Taylor Swift did exactly what everybody knew she would do – debut at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with “1989 (Taylor’s Version),” her latest rerecord of her previous albums that she does not own.
However, she ended up with the biggest week of sales in eight years and it was Taylor’s biggest sales week – ever. Like, ever, ever.
“1989 (Taylor’s Version)” gave Taylor her, and this is so ironic, 13th overall No. 1 album. It sold 1.653 million equivalent album units in the United States in the week of its release. No one has sold that many records since Adele sold 3.482 million units in 2015 with her “25” album.
Because digital is all the rage now, 1.359 million units were actual album sales – the kind you can hold in your hand. It sold more than Backstreet Boys’ “Millennium” in the first week, which was released in 199, the heyday of album sales.
Her original “1989” sold 1.287 units in November 2014.
What helped Taylor do this? She had 15 different formats of the album in vinyl, CD, and cassette, along with two different versions of the digital album (a deluxe version was added later that day).
With this being Taylor’s 13th No. 1 album, she is tied with Drake for the most No. 1s, behind Jay-Z who has 14, and the leader, The Beatles, with 19.
