Taylor Swift stuns in sequinned number as she praises current record label amid rights row

Taylor Swift, 29, accepted the Artist of the Decade award last night as she attended the annual American Music Award ceremony in Los Angeles Microsoft Theatre. The hitmaker brought sass and flare to her performances with four different outfits to match the prestigious title.

She made striking appearances in the various outfits as she graced the red carpet and then stormed the stage to perform a medley of six of her most popular hits.

She stole the show as she debuted a stunning gold sequin bodysuit which she also paired with a flowing cape while playing the piano, showing off her musical talent.

But fans weren’t just waiting to see what Taylor would bring to her performances.

The artist is currently embroiled in an ongoing legal battle with her former record label, Big Machine Records, operated by bosses Scooter Braun and Scott Borchetta, over the rights to her music.

In a statement, the company disagreed with her claims: “Since Taylor’s decision to leave Big Machine last fall, we have continued to honour all of her requests to license her catalog to third parties as she promotes her current record in which we do not financially participate.”

They continued: “We have worked diligently to have a conversation about these matters with Taylor and her team to productively move forward.”

But her loyal fans want justice for their idol.

During her emotional speech, she took the chance to thank her current record label Republic Records, a division of Universal Music Group.

But she didn’t leave it there and used her platform to bring attention to the highly-publicised feud between her and the company she spent most of her career with.

The former country star began her performance wearing a white dress shirt covered in bold black wording that were the titles of all her older albums that are owned by Big Machine Records.

The fashion icon has made sure all eyes were on her last night as she made her point – big and bold.

To represent her attitude towards the row, she turned her back toward the crowd and camera to show “Fearless” over her shoulders before ripping off the shirt to symbolically slam the record executives for owning her old catalog of music.

During her acceptance speech she gushed: “This is amazing! That was a really tough category, thank you to the fans!

“This album really felt like a new beginning and I also really love my record label, Universal and Republic.

“Thank you for being so generous to me and allowing me to make whatever music I want to make. As a songwriter it’s so thrilling to me that I get to keep doing that,” she admitted as best friend Selena Gomez cheered on from the front row.

Her second to last song was the ever-popular hit Shake It Off, as she was joined by fellow singers, Halsey and Camila Cabello who supported her throughout the movement.

The performance came after she was cleared to perform any of her previous hits amid all the controversy.

And her astronomical success throughout the decade certainly makes her worthy of the title.

With five nominations this year, she holds the record for the most AMA wins of any female artist ever, and she has claimed more wins this decade than any other performer.

The pop legend has released five albums within this decade, all of which hit number one on the Billboard charts.

She’s also had three number one singles on the Billboard Hot 100 singles, three worldwide stadium tours and two Billboard Woman of the Year awards, so it’s safe to say fans went wild when she was recognised for this honour.

She thanked her fans as she wrapped up her thank you message: “Guys … we’ve had fun incredible, exhilarating, extraordinary times together,” she said.

“And may it continue.

“Thank you for being the reason why I am on this stage, from the very first day of my career until tonight. I love you with all of my heart. Thank you for everything. Thank you AMAs,” she gushed.

“Thank you … just thank you. I’m so lucky to get to do this.”

source: express.co.uk