Taylor Swift‘s ‘The Tortured Poets Department‘ has returned to Number One on the Billboard 200 chart, marking its 13th week in the top spot.
Initially, the album spent its first 12 weeks on the chart at Number One, then fell briefly to Number Four for two weeks. It’s now returned to pole position for the 13th consecutive week – which Swifties will appreciate, given 13 is famously Swift’s lucky number.
It’s a new record for Swift, whose previous offerings ‘Red’ and ‘1989’ spent 11 total weeks at Number One.
‘THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT’ by Taylor Swift returns to #1 on the Billboard 200 for a 13th week with 71k units. pic.twitter.com/Qls1hsoYEo
— Pop Base (@PopBase) August 4, 2024
Billboard 200: #1(+3) @taylorswift13, THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT 71,000 (5,165,000 units since release). *re-peak; thirteenth week at #1*
— chart data (@chartdata) August 4, 2024
It seems like the ‘Anti-Hero’ singer is also priming for a 14th week at Number One by strategically releasing another limited-time-only variation of ‘The Tortured Poets Department’. On this occasion, it’s with a “First Draft Phone Memo” version of ‘My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys’, available for 24 hours.
Fans have speculated the release was timed in an effort to block both Charli XCX and Billie Eilish from charting with their recently released albums, ‘Brat‘ and ‘Hit Me Hard and Soft‘.
When both artists teamed up on ‘Guess’, Swift released another variant of the album, as fans predicted she would. Fans then began looking into the lyrics and assumed that one of the lines towards the end was a subtle jab towards Swift.
“You wanna guess what me and Billie have been textin’ about? (You’ve been disrespectful)/ Still tryin’ to guess the password to my Google Drive (Are you obsessed with me?)/ You wanna guess the address of the party we’re at (You really are not invited),” the two whisper at the end of the track.
Notably, Eilish and XCX’s song has earned the biggest debut for an all-female remix in global Spotify chart history, surpassing Swift and Ice Spice’s efforts on ‘Karma’.
Aside from her chart domination, Swift has been busy praising Team USA in an Olympics promo video, urging them: “Never be afraid to show them who you are, especially when the whole world is watching. Because there is no one way to be the best. No one way to inspire everyone else who will someday follow.”
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