Taylor Swift has been removed from a well-known downtown Nashville mural and her fans aren't happy about it. The mural is on Legends Corner, a bar located next to the Ryman Auditorium and includes country artists such as Blake Shelton, Loretta Lynn, Reba McEntire, Keith Urban, Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton and more.
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Swift, who became the youngest artist to win a CMA Entertainer of the Year award in 2009, has been replaced on the mural by Brad Paisley. The image of Paisley now appears sitting in the chair where Swift previously appeared.
Legends Corner Mural
The mural is the work of artist Tim Davis, who is in the process of overhauling the mural.
USA Today reports that Davis has been working on making changes to the mural in the past week.
"Ultimately, the changes are not up to me, but up to the owners of the Legends Corner bar. ... They have had the intention from the start to change it up once in a while, taking some artists off and adding others," Davis wrote in an email to USA Today.
While Davis is a fan of Swift, he tells USA Today many Nashville visitors have expressed anger of Swift's inclusion on the iconic Nashville mural.
"I have heard many complaints here in Nashville about Taylor being on the wall with country legends since she is currently focused mainly on pop," Davis said. "Some inebriated bar hoppers have spit on her image specifically, feeling betrayed by her venture from country. I guess this is to be expected, but by in large, the people of Nashville love her, as do I."
Swift's fans have taken to social media to protest the change. Despite Swift's recent focus on pop music, fans say Swift's success in the genre has earned her a permanent place on the mural celebrating country music legends.
https://twitter.com/MissAmericHANA/status/1342524606888902656?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1342524606888902656%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.usatoday.com%2Fstory%2Fentertainment%2Fcelebrities%2F2020%2F12%2F27%2Fbrad-paisley-replaces-taylor-swift-nashville-country-legends-mural-why%2F4056623001%2F
Taylor Swift, an artist who has the most awarded country album in history and ?has achieved both national and international prominence through at levels unique in country music,? is having her spot on the legends corner mural given to Brad Paisley and for what??? pic.twitter.com/r5iisHF06H
— ahmed ? (@sirensofswift) December 25, 2020
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https://twitter.com/yourflannelcure/status/1342558601173368835?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1342558601173368835%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.complex.com%2Fmusic%2F2020%2F12%2Ftaylor-swift-nashville-mural-reactions
At the 2013 CMA Awards, Swift was awarded the Pinnacle Award, which "recognizes an artist who has achieved both national and international prominence through concert performances and record sales at levels unique in Country Music."
In 2020 alone, Swift released the "sister albums" Folklore and Evermore. Her collaboration with HAIM, "No Body, No Crime," entered the country charts at No. 2.
Swift fans can take comfort in the fact that Davis has expressed interest in creating a brand new mural just for the pop-country singer. He created a GoFundMe to cover the expenses involved in creating the mural.
"As a music powerhouse in her own right, and having introduced many to the country music genre, she should be featured on a prominent mural in Music City that showcases both her country roots, and her earned status as the queen of pop," the page reads.
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