The Lucrative Business of Becoming Taylor Swift: Tribute Acts Are Saving Lives, Pocketing Paychecks and Finding Fame
Tina Dawn's sitting in her Nashville home introducing her chatty red rescue parrot, Scarlet, to The Hollywood Reporter over Zoom — one of hundreds of animal and avian friends she has helped save. Meanwhile, Shannon Beresford's just wrapped a nine-date New Zealand tour, Charity Eden's been performing her catchy bop 'Anxious Attachment' around America, and Sarah Jessica Rhodes helped save the Rusk, Texas, theater that sparked her love for performing.
The common thread? The musicians all credit becoming Taylor Swift tribute artists for such achievements. And they're not alone. Dawn, Beresford, Eden and Rhodes are among a growing number of tribute acts utilizing their resemblance, talent or fandom to make a living, advance their careers, give back and save lives.
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And the performers all share one mutual motivating factor — making a version of Swift's $2 billion Eras Tour accessible to the hordes of Swifties who couldn't afford or score tickets.
For Eden, it only took one concert to declare every fan must experience the show. 'The Eras Tour wrecked me,' the 34-year-old Texan tells THR. 'It changed my life and blew my mind because it's a masterpiece that shows how Taylor gives fans what they need. We needed these songs to walk through high school, heartbreak and life. Afterwards, I believed everyone needed to experience the Eras Tour, but prices being crazy made that impossible, so I thought, 'What can I do?''
Pop music hadn't been on Eden's radar, having spent her youth singing in church, which she continued doing after studying music. It wasn't until a pal sent her 'Tolerate It' in 2020 that she discovered the 'therapy' of Swift, attended the tour and launched Lover: The Unofficial Eras Tour. Doing so entailed spending $150,000 in first-year start-up costs like costuming and sound equipment, creating everything from backing tracks to background visuals, booking 100-plus gigs and swiftly quitting her wealth management job.
Rhodes, too, grew up singing in Texas churches, but studied theater, which led to performing in Las Vegas shows like Absinthe. Anyone who saw her headshot remarked on her resemblance to Swift, so she began doing lookalike appearances. 'Then people started asking, 'Can you do some songs?' says Rhodes.She appeared in Vegas show Country Superstars as Swift, then played her first tribute concert at the 2013 Alabama State Fair, which spawned her current show, Twist on Taylor. Rhodes was even asked to read the Cats trailer as Swift. 'They wanted to give Taylor an idea of what they wanted, so she could decide if she'd do it. So, she may have heard my voice!'Rhodes is the longest-running Swift tribute act THR spoke to, with Dawn debuting five years later. Having spent her youth prancing around her New Hampshire home singing 'Part of My World' from The Little Mermaid, Dawn got vocal lessons from her father, Donald, who hadn't been able to pursue his own musical dreams.
She starred in productions like Guys and Dolls, but at 15, a Matchbox Twenty concert changed her life. Not only would she end up dating the band's guitarist Kyle Cook (the couple marking their eighth anniversary in August), but the rockers made her realize she wanted to perform in the pop/rock world. Earning a songwriting degree from Berklee College of Music, she pursued singing, but struggled with taking center stage before moving to Vegas and discovering a love for background vocals.
However, her joy at landing a dream background role in Legends in Concert turned into panic when she was expected to dance. 'The only time I'd danced was two weeks of ballet when I was 6, and I was awful,' says Dawn, who took home rehearsal tapes and spent eight extra hours practicing daily.
The irony? 'Dancing isn't Taylor's strong suit, and I was awkward like her before that gig. Years later, when I started performing as Taylor, the choreographer goes, 'You look too good. Dumb it down!''
Frequently told she looked like Swift, Dawn, 43, declined impersonating the singer multiple times until a lucrative offer landed after she'd bought a house to start a rabbit rescue and needed funds for her 26 Vegas bunnies.
Cook encouraged Dawn to take the job, which led to more, and while she switched her focus to the flower farm she started during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Eras Tour ignited constant tribute requests. So, despite preferring background singing, like on Matchbox Twenty's 2023 record, Where the Light Goes, Dawn has performed 200-plus tribute gigs, seeing them as 'a tool for saving animals, paying for animal food and helping fund the farm.'Beresford, meanwhile, is one of the surprisingly few acts who was a diehard fan before channeling Swift. She was heavily influenced by Swift while songwriting through her youth, but entered the starkly different worlds of forensic psychology then palliative care. Starting a band, The Beresfords, with her brother Brendan, she was soon asked to join a Swift tribute band.
She worried the gig might negatively impact her musical aspirations, but couldn't say no, having been brought to tears during Swift's Speak Now tour. 'To get up there, sing and write songs about your life is so cool. Seeing her do it made me go, 'I want that so bad.''
Beresford, 32, felt imposter syndrome during her first performance, but now thrives in her show, Taylor's Story.
The hours, dollars and efforts the women put in behind-the-scenes are at-times mind-boggling.'For a 20-minute show, I need 60-80 hours of prep — rehearsing, getting my hair done,' says Dawn. 'That's like two weeks of a full-time job. And it's expensive. My haircuts cost $150-$300 and if Taylor suddenly goes blonder, there goes my wallet.'
'I have to watch what I eat because if I'm congested, I can't do the sound I need. I run a mile, so my lungs are open and ready for the cardio workout. I warm up and stretch. I need extra money just for a chiropractor after I play Taylor. No joke!'
Dawn also avoids weight fluctuations, recalling how she inadvertently gained so much muscle traipsing around her Cottage Hill Flower Farm that her costume pants didn't fit.
Manchester, U.K., tribute act Xenna Kristian has meanwhile perfected 30-second costume changes. 'And I'm constantly watching her videos to keep up with her characteristics,' says Kristian, who kept getting told she looked like Swift in college and eventually created her Miss Americana and The Eras Experience shows. 'I take snippets of her choreography, then have a choreographer add our own artistic flair.'
Of course, it's costuming which is key. And authentic outfits aren't cheap. Dawn has spent around $10,000 on wardrobe, including a $1,300 hand-stitched Midnights bodysuit from Vietnam. The crystals on Rhodes' Lover bodysuit are worth $2,000. And when Swift added The Tortured Poets Department into her show, wardrobe and props set Eden back $6,000.
Then there's the excess baggage costs! Dawn needs an entire suitcase for her puffy white Tortured Poets Department dress. 'One time, I vacuum sealed it going to Canada, forgetting I needed the vacuum for the way back. I sat there trying to suck the air out to make it fit!'
Swift's reps have reached out to the musicians requesting they specify they're not affiliated with Swift on promotional materials. And while they've all encountered unpleasant jibes ('Usually from adult males,' says Dawn), Swifties have been overwhelmingly supportive.
For many, they're simply grateful for an Eras experience, having missed out due to cost, ticket wars or being skipped on the tour route. In New Zealand, where fans flocked to Australia for shows, demand remains strong enough to warrant two tribute tours this year — Beresford with Taylor's Story and Josette Klausen, who's touring the country in November. The Kiwi musician has also played South Africa, another place Swift skipped.
Over in England, Kristian's frequently thanked by parents for bringing an affordable Eras–like experience to their kids. Dawn agrees young Swifties are a highlight — gifting friendship bracelets and waving 'I love you' signs. 'A lot of these kids can't afford Taylor tickets, so this is the only Taylor they're going to get,' says Dawn.
Children's joy is what stood out to Swiftie Tiffany Marie Beatrice while attending tribute concert Let's Sing Taylor. 'My favorite part was watching the young girls who weren't able to go to the Eras Tour,' she says. 'They were screaming, singing, dancing, dressed up and so excited, as if it was Taylor. We felt the same because it brought us back to when we were fortunate enough to experience the tour.'
Being that Swift 'placeholder' is an honor that makes Eden emotional as she recounts memorable stage moments, like the crowd yelling, 'Where you going, Taylor?' during 'Bejeweled' — like fans do at Swift's shows.
But the greatest gift has been professional growth and exposure. Thanks to concertgoers enquiring about her music, she added her own songs to the setlist. Ironically, she released a single titled 'Be Yourself' months before channeling Swift.
'It's symbolic of how before I stepped into this crazy journey of pretending to be someone else, I had to be rooted in knowing I'm loved for me,' says Eden. 'I didn't want a career that could cause an identity crisis, but lots of things Taylor does come naturally to me. And this has helped me see things in myself I didn't know were there. I didn't know I was a dancer or that I loved hanging with kids!'
Rhodes says learning to command crowds of 12,000 people has fed into other gigs, like the Spice Girls tribute she does, while Kristian and Beresford credit increased confidence to embodying Swift. 'My band say it's been fun watching me grow as a performer and come into my own as a person,' says Beresford.
But it's not just their own lives which have been remarkably impacted. While Dawn continues her animal rescue efforts, Rhodes — who earns up to thousands per show, with 100-plus gigs booked in 2024 and the same in 2025 — saved her hometown theater with a fundraising gig when it needed a new roof.
Eden, who earns up for $20,000 per gig (with around 75 percent going into expenses like paying dancers or buying costumes) donates a portion of meet-and-greet fees to charity: water and sex trafficking organization Rescue Her.
It's reflective of Swift's own charitable nature and illustrates how acts like Dawn and Eden ultimately endeavor to amplify her powerful legacy.
'I hope Taylor sees what I'm doing as a continuation of the joy she puts into the world,' says Eden. 'There's so much kindness and generosity around Taylor Swift and Swiftie culture. Getting to grow and continue that movement is what I love more than anything.'
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