Taylor Swift Ties Barbra Streisand For The Most No. 1 Albums Among Women
Midnights is Swift's 11th No. 1 album in the U.S. and has tied Barbra Streisand for the most leaders among women in Billboard 200 history.
Taylor Swift: Midnight album
Taylor Swift’s new full-length Midnights debuted atop the Billboard 200 albums chart in the U.S.
As the superstar returns to the No. 1 spot on the weekly ranking of the most-consumed projects in America, Swift ties one of the greatest who has ever performed in an impressive show of popularity and power.
Midnights is Swift’s eleventh No. 1 album in the U.S., and with one more win now included her discography, she’s tied Barbra Streisand for the most leaders among women in Billboard 200 history.
Both stars have reached the summit with 11 different titles, and they may not be done yet.
Of the two musicians, Streisand’s reign has gone on for much, much longer than Swift’s. In fact, the time between the powerhouse’s first No. 1 album (1964’s People) and her most recent (2016’s Encore: Movie Partners Sing Broadway) is longer than Swift’s entire career.
Swift earned her first No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 in 2008 with her sophomore set Fearless, which turned her from the hottest new name in country to a proper pop hitmaker. Since then, none of her full-lengths – be they composed of all new material or re-recordings – have failed to reach the top of the charts. Swift is upping her career total in near-record fashion, as she landed a pair of new No. 1s in both 2020 and 2021.
Looking at all artists, Swift is now also tied with both Drake and Bruce Springsteen, with 11 apiece. Ahead of all the aforementioned artists are The Beatles with 19 No. 1s and Jay-Z, with 14.
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At the rate Swift is racking up Billboard 200 champions, she could continue to surge up this all-time ranking, though she still faces competition. While it’s unlikely that The Beatles or Streisand are going to return to the throne, Jay-Z, Springsteen, and Drake are still producing new albums regularly, and they usually top the charts, or come very close.
Drake may break out of this new tie with Swift in a week or so, though nothing is certain. A few days after Midnights dropped, the Canadian rapper revealed that he and fellow hip-hop powerhouse 21 Savage have a new collaborative full-length titled Her Loss, which is expected to arrive in just a few days. Her Loss could debut atop the Billboard 200 next frame, but that depends on how well Midnights continues to perform.
If it does open in first place, Drake will earn his twelfth leader, rewriting the history books once again.
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Midnights arrives atop the Billboard 200 with the largest debut sum since Adele’s 25 reset the record books by shifting more than three million units in a single frame – a number that has never been matched and likely never will. Swift’s set moved an incredible 1.578 million equivalent units in its first seven days of availability in just the U.S., according to Billboard.
That nearly triples the previous record for the biggest start for an album this year, with Swift grabbing that honor from ex-boyfriend Harry Styles, whose Harry’s House shifted more than half a million copies.
Swift’s Midnights is already the bestselling album of the year in America, and it shattered the all-time record for the largest sales week for any title on vinyl in just a single day.
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