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Taylor Swift Makes History with Speak Now (Taylor’s Version)
Taylor Swift has made history with Speak Now (Taylor’s Version). As one of four albums the artist has in the Top 10 simultaneously, Swift becomes the first woman to achieve that milestone since the Billboard 200 combined mono and stereo album charts into one in August 1963, as Billboard reports. The album also bowed at Number One on the Billboard 200 albums chart and marks the largest week for any album this year.
Swift Breaks Barbra Streisand’s Record
The re-recorded Speak Now is Swift’s 12th Number One album, which sets another record: she has surpassed Barbra Streisand’s record for the most Number One albums among women.
Swift Dominates the Top 10
The album joins Swift’s Midnights at Number Five, Lover at Number Seven, and Folklore at Number 10, making her the first living artist to have four albums in the Top 10 at the same time since Herb Alpert, who set the record in April 1966. Prince also achieved that feat posthumously in May 2016.
Record-Breaking Debut
Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) debuts with 716,000 album-equivalent units sold in the U.S. for the week ending July 13, according to Luminate (507,000 come from traditional album sales). It bests Morgan Wallen’s One Thing at a Time, which previously held 2023’s largest week record when it debuted with 501,000 units in the week ending March 9.
Continued Success for Taylor Swift
Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) follows her re-recordings of Red and Fearless both in 2021, both of which also debuted at Number One. Her re-recording of Speak Now had the biggest week of the three, with Red (Taylor’s Version) nabbing 605,000 and Fearless (Taylor’s Version) earning 291,000.
Swift’s Album Sets Records
And to add to all of Swift’s big chart numbers, combining sales and streaming, the re-recording of Speak Now not only represents the largest week for any album in 2023, it’s also the biggest since Swift dropped Midnights, which debuted with 1.58 million units last year.
