See Every Taylor Swift Album Cover Through the Years, from Debut to Tortured Poets Department

Taylor Swift — 2006

At 14, Swift packed her bags and moved from Pennsylvania to Tennessee to pursue her love for country music.

Two years later, she released her debut studio album, Taylor Swift, which peaked at No. 5 on the Billboard 200 Chart. All five singles released from the album, including "Our Song" and "Teardrops on My Guitar," were certified platinum by the RIAA.

Fearless — 2008

Not only did Swift co-write all 13 tracks on her second studio album Fearless, but she also made her debut as a record producer, co-producing all the songs — including the hit "You Belong with Me" — on the album with Nathan Chapman.

After the album's release in 2008, Swift set out on her first-ever headlining concert tour (Fearless Tour) from April 2009 to July 2010. The then-20-year-old singer became the youngest artist to have a best-selling album when Fearless sold 3.2 million copies in 2009. The record went on to win four Grammys, including album of the year.

Speak Now — 2010

Swift wrote her third studio album, Speak Now, entirely by herself. The album's original title, Enchanted, was changed by her label's president after believing the song's themes were less about fairy tales and more about real-life experiences — from romance to heartbreak.

The album, which included songs "Mine" and "Sparks Fly," debuted at No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart.

Red — 2012

Swift's fourth studio album, Red, features 16 songs — including hits like "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" and "I Knew You Were Trouble" and a collaboration with Ed Sheeran.

Every Tuesday leading up to the album's release, Swift released a new song from the album. In its debut week, Red sold approximately two albums every second, according to Billboard.

1989 — 2014

Named after the year she was born, Swift's fifth album, 1989, marked her transition from country to pop.

"My music before this has been very guitar-heavy, live drums, it's had a very acoustic sound at its core," Swift said in PEOPLE's 40th Anniversary issue in 2014. "This is a sound that's based in synth pop and keyboards and automated drums and vocal layering."

The album won three Grammy Awards in 2016, including album of the year and best pop vocal album.

Reputation — 2017

After releasing her record-breaking pop album 1989, Swift announced via social media that she would be releasing her sixth studio album, Reputation, on Nov. 10, 2017.

With black and white cover art that featured Swift sporting her signature dark lip, slicked-back hair and a sweatshirt, the mock newspaper headlines and columns superimposed over part of her face gave a strong hint that she was about to address the drama that had encompassed her life, including the longstanding feud with rapper Kanye West and ex-wife Kim Kardashian.

The album reached No. 1 in 13 countries, and its accompanying stadium run became the highest-grossing tour of all time in the United States.

Lover — 2019

With a new, lighter color palette making its way across the singer-songwriter's social media beginning in early 2019, fans knew Swift was up to something — and hoped it was a new album.

Clues were confirmed in April when Swift revealed the first single and its music video, "ME," featuring the album's title hidden in the clip. Two months after announcing her seventh studio album Lover in June — along with the second single, "You Need to Calm Down" — she released the record that featured singles like "The Man" and "Lover."

In June 2023, Swift made "Cruel Summer," the fifth single off of Lover, which topped the Billboard 100 for four consecutive weeks.

Folklore — 2020

As black and white images of trees started dotting Swift's Instagram page in mid-July 2020, Swifties attempted to figure out what it all meant shortly before the singer-songwriter shocked her fans with a surprise — her eighth studio album, Folklore, would drop at midnight.

"Before this year, I probably would've overthought when to release this music at the 'perfect' time, but the times we're living in keep reminding me that nothing is guaranteed," she captioned her announcement via Instagram. "My gut is telling me that if you make something you love, you should just put it out into the world. That's the side of uncertainty I can get on board with."

With Folklore reaching No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and all of its 16 tracks appearing on the Billboard Top 100, Swift became the first artist to top both charts in the same week. The record would then become her third album of the year win.

Evermore — 2020

Fans flipped when Swift dropped hints about another album — her second of quarantine! — in December 2020. Evermore hit on Dec. 11, framed as a "sister album" to Folklore.

"To put it plainly, we just couldn't stop writing songs," Swift shared on Twitter (now X). "To try and put it more poetically, it feels like we were standing on the edge of the folklorian woods and had a choice: to turn and go back or to travel further into the forest of this music. We chose to wander deeper in."

The album debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and stayed in the top spot for four consecutive weeks.

Fearless (Taylor's Version) — 2021

Determined to re-record her entire back catalog, Swift began with her acclaimed sophomore album — presenting all of her original songs with a more mature touch, alongside six never-before-released "From the Vault" tracks and the soundtrack single "Today Was a Fairytale" for the 2010 film Valentine's Day.

"In terms of production, I really wanted to stay very loyal to the initial melodies that I had thought of for these songs," Swift told PEOPLE in 2021. "And so we really did go in and try to create a 'the same but better' version. We kept all the same parts that I initially dreamed up for these songs. But if there was any way that we could improve upon the sonic quality, we did."

The album cover also remains faithful to the original while standing out on its own — maintaining similar coloring but this time saturating the entire picture, with Swift captured in her iconic mid-hair-flip pose. Upon seeing her wearing a satin shirt, Swifties speculated that the singer used the cover to portray herself as her own Romeo (a call-out to "Love Story"), capable of defending her honor herself.

Fearless (Taylor's Version) made history as the first re-recorded album to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard charts.

Red (Taylor's Version) — 2021

Seven months later, Swift was all ready to "Begin Again" with her fourth studio album, Red, by releasing all 30 songs originally intended for the LP. The album made a huge impact, topping the Billboard 200 chart and causing a 1,400 percent spike in searches for red scarves and red lipstick. 

"Musically and lyrically, Red resembled a heartbroken person. It was all over the place, a fractured mosaic of feelings that somehow all fit together in the end," Swift shared in her album announcement on Instagram in 2021. "I went into the studio and experimented with different sounds and collaborators... Something was healed along the way."

Among the nine "From the Vault" tracks, the standout from Red (Taylor's Version) was the original 10-minute version of fan favorite "All Too Well," which broke the record as the longest song to reach No. 1 on the Billboard Top 100, surpassing Don McLean's "American Pie." The smash hit also had an accompanying, self-directed musical short film starring Sadie Sink and Dylan O'Brien, which won the Grammy for best music video and an MTV Music Video Award for video of the year.

The album cover — reflecting the season of its release (autumn) and its title — features Swift sporting a crimson lip and an auburn cap while seated in a scarlet-red vehicle.

Midnights — 2022

Upon accepting video of the year for "All Too Well (10-Minute Version)" at the 2022 MTV Music Video Awards, Swift announced her 10th studio album in her speech, which was followed by revealing the album cover that captures her in smokey blue eyeshadow as she flickers a lighter.

Crafted as a concept album, Midnights draws inspiration from various sleepless nights, exploring themes from self-reflection to revenge fantasies to falling in love. Boasting 13 tracks and an additional 12 tracks across several deluxe versions, Swift's 10th album smashed streaming records for both the highest single day and the highest single week while also selling one million copies in its debut week.

This album led to the highly successful Eras Tour — a worldwide concert experience that summarized Swift's entire career — ultimately becoming a cultural sensation and the first tour to ever exceed $1 billion, per Entertainment Weekly, in revenue and surpassing her own record for the highest-grossing tour of all time.

Speak Now (Taylor's Version) — 2023

During her Nashville, Tenn., show in May 2023, the "Better Than Revenge" singer thrilled Swifties with a surprise announcement onstage before belting out "Sparks Fly" from her entirely self-written third studio album.

Projected on the screen was the official artwork for Speak Now (Taylor's Version), paying homage to the original cover by featuring Swift in her signature curls of the era and a stunning purple tulle dress designed by Giambattista Valli Haute Couture.

The album boasts six tracks "From the Vault," two of which feature artists that "influenced [Swift] most powerfully as a lyricist at that time," such as Fall Out Boy and Paramore's Hayley Williams.

Speak Now (Taylor's Version) secured Swift's 12th top spot on the Billboard 200 chart, outdoing Barbra Streisand's longstanding record for the most No. 1 albums by a female artist. 

1989 (Taylor's Version) — 2023

In October 2023, Swift announced the reworked version of her celebrated 2014 album 1989, featuring all 16 original tracks alongside five never-before-heard songs.

"I was born in 1989, reinvented for the first time in 2014, and a part of me was reclaimed in 2023 with the re-release of this album I love so dearly," Swift captioned an Instagram post in 2023. "Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine the magic would you sprinkle on my life for so long."

During her Eras Tour, Swift debuted the revamped artwork for 1989 (Taylor's Version), offering a slight departure from the original. While the 2014 cover showcases Swift's non-smiling face from the nose down, the re-recorded version exhibits the now-smiling popstar in full, set against a backdrop of blue sky and flying seagulls (which adorned her sweater on the original cover). 

The album soared to the top of the charts, marking the singer-songwriter's 13th No. 1 on the Billboard 200 (which also happens to be her lucky number). Its staggering first-week sales of 1.6 million units in the U.S. (and over 3.5 million units worldwide) broke her previous record set with the original 1989, which stood at 1.287 million units.

The Tortured Poets Department — 2024

Following her trend of strategic announcements, Swift unveiled her next studio album during another televised event — the Grammys — while accepting her 13th Grammy Award. Although fans speculated about a re-recording of Reputation (Taylor's Version) due to her social media profile changes to a black-and-white aesthetic, they were surprised to learn about a new era of The Tortured Poets Department.

Shortly after her mic-drop speech, she revealed the album cover on Instagram, which exhibits a grayscale image of Swift lying in a bed while sporting a blank tank and shorts.

Alongside the 16 tracks in the standard edition, Swift announced four additional versions (The Manuscript Edition, The Bolter Edition, The Albatross Edition and The Black Dog Edition), each with alternative cover art and exclusive bonus tracks.