Taylor Swift shared this image. (courtesy: taylorswift)
Pop sensation Taylor Swift is surprised by the success of her album The Tortured Poets Department as the album made a colossal entry at No 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart. It sold a staggering 2.61 million albums and streaming units in its debut week in the US, as reported by Billboard on Sunday. According to Billboard, traditional album sales accounted for 1.91 million units in the week ending April 25, encompassing digital downloads, CDs, and cassettes, with an additional 859,000 units from vinyl sales. Impressively, the album also garnered 891.34 million on-demand official streams.
Taylor Swift reacted to the big news by sharing behind-the-scenes pictures from a recording studio on X (formerly Twitter) and wrote, “My mind is blown. I'm completely floored by the love you've shown this album. 2.6 million ARE YOU ACTUALLY SERIOUS?? Thank you for listening, streaming and welcoming ‘Tortured Poets' into your life. Feeling completely overwhelmed. I was already so fired up to get back to the tour but you doing THIS?? May 9 can't come soon enough."
The Tortured Poets Department not only secured the largest streaming week for an album ever but also marked the biggest sales week for an album on vinyl in the modern era. Furthermore, it stands as the best-selling album of 2024 thus far.
This achievement marked Taylor Swift's 14th chart-topping album, placing her on par with Jay-Z for the most No. 1s among solo artists. Taylor Swift's surprise release strategy paid off immensely, with the initial 16 tracks dropping on April 19, followed by the revelation of it being a double album with an additional 15 songs two hours later.
Last week, Spotify confirmed The Tortured Poets Department as its most-streamed album in a single week, surpassing 1 billion streams. Taylor Swift also dominated the British music charts, outselling the entire top 10 combined and surpassing the Beatles for the record of the fastest artist to accumulate 12 UK number-one albums.
Distributed by Universal Music Group, The Tortured Poets Department received predominantly positive reviews from critics and fans alike. Taylor Swift is set to resume her Eras Tour, the highest-grossing historical concert tour, in Paris in May.
She joins a cohort of top female artists releasing albums this spring, with Beyonce's Cowboy Carter debuting in March and forthcoming releases from Dua Lipa and Billie Eilish scheduled for next month.