Taylor Swift Gets Very Candid About Being A Teenager In The Public Eye

Taylor Swift has a huge fanbase of "Swifties," who follow her every move. The singer stepped into the spotlight in 2006 with her single "Tim McGraw" (per The Boot), and she instantly experienced success that most people could only dream of. Swift has cranked out one hit after the next, like "Blank Space" and "Bad Blood," along with plenty of others that make you want to roll down your car windows and sing out loud.

Swift has amassed an impressive net worth of $400 million. And as of this writing, she's only 32 years old. There's no doubt that she still has more big hits and a great career in front of her, and she's been asked about her success several times. In an interview with Oprah Winfrey, the singer attributed some of her success and work ethic to her parents. "Being raised by two parents who brought me up with the idea that the world didn't owe me anything really helped," she told Winfrey. "But I loved music, and so I started writing songs and playing guitar."

She also shared one of the upsides of fame with the talk show host. "I always dreamed about what it would be like if I would walk in somewhere and I didn't have to introduce myself to people, they already knew my songs," Swift dished. "That's crazy and I love it so much." But, growing up in the spotlight wasn't all roses for the star and she says some parts were challenging.

Taylor Swift is getting even more candid about fame. According to Pitchfork, the star received her honorary Doctor of Fine Arts from New York University, and she also delivered the commencement speech to the class of 2022. The star spoke at length about growing up in the public eye since she was 15 years old, stating that her success came with a "price," which was "years of unsolicited advice." Swift continued, "Being the youngest person in every room for over a decade meant that I was constantly being issued warnings from older members of the music industry, the media, interviewers, executives."

The songstress said it was tough because everyone expected her to be perfect. "I became a young adult while being fed the message that if I didn't make any mistakes, all the children of America would grow up to be perfect angels," she said, adding that if she messed up, she would go to "pop star jail forever." "​​It was all centered around the idea that mistakes equal failure and ultimately, the loss of any chance at a happy or rewarding life," Swift shared. Obviously, that's not the case, since nobody is perfect.

That was not the first time that Swift opened up about the struggles of growing up in the public eye. She also spoke about the topic in her Netflix documentary, "Miss Americana." According to Variety, in the doc, the singer revealed she struggled with an eating disorder, which was another price of the pressure to be perfect.