Taylor Swift's 'Life Of A Showgirl' Debuts With Record-Breaking 4 Million Album Units On Billboard Chart

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Topline

Taylor Swift’s “The Life of a Showgirl” earned a record debut on the Billboard charts Monday with 4.002 million album units, comprised of streams and sales, earning Swift the largest debut for an album on the Billboard charts and making her the solo artist with the most albums to have reached No. 1.

Taylor Swift's "The Life of a Showgirl" earned the biggest album debut on the Billboard 200. (Photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for TAS Rights Management)

Getty Images for TAS Rights Management

Key Facts

Swift’s “The Life of a Showgirl” sold 3,479,500 copies and garnered 522,600 additional units from streams, Billboard reported Monday, marking the largest sales week since Luminate began tracking album sales in 1991.

Billboard had previously said Friday that Swift had usurped the biggest album debut record from Adele, whose album “25” debuted with a record 3.482 million album units in 2015, though Swift’s final sales number was not reported until Monday.

Billboard noted Swift’s album was boosted by its availability across 38 different versions—including 16 CDs, two CD box sets, eight vinyls and 11 digital versions, some of which included exclusive voice notes and other content—which has drawn criticism from some who felt Swift exploited her fans to crush sales records.

Swift also broke a tie she held with Jay-Z and Drake to become the first solo artist to have achieved 15 No. 1 albums on the Billboard 200 albums chart, ranking her only behind the Beatles, who have 19 No. 1 albums.

Tracks from “The Life of a Showgirl” earned 680.90 million streams in the album’s first week, which Billboard said is the fourth-biggest streaming week for an album, only behind Swift’s “The Tortured Poets Department” (which had almost three times as many songs as “Showgirl”) and Drake’s “Scorpion” and “Certified Lover Boy.”

How Did Songs From “the Life Of A Showgirl” Fare On The Charts?

Billboard also said Monday tracks from "The Life of a Showgirl" occupied the top 12 spots on the Hot 100, led by "The Fate of Ophelia"—the third time Swift has occupied the entire top 10, a feat nobody else has accomplished. Swift previously monopolized the top 10 in 2022 when she released “Midnights,” and again in 2024 when she released “The Tortured Poets Department.” “The Fate of Ophelia” is Swift’s 13th No. 1 song on the Hot 100, and she ties with Drake and Michael Jackson for the fourth-most No. 1 hits on the chart. She now has 69 top 10 hits on the chart, only behind Drake, who has 81.

Key Background

Swift now has six of the top 10 biggest album debuts on Billboard charts since 2014, and in recent years, she has consistently one-upped her previous career-best sales week. In 2022, she earned what was then her biggest debut with “Midnights,” earning 1.578 million album equivalent units. She bested that total a year later with “1989 (Taylor’s Version),” earning 1.653 million album units in its first week, before debuting with 2.610 million album units in 2024 with “The Tortured Poets Department.”

Tangent

Earlier Monday, Swift announced on “Good Morning America” she would release a new “Eras Tour” concert film and a behind-the-scenes docuseries on Disney+ in December.