Taylor Swift's The Tortured Poets Department breaks records, 11th week at No.1 on Billboard 200

Taylor Swift's "The Tortured Poets Department" achieves its 11th consecutive week at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 (dated July 13), matching the record set by her albums "1989" and "Fearless."

The last album by a woman to spend 11 weeks at No. 1 was "1989," which achieved this in 2014-15. If "Poets" hits a 12th week at No. 1, it will be the first album by a woman to do so since Adele’s "21," which spent 24 nonconsecutive weeks at No. 1 in 2011-12.

"The Tortured Poets Department" garnered 114,000 equivalent album units in the U.S. for the week ending July 4, a 1% drop, according to Luminate. Since debuting at No. 1 on May 4, the album has remained at the top.

What are some records Taylor Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department has broken?

"The Tortured Poets Department" is the first album by a woman to spend 11 consecutive weeks at No. 1 since Whitney Houston's "The Bodyguard" soundtrack, which held the top spot for 13 straight weeks (out of 20 nonconsecutive weeks) from December 1992 to March 1993.

Of the 114,000 equivalent album units for "The Tortured Poets Department," 78,000 are SEA units (down 10%, No. 1 on Top Streaming Albums for 11 weeks, with 102.09 million on-demand streams of the deluxe edition’s 31 songs), 35,000 are album sales (up 27%, No. 1 on Top Album Sales for a fifth nonconsecutive week), and less than 1,000 are TEA units (down 22%).

How has Taylor Swift’s release of The Tortured Poets Department variants affected album sales?

The album's sales increased by 27% this week, mainly due to two new CD versions shipped to customers. These CDs, sold exclusively through Swift's webstore, were briefly available for pre-order in early June at $7.99 each. Both versions include the standard album's 16 songs plus an acoustic bonus track—one features "Fortnight" with Post Malone, and the other includes "Fresh Out the Slammer."

Only two other albums have spent at least their first 11 weeks at No. 1: Morgan Wallen's "One Thing at a Time" (12 initial weeks at No. 1, totaling 19 weeks in 2023-24) and Stevie Wonder's "Songs in the Key of Life" (13 initial weeks at No. 1, totaling 14 weeks in 1976).

Swift achieves her 80th career week at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, extending her record among solo artists. Elvis Presley is second with 67 weeks. Her total includes 14 No. 1 albums, tying her with Jay-Z for the most No. 1s among solo artists.