I love music and, like most who are like me, always have. I remain astounded at the power of seven notes, A through G. The combinations are endless and the music so incredibly varied—blues, jazz, country, classical, rap, hip hop, rock, gospel, EDM, children's lullabies.
I will confess I am a rock guy. The sixties and seventies are my thing; if you want to know almost anything about that era, I am your man. I am the one who devoured the album liners—where did they go?—who knows which musician played on which song, who produced the record, the story behind the songs. I am a huge Beatles fan to this day, and I will follow Paul whenever he tours.
“It is important, culturally and psychologically, that there is a common thing for the world to coalesce around.”
But I want to talk about a phenomenon I frankly did not think I would ever see again after the Beatles, and that is Taylor Swift. It is terrific that an artist has captured the world the way she has, equal to the impact the Beatles had. The statistics are impressive—the first solo tour to gross over two billion dollars, Album of the Year four times, the solo artist with the most number one albums, more than 100 million albums sold. But the most important one is this: like the Beatles, here is an artist who transcends music and transforms society.