Taylor Swift becomes the first woman to have 4 albums on Billboard’s Top 10 at once
Taylor Swift has achieved remarkable chart milestones with the release of her album “Speak Now (Taylor’s Version),” making her the first woman to have four albums simultaneously on Billboard’s Top 10 list.
Her latest album debuted at No. 1, delivering the highest numbers of the year for any release. Billboard reports that this is the first time in the six-decade history of the album chart that a woman has achieved such a feat, placing her among only three artists to accomplish this milestone.
In addition, Swift has set a new record for the female artist with the most No. 1 albums in history, surpassing Barbra Streisand. With “Speak Now (Taylor’s Version)” topping the Billboard 200 chart with 716,000 album-equivalent units, it secured a significant lead over the previous best figure held by Morgan Wallen’s “One Thing at a Time” with 501,000 units.
Swift’s other albums that contributed to her quadrilogy of success in the top 10 are “Midnights” from 2022 at No. 5, “Lover” from 2019 at No. 7, and “Folklore” from 2020 at No. 10.
Joining the exclusive list of artists who have landed four albums in the top 10 simultaneously are Herb Alpert and Prince. Alpert achieved this feat while he was still alive in 1966, while Prince accomplished it posthumously in 2016. No one else has achieved this milestone since the chart’s inception in 1963.
“Speak Now (Taylor’s Version)” also achieved the largest debut number among the three re-recordings Swift has released so far as part of her campaign to recreate her original albums recorded under her former label, Big Machine. “Red (Taylor’s Version)” now holds second place with 605,000 units upon its late 2021 release. The first in the series, “Fearless (Taylor’s Version),” had a less notable debut with 291,000 units in early 2021, partly due to the absence of the highly sought-after vinyl version at the time of release. Nevertheless, it easily debuted at No. 1.
While streaming dominates album charts, “Speak Now” saw substantial sales, with 507,000 copies sold in its first week. Notably, vinyl sales accounted for 268,500 copies, marking the second-best week for a vinyl album since SoundScan began tracking them in 1991. Swift’s “Midnights” holds the top spot, having sold 575,000 vinyl copies upon its release in October last year.
Overall, “Speak Now” is the biggest album since “Midnights,” amassing 1.58 million first-week units when considering streaming and sales combined.
Billboard also highlights that Swift’s 716,000 unit debut for “Speak Now” is the fifth-largest opening of the last five years, with Swift claiming four out of five spots. Adele’s “30” secures the fourth spot, just ahead of “Speak Now.”
Despite Swift’s dominance, other albums managed to squeeze into the top 10 amidst her success, including Wallen’s “One Thing at a Time” at No. 2 (with 104,000 units), Wallen’s “Dangerous” at No. 6, Lil Uzi Vert’s “Pink Tape” at No. 3 (down from No. 1 in its second week with 61,000 units), Peso Pluma’s “Genesis” at No. 4, and Gunna’s “A Gift and a Curse” at No. 9
