Taylor Swift Makes History with Four Albums Dominating the Billboard 200 Chart
In a groundbreaking achievement, Taylor Swift has etched her name in history as the first woman and only the third artist ever to have four albums simultaneously occupying the Top 10 spots on the Billboard 200 chart.
Swift’s mission to reclaim artistic and financial control over her music led her to embark on the journey of re-recording her first six albums. The latest addition to this endeavor, Speak Now (Taylor’s Version), was released earlier this month and swiftly claimed the number one position. This achievement marks Swift’s 12th chart-topping album, surpassing Barbra Streisand and cementing her status as the female artist with the most number one albums. According to Billboard, Speak Now (Taylor’s Version), which includes six previously unreleased tracks, debuted with the highest weekly sales and streaming figures of any album this year.
Joining Swift’s Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) in the illustrious Top 10 are three of her other albums. Midnights from 2022 secures the fifth spot, Folklore from 2020 holds the tenth position, and Lover from 2019 claims the seventh spot. The presence of four albums from the same artist within the Top 10 is an extraordinary feat, as Vulture points out, and can be attributed to various factors. These include Swift’s ongoing Eras Tour, the revival of her single “Cruel Summer” from Lover, and her prominent contribution to the soundtrack of the second season of Amazon series The Summer I Turned Pretty. Whatever the catalyst, Swift has undoubtedly etched another significant page in the annals of music history.
Billboard highlights that Swift’s accomplishment as the first living act to have four albums in the Top 10 simultaneously since 1966, alongside Herb Alpert, the American trumpeter. The only other artist to achieve this feat is Prince, although he achieved it posthumously. Three weeks after his passing in mid-May 2016, five of Prince’s albums, including The Very Best of Prince, the Purple Rain soundtrack, The Hits/The B-Sides, Ultimate, and 1999, resurged into the Top 10.
This remarkable milestone adds to Swift’s growing list of Billboard records. In October 2022, she became the first artist ever to sweep the entire Top 10 on Billboard’s Hot 100, a mere few days following the release of Midnights. While Swift has not publicly commented on her latest achievements, she has shared her reflections on social media about the significance of Speak Now (Taylor’s Version), a body of work she penned between the ages of 18 and 20 and reimagined at the age of 32.