Taylor Swift’s latest album, titled The Life of a Showgirl, has achieved a remarkable milestone by selling a total of four million equivalent album units in its debut week in the United States. Luminate, a prominent industry data and analytics firm that has been tracking sales since 1991, confirmed that this achievement marks the largest first-week sales in modern music history.
This accomplishment surpasses the previous record set by Adele’s 25, which sold 3.378 million copies during its initial week in 2015. Taylor Swift’s album was released on October 3rd, with pure album sales reaching 3,479,500 copies in the first week alone.
The success of The Life of a Showgirl has also elevated Taylor Swift’s status as the solo artist with the highest number of No. 1 albums on the Billboard 200 chart, now totaling 15. This surpasses her previous tie with Drake and Jay-Z, both of whom have 14 No. 1 albums each. Swift now closely trails behind the Beatles, who hold the record with 19 No. 1 albums.
Swift’s history of breaking records continued with the immediate success of The Life of a Showgirl. The album achieved a groundbreaking milestone by selling 2.7 million copies on its release day, setting a new record for the highest first-day sales for any album. Her previous album, The Tortured Poets Department released in 2024, garnered 2.61 million equivalent album units in the U.S. during its debut week.
The diverse range of vinyl variants released alongside the album contributed significantly to its success. These variants included exclusive editions available at Target such as It’s Frightening, It’s Rapturous, and It’s Beautiful, as well as the exclusive vinyl release The Crowd Is Your King. Additionally, other vinyl variants like The Tiny Bubble in Champagne Collection, The Baby That’s Show Business Collection, and The Shiny Bug Collection were made available, along with standard LP and cassette versions in unique colors.
According to Luminate, The Life of a Showgirl set a new record for the highest number of copies of a vinyl album sold in a single week in the U.S., with 1.2 million copies sold on the first day alone. This surpassed the previous record held by The Tortured Poets Department, which sold 859,000 copies on vinyl in its debut week.
The album’s dominance extended to the Billboard charts, with every song from The Life of a Showgirl debuting on the Billboard Hot 100, occupying the top 12 spots on the chart dated October 18. Notably, The Fate of Ophelia became her 13th song to reach No. 1 on the chart.
Swift’s success on the Billboard Hot 100 marked the third instance in her career where she occupied the entire top 10 positions on the chart. She remains the only artist to achieve this feat, previously accomplishing it with her albums Midnights in 2022 and The Tortured Poets Department in 2024. However, this time marks the first occasion where an album has consecutively placed all its songs from the top to the bottom of the chart.
In addition to her musical achievements, Taylor Swift announced new projects with Disney+. This includes a six-episode docuseries titled Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour: The End of an Era, offering a behind-the-scenes look at her groundbreaking Eras Tour. The first two episodes of the docuseries are set to premiere on December 12.
Furthermore, Swift’s concert film Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour: The Final Show, which incorporates elements from The Tortured Poets Department, was filmed in Vancouver during her three-and-a-half-hour performance. This project differs from her 2023 concert film, Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour, which was filmed during various shows at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood before the release of The Tortured Poets Department.