Taylor Swift Scores a Landmark 13th Week at No. 1 on Albums Chart After Brief Dip from Top Spot

Taylor Swift performs in Paris on May 9, 2024. Photo:

Kevin Mazur/TAS24/Getty

Taylor Swift has another reason to love her “lucky number” 13!

On Sunday, Aug. 4, the pop superstar’s latest album The Tortured Poets Department returned to the No. 1 spot on the Billboard 200 albums chart, marking the album’s 13th week at the top of the chart, according to Billboard.

Throughout the “Cruel Summer” singer’s prolific, 18-year career, none of her other albums have even come within striking distance of this record number of weeks in the top spot: Prior to Tortured Poets, her most for an album was 11 weeks at No. 1, completed by both Fearless and 1989.

Swift’s chart achievement is made even more impressive by the fact that Tortured Poets’ first 12 weeks at No. 1 were logged consecutively, meaning the performer reigned at the top of the chart for nearly three straight months following the album’s release in April.

After the star was briefly dethroned on the chart in late July — by Eminem’s latest album The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce) — she penned a touching message on Instagram for her fans who made the chart feat possible.

Taylor Swift performs in Hamburg on July 23, 2024.

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“I also wanted to say to everyone who’s supported The Tortured Poets Department, I am completely blown away by what you’ve done – it stayed at #1 for the first 12 weeks of its release and that’s never happened to an album of mine before, not even close!!” wrote Swift on July 20. “You’re just the greatest.”

The never-ending dominance of the “Fortnight” singer’s 11th studio album has been fueled, in part, by a stream of new album variants released by Swift — each packaged with previously unheard demos of tracks from Tortured Poets, live performances from her record-breaking Eras Tour or even new songs altogether.

The star surprised fans with one such release as recently as Saturday, when she dropped a digital version of the album with a “First Draft Voice Memo” version of Tortured Poets track “My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys,” which was only available for 24 hours on her website.

While Swift has been no stranger to new chart records this summer, she’s also collected several other achievements as her global smash Eras Tour has made its way through Europe — most recently stopping for three nights in Warsaw, Poland.

“I’m in a fantastic mood tonight,” told the Polish crowd during her final night in the city, citing that the Eras Tour was the first-ever concert tour to play three sold-out nights at PGE Narodowy stadium.

Taylor Swift on May 29, 2024.

Xavi Torrent/TAS24/Getty Images for TAS Rights Management

“Warsaw you have exceeded any dream I could have had for how amazing a crowd could be,” the star added.

Swift will next head to Vienna, Austria, for three nights in the capital city before she returns to London for a five-night Eras Tour extravaganza at Wembley Stadium to close out her summer shows and the European leg of the tour. In October, she’ll embark on the final leg of her concert tour de force, playing five final cities in North America in the fall.

As for Tortured Poets, there’s no reason Swift couldn’t continue to notch more weeks at No. 1 — surpassing her lucky number and further cementing the album’s dominance on the chart.