Taylor Swift is walking away with this year’s Billboard’s annual Women In Music event’s top prize, as the award typically goes to one of the biggest female recording stars on the planet, and nobody is bigger than Taylor right now. Swift actually won the award just a few years ago, back in 2011, which makes her the first person to win this coveted title twice.
The ‘Shake It Off’ hitmaker got another surprise when legendary soul singer Aretha Franklin, 72, sang ‘Happy Birthday’ to her at the event on Friday (12.12.14), just one day ahead of her 25th birthday!
Before sharing a Vine video clip of the special performance on Twitter, Swift tweeted: “Aretha Franklin just sang ‘Happy Birthday’ to me and it will take me decades to recover. #goals”
For a woman who has already released some of the best-selling albums and singles in the past decade or so and who has won the music industry’s most sought-after award, 2014 was a very, very good year for Taylor Swift.
During her speech, she said: “Being named Billboard Woman of the Year for a second time is this amazing early birthday present.
“I turn 25 at midnight tonight, and I fully intend to celebrate like it’s 1989 [the title of her latest album]. I knew it was a bad joke when I wrote it, and I just did it anyway!”
Last year’s Woman of the Year was pop/rock singer Pink, who has proven herself to be fearless through the risks she has taken over the years. The rising star honor went to Janelle Monae, who is truly one of the most underrated geniuses recording today.
