Taylor Is Honored Ryan Adams Is Covering '1989'

Taylor Swift is feeling the love. Now the proud bearer of seven Grammy Awards, five platinum albums, and more than 62 million Twitter followers, it is undeniable that many have fallen hard for the country-turned-pop star. And soon, the "Shake It Off" performer will be gifted with a whole new reward in the form of a 1989 cover album, by Ryan Adams, an artist that she herself looked up to. The album will cover every single song on the songstress's latest album. In a statement to Entertainment Weekly, Taylor Swift said it's "such an honor" being covered by Ryan Adams.

Here's Swift's statement in full:

Ryan Adams is one of the artists who shaped my songwriting. My favorite part of his style of creating music is his ability to bleed aching vulnerability into it, and that’s what he’s done with his cover project of my album 1989. When I first heard that Ryan was going to be covering my entire album, I couldn’t believe it. It’s such an honor that he would want to take my stories and lyrics and give them a new life. He’s gotten some of the best musicians together to record this album and if the clips he’s released are any indication, this is going to be something really special.

The fact that Swift took time out of her busy touring schedule to say more than just a few kind words about the cover album alone shows just how much this means to her. And this is not the first time she has shown her excitement about the news. When she first found out earlier in August that Adams was taking on the task, she publicly freaked out on Twitter, in true Swift style:

Since then, Adams has released several teaser clips from some of the songs. No word yet on when the album will be released in its entirety, but based on how many clips are out now, one can only assume it can't be long before we hear the whole thing.

In the meantime, is worth celebrating exactly what this news means for Swift. It's the latest sign of how far she has come as an artist. When someone that you looked up to is making a point to cover not just a single of yours but your entire latest album, that is when you know you have developed an influence in your own right. Swift started with revolutionizing country pop music, and now it looks like she is well on her way to full-blown pop star revolution.

From now on, it will not be surprising to hear new artists emerging on the scene saying that Swift was one of their major influences. And who knows? Maybe she will end up covering one of their albums down the line.