HEIGHT OF POP

In August 2017, Swift successfully countersued David Mueller, a former radio jockey for KYGO-FM, who sued her for damages from loss of employment. Four years earlier, she informed Mueller's bosses that he had sexually assaulted her by groping her at an event. The public controversies influenced Swift's sixth studio album, Reputation, which explored the impact of her fame and musically incorporated electropop with urban styles of hip hop and R&B. Released in November 2017, Reputation opened atop the Billboard 200 with 1.21 million US sales and topped the charts in the UK, Australia, and Canada. The album's lead single, "Look What You Made Me Do", was Swift's first UK number-one single and topped charts in Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, and the US. Its singles "...Ready for It?", "End Game", and "Delicate" were released to pop radio. Reputation was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album. Swift featured on the country duo Sugarland's "Babe" (2018).

Swift's first album with Republic Records, Lover, was released in August 2019. She produced the album with Antonoff, Louis Bell, Frank Dukes, and Joel Little. Lover peaked atop the charts of such territories as Australia, Canada, Ireland, Mexico, Norway, Sweden, the UK, and the US. The album spawned five singles: "Me!", "You Need to Calm Down", "Lover", "The Man", and "Cruel Summer"; the first two singles peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100, and the lattermost single became a resurgent success in 2023, reaching number one. Lover was 2019's bestselling album in the US and bestselling album by a solo artist worldwide. The album and its singles earned three nominations at the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards in 2020. At the 2019 MTV Video Music Awards, Swift won three awards including Video of the Year for "You Need to Calm Down", becoming the first female and second artist overall to win the category for a self-directed video.