Why Taylor Swift Spent 6 Months Out of the Spotlight: 'She Felt Like Her Personal Life Was Spinning Out of Control'
"It was draining her and she needed to disappear to reinvent herself," a source close to Swift tells PEOPLE exclusively
Taylor Swift is back in the driver’s seat.
For most of 2017, Swifties wondered where the superstar was hiding and what she was up to, and now after dropping her first solo single in three years all their questions have been answered.
Between a messy breakup with ex-boyfriend Calvin Harris, a subsequent high-profile fling with Tom Hiddleston and a very public feud with the Wests, “she felt like her personal life was spinning out of control,” a source close to the star, 27, tells PEOPLE exclusively. “It was draining her and she needed to disappear to reinvent herself. It was time to change things up and take another approach.”
The Grammy winner’s scathing pop track, “Look What You Made Me Do,” satirizes her public persona and hits back at her haters, including famous ones like Kanye West and Kim Kardashian West.
“Taylor is very excited about her new album. This has been her life for the past few months,” says the source.
For all the details on Swift’s new music and her life now, pick up the latest issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands Friday.
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Swift is now “ready to come out of hiding” and is looking forward to sharing her album Reputation (out Nov. 10) with her loyal fans. The star smashed records with her dramatic music video for “Look,” racking up more than 40 million views in 24 hours on YouTube.
“Taylor is very talented and wants the focus to be on her music,” says the source of the entertainer, who’s been quietly dating actor Joe Alwyn, 26, since late last fall. “She is a master at reinventing herself.”