United States: The veteran singer Ms. Taylor Swift has become the first woman and the third artist ever to have four albums in the Top 10 of the US album chart simultaneously. The American singer-songwriter has broken a record set by Ms. Barbra Streisand to become the female artist with the most No. 1 albums in history.
The 33-year-old’s latest album, Speak Now (Taylor’s Version), has debuted at the top spot on the Billboard 200 with 716,000 album-equivalent units, a figure that combines physical sales with digital sales and streaming figures. It is the largest week for any album in 2023 and the best since her previous album, Midnights, which was released last October.
Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) is joined in the Top 10 by Midnights at No. 5, Lover at No. 7, and Folklore at No. 10. With this achievement, Ms. Swift becomes the first woman to have four albums in the Top 10 simultaneously since the charts began in 1963. Additionally, Ms. Swift is also the first living artist to accomplish this since 1966, when the US trumpeter Mr. Herb Alpert achieved the same milestone.
The only other artist to have placed at least four titles in the Top 10 concurrently is Mr. Prince, who had five albums reach the Top 10 shortly after his death in 2016.
Ms. Swift has now also surpassed Ms. Streisand as the female artist with the most No. 1 albums in history, with the two women previously tied with 11 each. The legendary singer’s albums now account for four of the five biggest debuts of the last five years, with Ms. Adele’s 2021 album 30 in the fourth spot, just ahead of Speak Now.