Taylor Swift’s “Tortured Poets” tops the Billboard 200 for 12 weeks

Beth Garrabrant

Taylor Swift’s The “Tortured Poets” section is number 1 on the Billboard 200 for the twelfth time in a row (as of July 20), beating 1989 And Fearless (11 weeks at number 1 each) as their longest-running album at number 1.

The “Tortured Poets” section According to Luminate, the album sold 163,000 album-equivalent units in the US for the week ending July 11 (up 43% – the first increase in seven weeks). The album debuted at the top of the charts on May 4 and has yet to leave the top spot.

The “Tortured Poets” section surpasses Whitney Houston’s 1987 album Whitney making it the only album by a woman to spend its first 12 weeks at number one. The latter has spent all 11 weeks at the top of the chart since its debut (chart dated June 27, 1987).

Only two other albums have spent at least the first 12 weeks at number 1: Morgan Wallens One after the other (first 12 weeks at No. 1, out of a total of 19 weeks at No. 1 in 2023-24) and Stevie Wonders Songs in the key of life (the first 13 weeks at No. 1 out of a total of 14 weeks at No. 1 in 1976). (For comparison, today it is common for albums to debut at No. 1. However, prior to 1991, when the Billboard 200 began using Luminate’s electronically monitored tracking information, only six albums debuted at No. 1, including Whitney And Songs in the key of life.)

Also in the top 10 of the current Billboard 200 charts: Zach Bryans The great American bar scene rises 17-2 in its first full tracking week. The previous week’s chart covered the tracking week of June 28-July 4, and Bryan’s album was released on Thursday, July 4. (Albums are typically released each week on Friday, which is the first day of the chart’s tracking week.)

The Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular albums of the week in the United States based on multimetric consumption measured in equivalent album units, compiled by Luminate. Units include album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA), and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). Each unit is equal to one album sale, or 10 individual tracks of an album sold, or 3,750 ad-supported or 1,250 paid/subscription-based official on-demand audio and video streams generated by songs from an album. The new chart, dated July 20, 2024, will be published in full on Billboard‘s website on July 16. For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both X (formerly known as Twitter) and Instagram.

Before Swifts The “Tortured Poets” sectionThe last album by a woman to spend at least 12 weeks at number 1 in the charts was Adele’s 21which spent 24 consecutive weeks at number 1 in 2011-12. (Overall, the last album to spend at least 12 weeks at number 1 was Morgan Wallen’s One after the otherwhich spent a total of 19 weeks at number 1 in the 2023/24 season, including the first 12 consecutive weeks from its debut week.)

The last album by a woman to stay at number 1 for at least 12 consecutive weeks was the Whitney Houston-led soundtrack to The Bodyguardwhich spent 13 consecutive weeks at number one from December 1992 to March 1993 (out of its 20 non-consecutive weeks at the top of the list).

Swift records her 81st career week at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, tying her record for a solo artist. (Elvis Presley has the second-most albums among solo artists, with 67.) In total, she has 14 No. 1 albums. (She is tied with Jay-Z for most No. 1 albums among solo artists.)

From The “Tortured Poets” sectionOf the 163,000 units sold during the week ending July 11, album sales account for 90,000 (up 154%, making it the best-selling album of the week and No. 1 on Top Album Sales for the sixth consecutive week), 72,000 SEA units (down 7%, representing 94.83 million official on-demand streams of the deluxe album’s 31 songs; it drops from No. 1 to No. 2 on the Top Streaming Albums chart after being No. 1 for 11 consecutive weeks), and 1,000 TEA units (up 7%).

Of Swift’s total album sales this week, 67,000 were for CDs (up 127%), 19,000 for digital downloads (up 1,266%) and 4,000 for vinyl (down 10%).

The “Tortured Poets” sectionThe overall weekly increase was partially due to sales from Swift’s official webstore, which restocked seven previously released CD variants of the album (including a signed copy). The restocked items were available for purchase for a few hours on Sunday, June 7, and shipped shortly thereafter. Additionally, on Thursday, July 11, Swift released three new digital download variants of the album, sold exclusively on her webstore for $4.99 each and available only that day. Each included the album’s original standard 16-song tracklist, plus a bonus acoustic live track recorded during her The Eras tour stop in Stockholm (“Guilty as Sin?”, “How Did It End?” or “Peter”).

The “Tortured Poets” section also received a boost in the last chart-tracking week thanks to the activity generated by the July 8 release of two versions of the album’s first single, “Fortnight” featuring Post Malone, on streaming services and digital retailers: a Cults remix and an acoustic rendition. (The latter was previously only available as a bonus track on a limited CD version of poet.)

Zach Bryans The great American bar scene rises 17-2 in its second week on the Billboard 200, following its first full tracking week of activity. The set earned 137,000 album-equivalent units for the week ending July 11 (up 363% from its first day). The previous week’s chart covered the tracking week of June 28-July 4, and Bryan’s album was released on Thursday, July 4. The set topped the previous week’s chart with 32,000 units from its first day of release. (Albums are typically released each week on Friday, the first day of the chart’s tracking week.)

From The great American bar sceneThe units in the second week of the chart are SEA units with 127,500 (up 390%, which represents 163.87 million official on-demand streams of the set’s 19 tracks; it’s up 18:1 on top streaming albums), album sales make up 8,500 (up 66%, it was only available as a digital download album) and TEA units make up 1,000 (up 113%). The album will be released on CD and vinyl on October 11.

The album was preceded by two songs that entered the Billboard Hot 100 charts: “Pink Skies” (peaking at number 6 in June) and “Purple Gas” with Noeline Hofmann (number 70).

The great American bar scene is Bryan’s fourth top 10 spot on the Billboard 200, after Boys of Faith (No. 8, October 2023) his self-titled set (No. 1, two weeks, September 2023) and American Heartbreak (No. 5, June 2022).

Morgan Wallen’s former director One after the other falls 2-3 with 69,000 earned album units (minus 6%); Billie Eilish’s Hit me hard and soft remains in fourth place with 58,000 (minus 8%) and Chappell Roans The rise and fall of a Midwestern princess remains in fifth place with 54,000 (minus 10%).

Wallen’s chart-topper Dangerous: The double album remains in 6th place (40,000; minus 8%); Noah Kahans Stock season rises 9-7 (38,000; minus 3%); Shaboozeys Where I was is not where I am going remains at number 8 (36,000, minus 10%) and Megan Thee Stallions Megan falls by 3-9 (32,000; -50%) in the second week.

Closing out the top 10 is a second track from Zach Bryan, as his self-titled No. 1 hit rises 12-10 with nearly 32,000 equivalent album units (down 12%). It is the second time Bryan has placed two tracks in the top 10. The first time he did so was on the list dated October 7, 2023, when his self-titled set fell 3-5 in its fifth week, while his Boys of Faith Project landed in 8th place.

Luminate, the independent data provider for the Billboard Charts, conducts a thorough review of all data submissions used to compile the weekly chart rankings. Luminate verifies and authenticates data. In partnership with BillboardData that is considered suspicious or unverifiable is removed based on established criteria before the final chart calculations are performed and published.