Taylor Swift continues to dominate the music scene with her album “The Tortured Poets Department,” securing its fifth consecutive week at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart (dated June 1). According to Luminate, the album earned an impressive 378,000 equivalent album units in the U.S. for the week ending May 23, marking a significant 45% increase in units. This surge in performance comes following the release of six new digital album download variants and a new CD variant, as well as a restock of previously available deluxe CD editions and a signed CD edition, all exclusively sold through Swift’s webstore.
Swift’s “The Tortured Poets Department” becomes the first album to spend its first five weeks at No. 1 since Morgan Wallen’s “One Thing at a Time,” which led for its first 12 weeks a year ago. The album’s fifth-week performance of 378,000 units is notably the largest fifth-week for any album since Adele’s “25” tallied 1.193 million units in its fifth frame in 2016.
This achievement adds to Swift’s illustrious career, extending her record among soloists with her 74th career week at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. She now holds the record for the most weeks at No. 1 among soloists, surpassing Elvis Presley. Additionally, “The Tortured Poets Department” marks her 14th chart-topping album, tying her with Jay-Z for the most No. 1s among soloists.
In a remarkable week for album sales, Billie Eilish’s latest studio album, “Hit Me Hard and Soft,” debuts at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 with 339,000 equivalent album units, marking Eilish’s largest week ever by units earned. Of this total, 191,000 units are traditional album sales, representing her best sales week yet.
Notably, both Swift and Eilish’s albums exceeded 300,000 units in the same week, a feat not seen in eight years. The last time two albums achieved this milestone was in 2016 when Drake’s “Views” debuted at No. 1 and Beyoncé’s “Lemonade” held the No. 2 spot in its second week.
The Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular albums of the week in the U.S. based on multi-metric consumption, including album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA), and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). With their impressive performances, Swift and Eilish continue to showcase their dominance in the music industry.
