Taylor Swift continues to break records with her new album, The Life Of A Showgirl.
The 35-year-old singer–songwriter easily surpassed the record for most album-equivalent units in its opening week with more than 4 million units moved, according to Variety.
Early reports noted that Swift — who recently announced an Eras Tour docuseries — had likely surpassed the record, but it wasn’t yet clear by how much.
By ultimately moving 4.002 million album-equivalent units, Swift broke the previous record by more than 500,000 units.
Adele’s album 25 previously held the record with 3.482 million album-equivalent units moved in a single week, but Swift had reportedly smashed that record in just five days.
Her previous best performer was The Tortured Poets Department, which moved 2.61 million album-equivalent units in its first week.
Taylor Swift continues to break records with new album, The Life Of A Showgirl. The album surpassed the record for most album-equivalent units moved in its first week with over 4 million; seen in February in LA
The LP also broke a record by having all 12 songs in the top 12 spots on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart
Swift’s latest album helped her break another record, making her the solo artist with the most number-one albums after surpassing her previous tie with Jay-Z and Drake.
However, with 15 chart-topping albums, she still trails behind The Beatles, who had 19 number-one LPs.
Swift celebrated the news of her chart performance on Instagram on Monday.
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‘I’ll never forget how excited I was in 2006 when my first album sold 40,000 copies in its first week. I was 16 and couldn’t even fathom that that many people would care enough about my music to invest their time and energy into it,’ she wrote.
‘Since then I’ve tried to meet and thank as many people as I could who have given me the chance to chase this insane dream. Here we are all these years later and a hundred times that many people showed up for me this week,’ Swift continued.
‘I have 4 million thank you’s I want to send to the fans, and 4 million reasons to feel even more proud of this album than I already was.
‘Thank you for going out to celebrate this project in the movie theaters, investing in vinyl, streaming, watching the video, buying CDs, reading the poems I wrote inside the packaging, and immersing yourselves in The Life of a Showgirl,’ she conluded. ‘I’ll cherish this feeling forever. Just wow. Thank you for the lovely bouquet.’
But it wasn’t just simple sales that helped make The Life Of A Showgirl one for the history books.
Swift’s latest album helped her break another record, making her the solo artist with the most number-one albums after surpassing her previous tie with Jay-Z (pictured in February in LA) and Drake
Swift is now tied with Drake for fourth-most number-one singles. Both artists have topped the Billboard 100 with 13 songs; Drake seen in July in London
Swift had gotten close to getting an entire album to fill up the top of the Hot 100 chart with her last two albums, Midnights and The Tortured Poets Department, but they only took up the top 10 chart spots; seen October 8 on Late Night With Seth Meyers
According to Billboard and Luminate, The Fate Of Ophelia earned 92.5 million streams in the US, which is also the most streams for a single song over a week since Billboard altered how it collects streaming data in 2020; pictured in December 2024 in Vancouver, Canada
According to Variety, Swift has become the first person ever to have every one of the songs on her album take up the top spots on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart.
The 42-minute album features 12 songs, and all 12 comprise numbers 1–12 on the Hot 100, with the album’s lead single, The Fate Of Ophelia, taking the top spot.
Swift had gotten close to getting an entire album to fill up the top of the Hot 100 chart with her last two albums, Midnights and The Tortured Poets Department, both of which commanded the top 10 single slots after their release.
However, other artists were able to break up the remainder of the track lists starting with number 11, making her latest album the first to have every song cruise past the competition.
Following The Fate Of Ophelia, the rest of the songs in chart order are: Opalite, Elizabeth Taylor, Father Figure, Wood, Wi$h Li$t, Actually Romantic, The Life Of A Showgirl, Eldest Daughter, Cancelled!, Ruin The Friendship and Honey.
According to Variety, Swift also scored her 13th song to top the Hot 100 with The Fate Of Ophelia, which is a meaningful number for the numerology-obsessed performer, who considers 13 to be a lucky number.
According to Billboard and Luminate, the single earned 92.5 million streams in the US, which is also the most streams for a single song over a week since Billboard altered how it collects streaming data in 2020.
Part of Swift’s incredible chart success may have been due to the eye-popping number of alternative physical versions of the album that she sold to fans.
Swift reportedly sold 3,479,500 albums from 38 variations, which set a record for pure sales; seen in 2024
The Life Of A Showgirl reportedly sold 2.7 million units just in its first day, though that figure includes all presales
Swift reportedly sold 3,479,500 albums from 38 variations, which set a record for pure sales.
The Life Of A Showgirl reportedly sold 2.7 million units just in its first day, though that figure includes all presales.
Album sales are more influential in the album-equivalent units calculations, and many of the Shake It Off singer’s biggest fans have been buying multiple versions of The Life Of A Showgirl just to get alternative covers and slight variations in bonus tracks.
In a departure from standard practice, Swift didn’t make any of the songs on The Life Of A Showgirl available for individual purchase, which may have led some curious listeners to bite the bullet and buy the entire album in one go.
Swift had previously been tied with Ariana Grande for another record for the female artist with the most number-one songs that debuted at number one, but The Fate Of Ophelia marks her eighth chart-topping single debut, pushing her ahead of Grande.
When considering all of her songs that eventually made it to number one, Swift ties with Drake in fourth place. She and the rapper have both had 13 songs at the top of the Hot 100.
Ahead of them are Rihanna (14 number-one hits), Mariah Carey (19) and The Beatles (20).
Producer Max Martin, who reunited with Swift after last working with her on Reputation, scored his 26th number-one single with The Fate Of Ophelia, breaking his own record for the most chart-toppers.