Taylor Swift became the first woman, and third female artist ever, to have four albums in the US Top 10 simultaneously, while also surpassing Barbra Streisand’s record to become the artist with the most albums. in history.
The 33-year-old’s final album, Speak Now (Taylor version), debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 with 716,000 album-equivalent units—a number that combines physical sales, digital sales, and airplay numbers. It’s the biggest week for any album in 2023 and the best since the release of her previous album Midnights last October.
Speak Now (Taylor’s version) was joined in the top 10 by Midnights at No. 5, Lover at No. 7 and Folklore at No. 10. This makes Swift the first woman to have four albums in the Top 10 at the same time since the charts began in 1963, and the first live act to do so since 1966, when American trumpeter Herb Alpert had the same record.
The only other artist to have at least four titles in the top ten concurrently is Prince, who had five albums reach the top ten shortly after his death in 2016.
Swift has now also overtaken Streisand as the artist with the most albums in history, with the two women previously linked with 11 each.
Swift’s albums now account for four of the five biggest debuts of the past five years, with Adele’s 2021 album 30 in fourth place, just ahead of Speak Now.
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