Heartbreak Is the National Anthem: A Celebration of Taylor Swift's Musical Journey, Cultural Impact, and Reinvention of Pop Music for Swifties by a Swiftie

Sheffield returns to the subject of fangirls, who he earlier argued Swift has recentered in the world of pop music. He argues that a key part of Swift’s success lies in her understanding of the cultural influence teenage girls wield, an understanding she gained from being a teenage fangirl herself. As a child, she wrote numerous letters to her first idol, country singer LeAnn Rimes. At the age of eight, when attending her first Rimes concert, she sat in the front row and asked Rimes “LeAnn, did you get my letters?” When Rimes replied that she had (“I sure did, Taylor.”), it helped confirm for Swift that Rimes was everything she wanted to become. Sheffield writes, “LeAnn Rimes created a goddamn monster. She warped this child into being the best to ever do what LeAnn did” (44). He uses this origin story to explain why Swift has such a nurturing relationship with her fans, including his own nieces, who met her backstage at the Red Tour. In the 2020s, numerous younger women in pop music, like Phoebe Bridgers and Olivia Rodrigo, have cited Swift as one of their biggest inspirations for becoming singers.