World’s biggest Taylor Swift fan is a man from Pakistan who named 34 of her songs from just their opening lines in 1 min
TAYLOR Swift may have thousands of fans around the world – but for one man in Pakistan, it’s a true Love Story.
Die-hard Swiftie Bilal Ilyas Jhandir, 20, has smashed the world record for the number of the star’s songs named from opening lyrics in just one minute.
Staking his claim to be crowned Swift’s biggest fan, Bilal correctly identified 34 of her hits in 60 seconds.
And to make matters more impressive, the first words of the Shake It Off singer’s tunes were read aloud without accompanying music for Bilal to name.
Sat blindfolded, the dedicated Swift fan correctly recognised 34 in one minute out of a randomly compiled list of her 50 biggest hits.
He dwarfed the previous record of 27, set by British fan Dan Simpson in 2019.
Bilal, who lives in Pakistan, says he has been enchanted by American singer Swift, 34, since he was a child.
After being handed a Guinness World Record for his achievement, he revealed: “I have been listening to Taylor Swift since my childhood.
“I am a die-hard fan of her.
“I have listened to each and every song of hers. I can identify almost any song of hers from the lyrics.”
Bilal believes breaking the record was the “best way on Earth” to show his “extraordinary love” for Swift.
Despite Swift, who is dating Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, being on his playlist every day, Bilal said he spent 13 weeks preparing for the challenge with “extensive listening sessions”.
He claims he blared out the singer-songwriter’s hits and recited them so much that he started reading them aloud in his sleep.
Bilal conceded, however, that having the lyrics spoken by a man rather than sung by his beloved Swift made the challenge a lot harder.
But when it came to it, he said his attempt to break the record proved “an easy task”.
And Bilal is no stranger to such tests, having snagged his first Guinness World Records title in 2021 for most animals identified from animal sounds in one minute (23).
He got his second last year for the most Justin Bieber songs identified from their lyrics in one minute (29).
Bilal added: “This record is my favourite of all of them.
“Being called a ‘Certified Swiftie’ or ‘Officially Amazing Swiftie’ is such an incredible feeling.”
Declaring his love for Swift – who is in the midst of her worldwide Eras tour – he insisted the “absolute masterpiece” that is Folklore is his favourite album.
I have listened to each and every song of hers. I can identify almost any song of hers from the lyrics
Bilal Ilyas Jhandir
Bilal, who has listened to Swift since he was 13, said: “The thing I like the most about her is her way of writing out-of-this-world songs that always hit the bottom of my heart.
“The authenticity in her songwriting, the emotional depth in her lyrics, and her ability to connect with listeners on a personal level are all the things that I admire most about Taylor Swift.”
It comes as Swift fights back after explicit fake pictures of her were posted online.
The superstar is currently waging war on social media bosses after truly grim AI-created images of her in intimate positions were shared on social media.
One of the deepfake pics was viewed 47million times on X/Twitter before it was removed.
She has so far managed to get X — which has been accused of inadequately policing content since billionaire Elon Musk took it over — to remove the ability for people to search her name.
But because of the exhaustive scope of the internet, the sick shots are still popping up on other social media apps owned by another billionaire, Mark Zuckerberg.
Swift’s fight has gone global, with US President Joe Biden’s press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre calling on social media bosses to clamp down on the spread of these kinds of fake images.
Meanwhile, Swift has told NFL bosses to forget about any hopes of her performing in the Super Bowl half-time show.
She is set to be in Las Vegas on February 11 to cheer on boyfriend Kelce, also 34, and the Chiefs – and NFL bosses hoped she would add extra razzmatazz to the all-important mid-game entertainment.
But a source close to Swift says her only interest is “to support Travis and the Chiefs”.
The Love Story singer starts the next leg of her Eras Tour on February 7 in Tokyo and will have to rush back to the US the night before the Super Bowl to ensure she arrives at Allegiant Stadium on time.