LONDON, ENGLAND – MAY 11: Taylor Swift reacts to winning the Global icon Award during The BRIT … [+]
It’s no surprise that Taylor Swift’s new album went right to No. 1 on the Billboard charts. The singer-songwriter is used to topping the weekly tallies, especially when she has something new to share. What is somewhat shocking this time around is just how massive her latest offering is when compared to every other album in America.
Swift’s 1989 (Taylor’s Version) debuts at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart, the weekly ranking of the most-consumed albums in the U.S. The title opens with more than 1.653 million equivalent units shifted, with many of those being actual purchases.
It’s only clear how massive that sum really is when compared to other, much smaller numbers. For example, 1989 (Taylor’s Version) shifted more than 16 and a half times as many units as the No. 2 album on this week’s Billboard 200, which is also new this week. Seventeen’s Seventeenth Heaven arrives in the runner-up rung with 100,000 equivalent units. That’s a very good start for the South Korean act, but it pales next to Swift.
The singer also managed to outperform everyone else inside the top 10, and it wasn’t close. 1989 (Taylor’s Version) moved just under three times as many units as all the albums inside the top 10 on the Billboard 200 combined. That roundup includes popular efforts from stars like SZA, Drake, Bad Bunny and even others from Swift herself.
Looking beyond just the highest reaches of the Billboard 200, Swift’s dominance is still clear. 1989 (Taylor’s Version) moved more equivalent units than every EP and album inside the top 50 on the chart combined, with plenty of room to spare.
1989 (Taylor’s Version) marks Swift’s thirteenth No. 1 on the Billboard 200. The set arrives with the largest debut of her career, and also one of the top starts of all time among women. Impressively, 1989 (Taylor’s Version) outperformed the original 1989, which was released in 2014 to much fanfare.