Taylor Swift Sets Record with 12th Week at No. 1 on Billboard 200

Taylor Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department achieves an impressive milestone, securing its 12th consecutive week at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart dated July 20, surpassing both 1989 and Fearless, each of which held the top spot for 11 weeks. This achievement marks her longest-leading No. 1 album to date.

The Tortured Poets Department earned 163,000 equivalent album units in the U.S. during the week ending July 11, experiencing a 43% increase—its first gain in seven weeks—according to Luminate. The album debuted at No. 1 on the chart dated May 4 and has maintained its lead ever since.

The Tortured Poets Department also surpasses Whitney Houston’s 1987 album Whitney, becoming the only album by a woman to spend its first 12 weeks at No. 1. Houston’s album held the top spot from its debut on the June 27, 1987-dated chart for 11 consecutive weeks.

Only two other albums have achieved at least their first 12 weeks at No. 1: Morgan Wallen’s One Thing at a Time, which accomplished 12 consecutive weeks at No. 1 out of a total 19 in 2023-24, and Stevie Wonder’s Songs in the Key of Life, which spent its first 13 weeks at No. 1 out of 14 total weeks in 1976. Before 1991, when the Billboard 200 started using Luminate’s electronically monitored tracking, only six albums, including Whitney and Songs in the Key of Life, debuted at No. 1.

Additionally, Zach Bryan’s The Great American Bar Scene surges from No. 17 to No. 2 in its first full tracking week. The previous week’s list included the tracking period of June 28-July 4, and Bryan’s album was released on Thursday, July 4. Generally, albums are released on Fridays, aligning with the start of the chart’s tracking week.

The Billboard 200 chart measures the most popular albums in the U.S. based on multi-metric consumption, encompassing album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA), and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). Every unit is equivalent to one album sale, 10 individual tracks sold, or 3,750 ad-supported or 1,250 paid/subscription on-demand audio and video streams generated by album tracks. The new July 20, 2024-dated chart will be available in full on Billboard’s website on July 16.

Before Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department, the last album by a woman to spend at least 12 weeks at No. 1 was Adele’s 21, which accumulated 24 nonconsecutive weeks at the summit in 2011-12. The last album overall to achieve at least 12 total weeks at No. 1 was Morgan Wallen’s One Thing at a Time, with 19 weeks at No. 1, 12 of which were consecutive from its debut week.

The last album by a woman with at least 12 consecutive weeks at No. 1 was the soundtrack to The Bodyguard led by Whitney Houston, which held the top spot for 13 straight weeks from December 1992 to March 1993.

Swift now holds her 81st career week at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, extending her record among soloists. Elvis Presley ranks second among soloists with 67 weeks. This total includes 14 No. 1 albums, with Swift and Jay-Z sharing the record for most No. 1 albums among soloists.

Of the 163,000 units earned by The Tortured Poets Department in the week ending July 11, album sales accounted for 90,000 (a 154% increase, making it the top-selling album and No. 1 on Top Album Sales for a sixth non-consecutive week). SEA units comprised 72,000 (down 7%, equating to 94.83 million on-demand official streams from the album’s 31 songs), and TEA units comprised 1,000 (up 7%).

Swift’s album sales for the week include 67,000 CD sales (up 127%), 19,000 digital album downloads (up 1,266%), and 4,000 vinyl sales (down 10%).

The Tortured Poets Department saw increased sales due to restocked items in Swift’s official webstore, which included seven earlier-released CD variants and a signed edition. These items were available for purchase for a few hours on Sunday, June 7, and shipped shortly afterward. Additionally, Swift released three new digital album download variants on Thursday, July 11, sold exclusively in her webstore for $4.99 each and available for just one day. Each variant contained the original 16-track album along with one bonus live acoustic track recorded during her Eras Tour in Stockholm.

The album also received a boost due to the release of two versions of the lead single, “Fortnight,” featuring Post Malone, to streaming services and digital platforms on July 8. These included a Cults remix and an acoustic rendition.

Zach Bryan’s The Great American Bar Scene ascends to No. 2 in its second week on the Billboard 200, following its first full tracking week. The album accrued 137,000 equivalent album units in the week ending July 11 (up 363% from its first day). The previous week captured the tracking period of June 28-July 4, and Bryan’s album was released on July 4. During its first day, it earned 32,000 units. Generally, albums are released on Fridays, the first day of the chart’s tracking week.

Of The Great American Bar Scene‘s second chart-week units, SEA units comprised 127,500 (up 390%, equaling 163.87 million on-demand official streams of its 19 tracks). Album sales comprised 8,500 (up 66%), with the album only available as a digital download. TEA units comprised 1,000 (up 113%). The album will be available on CD and vinyl on Oct. 11.

The album is preceded by two Billboard Hot 100-charting singles: “Pink Skies” (peaking at No. 6 in June) and “Purple Gas” featuring Noeline Hofmann (No. 70).

The Great American Bar Scene marks Bryan’s fourth top 10-charting album on the Billboard 200, following Boys of Faith (No. 8, October 2023), his self-titled set (No. 1, September 2023), and American Heartbreak (No. 5, June 2022).

Morgan Wallen’s former chart-topper One Thing at a Time drops to No. 3, with 69,000 equivalent album units earned (down 6%). Billie Eilish’s Hit Me Hard and Soft remains at No. 4, earning 58,000 units (down 8%). Chappell Roan’s The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess stays stationary at No. 5 with 54,000 units (down 10%).

Other albums in the top 10 include Wallen’s Dangerous: The Double Album at No. 6 (40,000 units, down 8%), Noah Kahan’s Stick Season rising to No. 7 (38,000 units, down 3%), Shaboozey’s Where I’ve Been, Isn’t Where I’m Going at No. 8 (36,000 units, down 10%), and Megan Thee Stallion’s Megan dropping to No. 9 (32,000 units, down 50%).

Closing out the top 10 is another Zach Bryan album, his self-titled No. 1, which rises to No. 10 with nearly 32,000 equivalent album units (down 12%). This marks the second time Bryan has placed two titles in the top 10. He first achieved this on the Oct. 7, 2023-dated chart.

Luminate, the independent data provider for the Billboard charts, conducts thorough reviews of all data submissions to compile the weekly chart rankings. Data deemed suspicious or unverifiable is removed using established criteria before final chart calculations are made and published.

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