TIME has named Taylor Swift the 2023 Person of the Year.

She came out at the top of a shortlist that included the likes of China’s President Xi Jinping, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, King Charles III, Hollywood strikers, Trump prosecutors and Barbie.

Person of the Year is meant to be the individual, group, or concept that has had the most influence on the world throughout the previous 12 months.

TIME’s editor-in-chief Sam Jacobs writes, “The person chosen has typically been a ruler over traditional domains of power…very often a politician or a titan of industry, And yet the person whose singular influence was revealed throughout 2023 has held none of these roles—or anything remotely similar…Taylor Swift found a way to transcend borders and be a source of light…Swift is the rare person who is both the writer and hero of her own story.”

2023 has been an outrageously successful one for the singer, who set streaming and chart records, and took cities by storm with her Eras Tour.

In an interview included in the TIME Person of the Year issue, Swift addresses her 2023: “It feels like the breakthrough moment of my career, happening at 33…And for the first time in my life, I was mentally tough enough to take what comes with that….This is the proudest and happiest I’ve ever felt, and the most creatively fulfilled and free I’ve ever been.”

She also opened up a about her personal life, which is something that she is usually very guarded about.

Read the piece by TIME: 2023 PERSON OF THE YEAR – Taylor Swift

(Featured Image: TIME)