Taylor Swift's FEARLESS Album Officially Lauded as Most Awarded Album in Country Music History

NASHVILLE, Tenn., March 18 /PRNewswire/ -- Taylor Swift's six-times-Platinum FEARLESS album was officially recognized as the Most Awarded Album in the History of Country Music last night at a private dinner in Nashville.

(Photo:  http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20100318/CL73000 )

FEARLESS is the only album in history to win the all-genre Album of The Year GRAMMY, plus Country Album of the Year Awards from the GRAMMYs, the Country Music Association, the Academy of Country Music and the American Music Awards.

Representatives from NARAS, The American Music Awards, The Country Music Association, and the Academy of Country Music all joined Big Machine Records Group President/CEO Scott Borchetta for an unprecedented group presentation honoring Taylor for her achievement.

FEARLESS, released in 2008, has won every album award in the country music genre, and was named all-genre Album of the Year at the 2010 GRAMMY Awards. Taylor, who turned 20 in December, was the youngest artist in history to win the music industry's coveted top prize and she is also the award's first-ever solo female country winner, and the first solo female winner in more than a decade. Taylor wrote or co-wrote every song on FEARLESS.

"We tend to always look forward when it comes to Taylor, but tonight it was time to stop for a moment and look back on one of the most successful music works of all time," said Scott Borchetta of the historic evening. "The eighteen months of our lives known as the 'Fearless' era have been history-making, euphoric and triumphant. The sales, the airplay, the accolades and the awards have all just been incredible. But most important to me is that my friend Taylor and her collective team of family, record label, management and her road family continue to raise the bar with work ethic, achievement and enjoyment. Dreams do come true."

Taylor was also honored at last night's event for:

• More than 13 Million in total record sales
• More than 25 Million Digital Downloads
• The 6X Platinum (6 Million) Certification of FEARLESS
• FEARLESS as the #1 selling album in the US in both 2008 & 2009
• The 5X Platinum (5 Million) Certification of Taylor Swift
• The #1 and #2 positions atop Nielsen's BDS 2009 Top 10 Most Played Songs chart (all genres), with "You Belong With Me" and "Love Story"
• The #1 spots on both the 2009 Top 10 Artist Airplay chart (all genres) and the Top 10 Artist Internet Streams chart.
• Her four most recent #1 singles ("Should've Said No," "Love Story," "White Horse," and "You Belong With Me")

This week also marks Taylor's 10th consecutive Top 10 Country single ("Fearless"), and with that she becomes the only female artist in the 66-year history of Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart to score at least five top 10s apiece from her first two major album releases.

Taylor is currently nominated for four 2010 Academy of Country Music Awards, including Entertainer of the Year, and tonight she returns to her home state of Pennsylvania to continue her FEARLESS 2010 Tour with the first of two sold-out shows at the Wachovia Center. Presented by American Greetings, the 40-date tour visits arenas and stadiums in 32 cities in 26 states and provinces in the US and Canada over the next 3 months.

A complete listing of tour dates is available at www.taylorswift.com.

Taylor is a four-time GRAMMY winner, the top-selling digital artist in music history, has had singles top both the Country and Pop radio charts, and had the #1 best-selling album in any genre of music in both 2009 and 2008. This year she became the youngest artist in history to win the GRAMMY Award for Album of the Year. Also at the 2010 GRAMMYs, she took home the awards for Country Album of the Year, Best Country Song, and Best Country Female Vocal Performance.

In 2009, she was named Artist of the Year at the American Music Awards, and also became the youngest artist in the 43-year history of the Country Music Association to win the CMA Award for Entertainer of the Year.

Taylor currently holds the Billboard all-genre records for most first-week downloads by a female artist, for the longest charting album of this century and for most Top 20 debuts in a calendar year, as well as the Billboard record for the largest overall airplay audience for a country-based act.

Check out the all-new Taylor Swift media page at: www.taylorswift.com/media-page.

To hear music from Taylor Swift, log on to: www.taylorswift.com.

SOURCE Big Machine Records