Taylor Swift has become a global beauty icon with her ever-improving beauty

Can we now put Taylor Swift in the same pop icon stratosphere as Elvis, Michael Jackson, and Madonna? Or too soon? (For perspective, Madonna was 26 when “Like a Virgin” came out in 1984; Swift turns 34 in December.) dean of the College of Fine Arts, says yes, it’s time—she is most definitely a generational talent. “She’s certainly the equivalent of the Beatles or at the least, Paul McCartney at the height of his Beatles fame,” he says.

“People forget that she’s been releasing music for 17 years—which means that like her, an army of former teenagers are now heading toward middle-age. Her music was literally the soundtrack to a generation’s most formative years, similar to Madonna or Michael Jackson for folks in their 50s.”

Even if you’re not a Swiftie, you can’t help but be awed by Swift’s achievements:

She is the first and only woman solo artist to win the Grammy for Album of the Year three times (for her solo recordings). “She’s an advocate, a style icon, a marketing wiz, a prolific songwriter, a pusher of visual boundaries and a record-breaking road warrior,” Billboard writes, summing up the Swift phenomenon. “And she sells a ton of albums… It’s rare to ascend to the pinnacle of pop stardom, as Swift has, and rarer still to impact the business so profoundly.”

We asked BU experts in law, music, and marketing what most impresses them about Swift.