outlet. Pictured last month in London
The singer-songwriter this week became the first living musical artist in history to have five albums simultaneously in the top 10 on the Billboard 200. Pictured last month in Brazil
Prince is the only other artist to have five albums on the chart for the week of May 14, 2016, less than a month after his passing at the age of 57. Pictured in his native Minnesota in 1990
It initially debuted in the top spot for the chart with week of November 11, and stayed there for the week of November 18. It spent the next two weeks in the second spot on the chart, before returning to the top spot this week.
Some of Swift’s uptick in sales for the week was due to Black Friday-related retail promotions, according to the outlet.
The album 1989 (Taylor’s Version), with three weeks in the top spot, has spent the most time in the top spot out of the four albums Swift has released after re-recording them, according to the outlet.
Fearless and Speak Now both spent two weeks in the top spot and Red spent a week in the spot.
In total, Swift’s 13 albums have spent 66 weeks in the number one spot, the second-most for a solo artist and just one behind Elvis Presley’s 67. The Beatles hold the overall title with 132 weeks.