Taylor Swift Turns 35 Today: Here’s What Other Megastars Were Up to at That Age

Turned 35: March 25, 1982

What Was He Up To: John’s 1972-75 streak of seven consecutive No. 1 albums on the Billboard 200 was long behind him, but he was holding his own on the charts, with big hits such as 1980’s “Little Jeannie” and milder hits such as 1982’s “Empty Garden (Hey Hey Johnnie),” a tribute to his pal, John Lennon. John had many big successes still to come, notably The Lion King soundtrack in 1994, his mega-selling tribute to Princess Diana, “Candle in the Wind 1997,” the 2019 biopic Rocketman and oh yeah, an EGOT.

Turned 35: March 27, 2004

What Was She Up To: Carey was at a low point. Her most recent albums, Glitter and Charmbracelet, were duds (at least by her standards). But her 2005 album The Emancipation of Mimi would lead to a major comeback. And a holiday ditty she had introduced 10 years earlier would take on a life of its own.

Turned 35: Aug. 16, 1993

What Was She Up To: Her most recent studio album, 1992’s Erotica, had peaked at No. 2, breaking a string of three consecutive leaders. But she would score major successes in coming years, including “Take a Bow,” her longest-running No. 1 hit on the Hot 100, and her Golden Globe-winning performance in Evita. There’s a reason they call her the Queen of Pop.

Turned 35: April 24, 1977

What Was She Up To: She was at a peak, having just won an Oscar for best original song for co-writing “Evergreen (Theme From A Star Is Born).” That ballad was featured on the A Star Is Born soundtrack, which topped the Billboard 200 for six weeks, a personal best for Streisand. The entertainer would return to No. 1 with such albums as Guilty and The Broadway Album, both Grammy-nominated for album of the year. She also conquered her fears and became a winning live performer. 

Turned 35: Aug. 29, 1993

What Was He Up To: Jackson’s world was caving in. That month, Jackson was accused of child sexual abuse by a 13-year-old boy, Jordan Chandler, and his father. In January 1994, Jackson settled with the family out-of-court for a reported $23 million. The police never pressed criminal charges. Jackson never fully emerged from that cloud, though he would top the Billboard 200 with two more albums in his lifetime, HIStory: Past, Present and Future – Book I and Invincible.  His death in 2009 triggered one of the biggest posthumous sales explosions in music history.

Turned 35: May 13, 1985

What Was He Up To: He had just won an Oscar for the sentimental “I Just Called to Say I Love You” and was gearing up to release “Part Time Lover,” a No. 1 hit on the Hot 100 and one of his catchiest singles ever. That was his ninth and last solo No. 1, though he teamed with Dionne Warwick, Elton John and Gladys Knight for the heartfelt charity single “That’s What Friends Are For,” which also reached No. 1. Today, Wonder is every bit as much a legend as the greats he sang about in a 1977 smash: “Basie, Miller, Satchmo and the king of all, Sir Duke.”

Turned 35: Aug. 9, 1998

What Was She Up To: She was doing well, coming off a series of hit movies (all of which spawned hit soundtracks) – The Bodyguard, Waiting to Exhale and The Preacher’s Wife. She was about to release her R&B-focused My Love Is Your Love. But her good fortune wouldn’t last. Her 2009 album I Look to You topped the Billboard 200, but also showed that years of hard living had taken a toll on Houston’s glorious voice. The singer died in 2012.

Turned 35: June 18, 1977

What Was He Up To: He was coming off the successful Wings Over America Tour, which was chronicled in a Billboard 200-topping live album. Wings’ 1976 studio album Wings at the Speed of Sound had topped the Billboard 200 for seven weeks (a McCartney post-Beatles record). The album’s lead single, “Silly Love Songs,” may have been a tad lightweight, but it was a smash, topping the Hot 100 for five weeks.

Turned 35: May 16, 2001

What Was She Up To: All for You had just become her fifth consecutive studio album to top the Billboard 200. In 2004, she was booked to play the Super Bowl halftime show opposite Justin Timberlake, one of the few male pop stars at her level of fame and success. What could go wrong?

Turned 35: Jan. 8, 1970

What Was He Up To: He was coming off a major comeback, with a legendary 1968 TV special and one of his very best singles, “Suspicious Minds,” which in 1969 became his final No. 1 hit on the Hot 100. He would have still more triumphs, including another strong single with “Burning Love” (No. 2 in 1972) and a global satellite concert in 1973 which spawned a Billboard 200-topping album. But then things turned darker. Presley died in 1977 at age 42.

Turned 35: June 7, 1993

What Was He Up To: He was grasping, having just released The Love Symbol Album. In 1993, Prince formally adopted the unpronounceable “Love Symbol” as his stage name, leading him to be referred to as “the Artist Formerly Known as Prince” or just “the Artist.” His reputation as a creative genius was intact, but his days as an every-time-out hitmaker were behind him. Prince died in 2016 at age 57.

Turned 35: May 9, 1984

What Was He Up To: He was at his peak, coming off one of his most successful albums, An Innocent Man. The album rode the Billboard 200 for more than two years and spawned six top 30 hits on the Hot 100, including “Uptown Girl.” In 1993, he released his 12th studio album, River of Dreams, which topped the Billboard 200 for three weeks. In the more than three decades since, he has released just one more studio album – Fantasies & Delusions, a 2001 collection of classical compositions. Joel’s 2014-24 residency at Madison Square Garden became legendary.

Turned 35: Feb. 7, 1997

What Was He Up To: He had landed four No. 1 albums on the Billboard 200 – three studio albums and a hits-studded 1994 compilation, The Hits. He would have five more No. 1 albums after turning 35. He won his third entertainer of the year award at the CMA Awards in September 1997 and subsequently won four more before he graciously pulled himself out of the competition. 

Turned 35: Oct. 17, 2007

What Was He Up To: Eminem was coming off the success of his 2005 compilation, Curtain Call: The Hits, which became his fourth album to top the Billboard 200. Seven more No. 1 albums would follow, including Recovery, which stayed on top for seven weeks in 2010, and this year’s The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce).

Turned 35: Sept. 23, 1984

What Was He Up To: He was at his peak, having just released Born in the U.S.A, which would top the Billboard 200 for seven weeks. It was his second No. 1 album and would bring him his first Grammy, for “Dancing in the Dark.” Still to come: nine more No. 1 albums, 19 additional Grammys and an Oscar win for “Streets of Philadelphia.”

Turned 35: Jan. 24, 1976

What Was He Up To: Diamond was on the verge of releasing Beautiful Noise, which was produced by Robbie Robertson, then with The Band. Still to come: “You Don’t Bring Me Flowers,” his Hot 100-topping duet with Barbra Streisand, and the 1980 movie The Jazz Singer. The movie bombed, but the soundtrack was a smash, spawning three top 10 hits on the Hot 100, including the July 4 perennial, “America.”

Turned 35: March 30, 2003

What Was She Up To: Dion’s four No. 1 albums on the Billboard 200 were all behind her, but she was moving in a new direction, where she would rule just as impressively as she had on the Billboard charts: She began her first Las Vegas residency, “A New Day…,” on March 25, 2003 at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace. It ran through Dec. 15, 2007. A second residency, “Celine,” ran from 2011-19.

Turned 35: March 25, 1977

What Was She Up To: The Queen of Soul was not especially hot in 1977, though her previous album, 1976’s Sparkle, had gone gold. She would have a major comeback in 1985 with the irresistible “Freeway of Love.” That comeback peaked in 1987 with the Hot 100-topping “I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me),” a collab with George Michael. Franklin died, still and always the Queen, in 2018.

Turned 35: June 20, 1984

What Was He Up To: He was at his peak, riding the success of his Billboard 200-topping Can’t Slow Down, which spawned five top 10 hits on the Hot 100 and would go on to win the Grammy for album of the year. Richie had other peaks to come, winning an Oscar in 1986 for “Say You Say Me.” His career dipped in the 1990s, but in recent decades he has assumed the status of legend and elder statesman of pop.

Turned 35: Sept. 4, 2016

What Was She Up To: Beyoncé was basking in the success of Lemonade, her sixth studio album in a row to enter the Billboard 200 at No. 1. Finally, it was thought, she would win the Grammy for album of the year. She didn’t. Nor did she win for her next album, Renaissance. She’s nominated again this year with Cowboy Carter. Earlier this month, Billboard named Beyoncé the Greatest Pop Star of the 21st Century.

Turned 35: March 26, 1979

What Was She Up To: Ross was in the midst of her extended reign. She was about to release “The Boss,” a terrific single written and produced by Ashford & Simpson, which became a top 20 hit on the Hot 100. She then scored two massive No. 1 hits in 1980-81 with “Upside Down,” which was written and produced by the masterminds of Chic, and “Endless Love,” a silky duet with Lionel Richie. Ross’ two-decade run of hits ended rather abruptly in 1985, but she’s still a legend and still The Boss.

Turned 35: May 24, 1976

What Was He Up To: The legend’s 1976 album Desire had logged five weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, more than any other album of his career. Still to come: a long-overdue Grammy album of the year win for Time Out of Mind, and an Oscar win for “Things Have Changed,” and a current biopic, A Complete Unknown, starring Timothée Chalamet.

Turned 35: Dec. 31, 1983

What Was She Up To: Summer was coming off one of her biggest and best hits, “She Works Hard for the Money,” which she would perform as the opening number on the 1984 Grammy telecast. Summer’s album of the same name was her ninth consecutive studio album to go gold or platinum. It was also her last. Summer’s association with disco may have shortened her hit streak, but her reputation as one of the best singers of her era is intact.

Turned 35: July 15, 1981

What Was She Up To: Ronstadt’s 1980 album Mad Love was her sixth studio album in a row to reach the top five on the Billboard 200. But she was restless and wanted to experiment. In January 1981, she opened on Broadway in The Pirates of Penzance. In 1983, she recorded What’s New, the first of three collaborations with Nelson Riddle. She would also record a pair of country albums with Dolly Parton and Emmylou Harris, a children’s album, two Mexican-American albums, a tropical Latin album and more.

Turned 35: June 17, 1978

What Was He Up To: He was at his peak. His most recent album, Even Now, reached No. 3 on the Billboard 200. He had four top 20 hits on the Hot 100 in 1978, more than in any other year. Manilow made an impressive comeback in the 2000s, landing a second No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 and winning a second Primetime Emmy.

Turned 35: March 12, 1983

What Was He Up To: The singer’s most recent studio album, Dad Loves His Work, cracked the top 10 on the Billboard 200 and spawned one of his finest singles, “Her Town Too,” a collab with J.D. Souther. In 2010, he and Carole King reunited for Live at the Troubadour. In 2015, he would top the Billboard 200 for the first time with Before This World. And then there’s this: In 1989, a Pennsylvania couple would name their daughter Taylor in his honor.

Turned 35: May 1, 2002

What Was He Up To: McGraw’s 2001 album, Set This Circus Down, had reached No. 2 on the Billboard 200, part of a string of 14 consecutive top five studio albums that would extend through 2017. In 2006, he would inspire the first single by a precocious 16-year-old country singer.

Turned 35: June 8, 2012

What Was He Up To: Ye’s five most recent studio albums had all topped the Billboard 200. In 2009, his brash behavior at an awards show prompted a president not known for expletives to call him a “jackass.” Ye’s more recent statements and actions have made him an even-more-controversial figure than he has been since virtually the start of his career. But his success has continued, with six more No. 1 albums under his belt since he turned 35.