Taylor Swift’s TTPD Breaks a Billboard 200 Albums Chart Record Previously Held by…see more

Taylor Swift’s TTPD Breaks a Billboard 200 Albums Chart Record Previously Held by Whitney Houston
Swift’s ‘The Tortured Poet Department’ has officially broken the late icon’s record of being the only album by a woman to spend its first 12 weeks at No. 1

Another day, another record broken by Taylor Swift’s star power.

This week, the pop star, 34, hit a new career-best milestone as her The Tortured Poets Department album marked its 12th consecutive week at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart, where it has remained since its April 19 release.

In doing so, Billboard reported that the singer’s 11th studio album also set a new precedent as it surpassed a record set by Whitney Houston’s 1987 self-titled LP, which spent all 11 of its weeks atop the Billboard 200 from its initial release date. Therefore, Swift’s latest album is the only one by a woman to spend its first 12 weeks at the No. 1 spot.

The 14-time Grammy winner previously beat Houston’s Billboard 200 record for the most weeks ever spent atop the chart with her surprise 2020 album Folklore, which brought her career total to 47 over the late icon’s 46.

Earlier this year, Forbes reported that Swift also surpassed Houston’s record of having the fourth-most No. 1 singles on the Billboard Hot 100 following the success of “Fortnight,” her 12th single atop the chart.

This isn’t the first (nor the last) time Swift has beaten a music legend’s stellar record. Just this past December, she notched a new accolade over the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll, Elvis Presley, as the soloist with the most weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 following the release of 1989 (Taylor’s Version), Billboard reported.

At the time, she had spent 68 weeks atop the chart, beating out Presley, who had a record 67 weeks at No. 1 across his 10 albums between 1956 and 2002.

Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department has been dominating the coveted album chart this year as numerous additional versions of the album have been released across digital, vinyl, CDs and more. However, some wonder if it’ll remain in the top slot as Eminem’s newly-released album, The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grace), is predicted to debut at No. 1 on the upcoming Billboard 200 dated July 27.