Taylor Swift’s new album, Red (Taylor’s Version), shoots to number one within the UK album charts. This week’s position marks her eighth consecutive number one album within the UK. OfficialCharts.com took to their Instagram to announce the top 10 albums this week.
With her recently acquired eighth number one album, Swift has joined the ranks of chart-topping artist Kylie Minogue. Both singers have achieved eight Official number one albums within the UK as solo artists. The only other artist to have secured more number-one albums is the Queen of Pop, Madonna. The “Live A Virgin” singer has accumulated 12 number one albums within the UK. However, Swift is the first-ever female artist to have won eight UK number albums within this century.
The singer’s recent release is a re-recorded version of her chart-topping album Red. The original album was Swift’s fourth studio album and was released on 22nd October 2012. Much like its 2021 re-working, the original release shot to number one within the UK album charts. The 31-year-old singer released the re-recorded version on 12th November 2021 via Republic Records. The album has sired one single so far, “I Bet You Think About Me”, released on 15th November 2021. The single was released with an accompanying music video, written by Swift and actress Blake Lively, the video also marked Lively’s directorial debut.
The sales figures amassed by the 2012 release has surpassed the units sold within the original release’s debut week. Within its opening week, the 2012 release sold over 62,000 units. Swift’s new release has accumulated over 72,000 chart sales and outsold two of its biggest contenders. The 2021 release outsold last week’s number one album Voyage by ABBA and Equals by Ed Sheeran. OfficialCharts.com reports that the album sold practically 57,000 units across physical and digital formats. The release’s impressive sales have made Swift’s album the fastest-selling by a solo artist of 2021. The title for album sales was previously held by Lana Del Rey for her album Chemtrails Over The Country Club.
Red (Taylor’s Version) has become the singer’s fifth number one in less than a year. In August 2019 the singer’s seventh studio album Lover reached number one within the album charts. The album was released on 23rd August 2019 via Republic Records and sired four singles. The singer then topped the chart with her next album, Folklore, released on 24th July 2020 via Republic Records. On its release, the album broke the Guinness World Record for most successful opening day for a female artist via Spotify.
Swift’s next number one, Evermore, was released on 11th December 2020, the album dropped a mere five months after the release of Folklore. The singer’s fourth number album was Swift’s re-released version of Fearless, entitled Fearless (Taylor’s Version). Along with the album Folklore, Swift has also broken records with the 2008 album’s re-release. The number one position became Swift’s third number one collection in under a year.
The re-release marks the second re-worked album to be released from her back catalogue this year. On 9th April 2021, the singer re-released her second studio album Fearless, originally released in 2008. Both re-releases mark Swift’s recently acquired rights to her masters after a reported disagreement with her previous label.
Click here to download/buy/stream Red (Taylor’s Version).
