Taylor Swift’s album narrowly missed achieving a record 13 consecutive weeks at the top of the albums chart. Find out which artist took the number one spot and ended her streak!
By Website Content Manager
The pop superstar dropped to No. 4 on the Billboard 200 chart, bringing an end to ‘The Tortured Poets Department”s 12-week dominance at the top.
Taylor Swift, while still at the height of her career, has seen her three-month run at the top of the charts come to an end.
Her hit album, The Tortured Poets Department, which debuted in April, dropped from the No. 1 position to No. 4 on the Billboard 200 chart (for the week ending July 27), moving 82,000 units in its 13th week, as reported by Billboard.
Eminem’s new album, The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce), took over the top spot, selling 281,000 units and marking his 11th chart-topping album. Enhypen’s latest release, Romance: Untold, secured the No. 2 spot with 124,000 units sold, while Zach Bryan’s The Great American Bar Scene landed at No. 3 with 88,000 units in its second week.
Despite missing out on achieving 13 consecutive weeks at No. 1—a milestone linked to her self-proclaimed “lucky number”—Swift’s album has still made significant chart history, previously claiming a record-breaking 14 spots on the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart when it first launched in April.
With 12 weeks at No. 1, The Tortured Poets Department has already surpassed the number of chart-topping weeks achieved by any of Taylor Swift’s previous albums. Both Fearless and 1989 each held the top spot for 11 nonconsecutive weeks, according to Billboard.
Throughout its time at the top, The Tortured Poets Department has successfully defended its position against strong competition from artists like Zach Bryan, Dua Lipa, Billie Eilish, Gunna, and even Swift’s former tourmate Gracie Abrams.
Taylor Swift has also inspired her fans, known as Swifties, to purchase her album in unprecedented numbers, partly due to the multiple versions of Tortured Poets she offered.
Before The Tortured Poets Department even released in April, Taylor Swift generated a buying frenzy by unveiling three alternative versions of her 11th studio album, each featuring a bonus track not available on the standard edition.
Following the album’s debut, Swift surprised fans with a double album released on streaming services just two hours after the original album. She has since repackaged Tortured Poets several times, including versions with live performances of songs like “loml,” “The Alchemy,” and “My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys.”
While her album’s streak at the top of the charts may have ended, Swift is still very much in the spotlight as she continues her Eras Tour, having recently completed three nights in Gelsenkirchen, Germany. With the tour ongoing throughout the summer, she remains a strong contender for future weeks at No. 1 and might still achieve that coveted 13th week.