Earning a Guinness Record for Identifying Taylor Swift Songs Isn’t as Easy as You Think
A 20-year-old from Pakistan has recently broken the record with 34 songs.
(SPOT.ph) Guinness World Record is often famed for its quirky record categories, like say, identifying the most Taylor Swift songs in one minute—a headline-making feat that Bilal Ilyas Jhandir officially achieved on January 26.
The 20-year-old from Pakistan successfully named 34 songs, surpassing the previous record of 27 songs set by U.K.'s Dan Simpson in 2019. We know what you’re thinking: I can easily do that and probably even more!
Well, it’s not as easy as it seems. According to Guinness World Record, a random sequence of Swift's 50 best-selling songs was prepared for Jhandir's record attempt. He was required to identify each song based solely on its opening lyrics, which were recited by a man without any accompanying music.
Without any accompanying music.
“It was very difficult,” Jhandir told USA Today in a Zoom interview. “Because you had to listen to another person read the lyrics and they were pronouncing some of the words incorrectly.”
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How did Bilal Ilyas Jhandir break the Guinness World Record for identifying the most Taylor Swift songs in one minute?
Jhandir revealed it took him 13 weeks (coincidence?) of practice before he took the official test on September 2023. His preparation included intensive listening sessions to Swift's music, enabling him to internalize the lyrics so thoroughly that he ended up reciting them in his sleep.
He has been a Swiftie since his early teens, citing Folklore as his favorite album. Interestingly enough, this achievement is already Jhandir’s third Guinness World Record title. His previous records include identifying the most animals sounds in one minute (23 animals) in 2021 and the most Justin Bieber songs in one minute (29 songs) in 2022.
Unlike his Bieber attempt, where he skipped two songs, he didn’t skip any for Swift.
“Many people on TikTok, Twitter, Instagram, they are saying that they will break the record, like that’s so easy. Easy peasy," Jhandir told USA Today. "So let’s see if someone broke this score. Then definitely, I will try to regain it.”
Taylor Swift has several Guinness World Record titles of her own, including most simultaneous albums on the US Billboard 200 for a living artist and most monthly listeners on Spotify for a female artist. Her Eras Tour has also been named the highest-grossing music tour in history.
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