Taylor Swift continues her reign atop the Billboard 200 with her album “The Tortured Poets Department,” securing its 12th consecutive week at No. 1. This achievement not only highlights Swift’s enduring popularity but also breaks a record previously held by Whitney Houston and ties a more recent one set by Morgan Wallen.
Swift’s album surpassed Whitney Houston’s “Whitney,” which held the record for the most initial consecutive weeks at No. 1 by a female artist with 11 weeks in 1987. Additionally, “The Tortured Poets Department” matches Morgan Wallen’s “One Thing at a Time” for the most consecutive weeks at the top of the Billboard 200 in this century. Wallen’s album spent 19 weeks at No. 1, but only the first 12 were consecutive.
This week, Swift also set a personal record for her album with the most weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, both consecutively and overall. Her previous record was 11 weeks, shared by “Fearless” and “1989,” which “The Tortured Poets Department” has now surpassed.
Zach Bryan‘s new release, “The Great American Bar Scene,” posed a significant challenge to Swift. However, it ultimately fell short, registering 137,000 album-equivalent units compared to Swift’s 163,000 units in its 12th week, according to Luminate data reported by Billboard.
Swift’s remarkable streak suggests she may continue breaking records almost weekly. If she maintains her No. 1 position for one more week, she will surpass Wallen’s record for the most consecutive weeks at the top this century. If her album stays at No. 1 for two more weeks, she will break the all-time record for initial consecutive weeks at No. 1, previously held by Stevie Wonder since the ’70s.
Next week’s competition comes from Eminem‘s “The Death of Slim Shady,” which could potentially end Swift’s streak. Zach Bryan’s album, released on July 4, debuted at No. 17 due to its release one day before the start of a new chart period. Physical copies of Bryan’s album, which could have boosted its sales, won’t be available until October 11.
Swift’s strategy of releasing variant limited editions of her album has proven effective. According to Luminate data, weekly full-album sales for “The Tortured Poets Department” jumped from 35,000 to 90,000, a 154% increase. This surge was driven by several limited-edition versions, including three digital variants with bonus live-from-Stockholm acoustic tracks and a restock of seven CD variants, including a signed edition.
Despite a slight 7% decrease in streaming numbers from the previous week, Swift’s album still amassed an impressive 94.83 million on-demand streams, supported by two remixes of the lead single “Fortnight” featuring Post Malone.
Zach Bryan did claim a notable victory, however, by replacing Swift at the top of Billboard’s Streaming Songs chart, thanks to his album’s impressive streaming performance.