Taylor Swift and the significance of number 13 in her life

In most cultures around the globe, the number 13 is considered to be unlucky - but not for Taylor Swift. The 14-time Grammy award winner exploded into the music scene with her self-titled country album back in 2008. Since then, Swift has broken several records, dominated the charts, and inspired millions, leading fans to aptly refer to her as "the music industry."

Throughout her success, the number '13' has been a constant presence in Swift's personal and professional life as an alleged good luck charm. This is quite evident in the singer's X (formerly Twitter) username @taylorswift13, where she has incorporated the number too.

---

Taylor Swift and her association with the number 13

Taylor Swift was born on December 13, 1989, in West Reading, Pennsylvania, making her a Sagittarius. But this is not the only reason the number is so significant to the Gorgeous hitmaker. In a conversation with Paul McCartney for Rolling Stone's Musician on Musician series back in 2020, she mentioned,

"I love numbers. Numbers kind of rule my whole world. The numbers 13 … 89 is a big one."

While receiving the Grammy for Best Pop Vocal Album for Midnights last month, she reiterated her love for the number,

"This is my 13th Grammy, which is my lucky number. I don't know if I've ever told you that."

Swift goes more in-depth in a 2009 MTV interview, where she revealed that she painted the number on her hand before every show, emphasizing it as a symbol of good fortune. She further stated:

"I was born on the 13th. I turned 13 on Friday the 13th. My first album went gold in 13 weeks. My first #1 song had a 13-second intro. Every time I've won an award I've been seated in either the 13th seat, the 13th row, the 13th section or row M, which is the 13th letter."

Notably, Taylor Swift named the 13th track from her Red album The Lucky One. Moreover, five songs from her incredible repertoire have peaked at #13 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. One of those tracks, Mastermind, is the thirteenth song of its album.

Her three AOTY-winning albums (Album of the Year), Fearless, 1989, and Midnights, all have thirteen tracks on their standard editions. Furthermore, the concert film for her tour, Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour, was released on October 13, 2023, to become the highest-grossing concert film of all time. The tour itself earned over a billion dollars in revenue to become the highest-grossing concert tour to date.

---

Taylor Swift's easter eggs

In the past decade, Swift has taken to hiding messages for her fans to decode in not only her lyrics, but in many interesting places such as music videos, social media captions, pictures, dresses, and more. These "easter eggs" are a fun way for fans to make connections between her music and her personal life, or just a simple wink-wink to entertain Swifties.

The number 13 has appeared as easter eggs in Swift's projects, highlighting its significance. In the music video for her song ME!, there are thirteen clouds in one scene, while the number also appears in the MV for her song ...Ready For It.

In an elevator scene in the MV for Bejeweled, there are thirteen buttons signifying thirteen floors. The enchanted number is highlighted in purple, signaling the songstress' next project which would be a re-recording of her 2010 album Speak Now.

During the acceptance speech for her 13th Grammy award in February, Taylor Swift announced her upcoming album titled The Tortured Poets Department to be released on April 19, sending fans into a frenzy.

---

Although the number 13 is considered to be a bad omen in many cultures, numerology interprets the digit as sacred and associates it with divine feminine energy. It is said to bring growth and prosperity to those who welcome it. Therefore, it comes as no surprise that the number is significant to Taylor Swift at most turns.