If you can’t get enough of Taylor Swift’s latest album, “The Tortured Poets Department,” you’re not alone. Billboard said on Sunday that the long-awaited album made a “historic” debut that puts her in a tie with Jay-Z for the most No. 1s among soloists, as the album saw the “largest streaming week for an album ever.”
“The Tortured Poets Department” was released on April 19, featuring more than two dozen tracks believed to revolve around several of Swift’s relationships, including The 1975 singer Matty Healy, actor Joe Alwyn and current beau, Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce.
Billboard said the album, which Swift announced during her Grammys acceptance speech in February, made a “gigantic debut,” hitting No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart, which ranks a week’s most popular albums in the U.S. That milestone marks the 34-year-old pop star’s 14th chart-topping album, Billboard said, tying her with hip-hop mogul Jay-Z for having the most No. 1 albums among soloists.
Every single one of Swift’s full-length studio albums and projects since the release of “Fearless” in 2008 have debuted at No. 1. She and Jay-Z are only surpassed by The Beatles for most No. 1s, who have 19. Of the 10 artists who have had at least 10 No. 1s on the Billboard 200, Swift is only one of two women, the other being Barbra Streisand, who has had 11 No. 1s, tied with Bruce Springsteen and Ye, the rapper formerly known as Kanye West.
The album also hit another milestone – “the largest streaming week for an album ever,” Billboard said, with 891.34 million official streams of the album’s 31 songs.
“The Tortured Poets Department” saw 2.61 million equivalent album units earned by the end of last week. Digital downloads, CDs, vinyl LPS and cassettes made up 1.914 million of that total. The vinyl sales alone were monumental, with 859,000 album units earned, marking “the largest sales week for an album on vinyl in the modern era,” Billboard said.
Swift’s latest record has surpassed Beyoncé’s “Cowboy Carter” for the top-selling album of 2024 – by far. While “Cowboy Carter” has sold 228,000 copies, “The Tortured Poets Department” has hit more than 1.9 million sales.
