Are you craving more of Taylor Swift's recent album, "The Tortured Poets Department"? You're not alone. Billboard revealed on Sunday that the highly anticipated album had an extraordinary debut, putting her in a tie with Jay-Z for the most No. 1s among solo artists. The album also achieved the "largest streaming week for an album ever."
Released on April 19, "The Tortured Poets Department" features over two dozen tracks that are believed to center around various aspects of Swift's relationships, including The 1975 singer Matty Healy, actor Joe Alwyn, and her current partner, Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce.
According to Billboard, Swift announced the album during her Grammys acceptance speech in February. The album's remarkable debut landed it at the No. 1 spot on the Billboard 200 albums chart, which ranks the most popular albums in the U.S. This achievement marks the 34-year-old pop star's 14th album to top the charts, tying her with hip-hop icon Jay-Z for the most No. 1 albums among solo artists.
Since the release of "Fearless" in 2008, every single one of Swift's full-length studio albums and projects have debuted at No. 1, solidifying her position in the music industry. She and Jay-Z are only surpassed by The Beatles for most No. 1s, with The Beatles holding the record at 19. Among the 10 artists with at least 10 No. 1s on the Billboard 200, Swift stands as one of the two women, the other being Barbra Streisand, who has also achieved 11 No. 1s, tying with Bruce Springsteen and Ye, formerly known as Kanye West.
The album also achieved a significant milestone by attaining "the largest streaming week for an album ever," as reported by Billboard, with an impressive 891.34 million official streams of the album's 31 songs.
"The Tortured Poets Department" garnered 2.61 million equivalent album units by the end of the previous week, with digital downloads, CDs, vinyl LPs, and cassettes accounting for 1.914 million of that total. Notably, the vinyl sales alone were remarkable, accumulating 859,000 album units and marking "the largest sales week for an album on vinyl in the modern era," according to Billboard.
In addition, Swift's latest record has surpassed Beyoncé's "Cowboy Carter" to become the top-selling album of 2024 by a significant margin. While "Cowboy Carter" has sold 228,000 copies, "The Tortured Poets Department" has reached over 1.9 million in sales.
