Taylor Swift’s latest album, titled The Life of a Showgirl, has racked up an impressive four million equivalent album units in its debut week in the United States. This milestone sets a new record for the biggest first week in modern music history, as reported by Luminate, an industry data and analytics company that has been monitoring sales since 1991. The album’s success surpasses the previous record held by Adele’s 25, which sold 3.378 million copies in its first week back in 2015.
Released on October 3, The Life of a Showgirl achieved significant pure album sales of 3,479,500 copies during its first week. With this accomplishment, Taylor Swift has now secured her status as the solo artist with the most No. 1 albums on the Billboard 200 chart, boasting a total of 15 chart-toppers. Previously tied with Drake and Jay-Z at 14 No. 1 albums each, Swift now sits just behind the legendary Beatles, who hold the top position with 19 No. 1 albums.
Swift’s remarkable record-breaking streak continued with The Life of a Showgirl. On its debut day, the album sold a staggering 2.7 million copies in traditional album sales, setting a new personal record for the highest first-week sales in a single day. Her preceding album, The Tortured Poets Department, also performed exceptionally well, amassing 2.61 million equivalent album units in the U.S. during its first week in 2024.
A key factor contributing to Swift’s success is the release of her album in various vinyl variants. These variants include exclusive editions available at Target, such as It’s Frightening, It’s Rapturous, and It’s Beautiful, along with an exclusive vinyl release named The Crowd Is Your King. Additional vinyl options include The Tiny Bubble in Champagne Collection, The Baby That’s Show Business Collection, The Shiny Bug Collection, and standard LP and cassette versions in “sweat and vanilla perfume Portofino orange vinyl.”
According to Luminate, The Life of a Showgirl set a new record for the most vinyl album copies sold in a single week in the U.S., moving 1.2 million units on its first day. The previous record holder was The Tortured Poets Department, which sold 859,000 copies on vinyl during its debut week.
Swift’s domination of the Billboard charts continued as every track from The Life of a Showgirl made its debut on the Billboard Hot 100, claiming the top 12 positions on the chart dated October 18. The song “The Fate of Ophelia” secured Swift her 13th No. 1 hit on the chart.
This remarkable achievement marks the third instance in her career where Swift has monopolized the entire top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100. She is the first artist to accomplish this feat, having initially done so with her 2022 album Midnights, and later repeating it with 2024’s The Tortured Poets Department>. However, this is the first time any album has consecutively placed all its tracks from the top of the chart downwards.
In addition to her musical triumphs, Swift’s record-breaking sales coincide with the announcement that she will have two new projects on Disney+. One of these projects is a six-episode docuseries titled Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour: The End of an Era, offering a behind-the-scenes look at her groundbreaking Eras Tour. The first two episodes of the docuseries are set to premiere on December 12.
This new series should not be confused with the concert film titled Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour: The Final Show, which now includes a segment featuring The Tortured Poets Department. The album was integrated into Swift’s three-and-a-half-hour performance following its release and was filmed in Vancouver. This differs from her 2023 concert film Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour, which was compiled from multiple shows at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, preceding the release of The Tortured Poets Department.