Taylor Swift’s “Speak Now (Taylor’s Version)” has debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 after scoring the biggest week for any album yet in 2023.
Swift also made history this week as the only woman to chart four albums in the top 10 at the same time: “Speak Now (Taylor’s Version)” is followed by “Midnights” (No. 5), “Lover” (No. 7), and “Folklore” (No. 10).
She is the first living artist to achieve the feat in 60 years, after Herb Alpert in 1966. Only one other musician has been able to dominate the chart at this level: Prince. A spike in streaming numbers in 2016, sparked by his unexpected death, drove five of his albums into the top 10.
Swift already held the record as the only living solo artist to have 10 or more albums on the Billboard 200 simultaneously. Prince, David Bowie, and Whitney Houston only achieved the feat posthumously (and The Beatles only managed it decades after they broke up).
“Speak Now (Taylor’s Version)” is the third album Swift has rerecorded since she lost the legal rights to her masters. “Fearless (Taylor’s Version)” and “Red (Taylor’s Version)” were both released in 2021. “Taylor Swift,” “1989,” and “Reputation” remain on the docket.
“Speak Now” is unique in Swift’s discography as the only album she wrote entirely by herself. The original 2010 version was created when she was between the ages of 18 and 20.
The new version, recorded when Swift was 32, includes six previously unheard tracks. It also features a controversial lyric change in the fan-favorite song “Better Than Revenge,” which had been criticized as misogynistic.
