Taylor Swift’s ‘Tortured Poets Department’ Returns to No. 1 on Billboard 200 for 13th Week
Taylor Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department returns to No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart (dated Aug. 10), collecting a 13th nonconsecutive week atop the list. The album spent its first 12 weeks on the chart at No. 1, fell to No. 4 for two weeks, and now rebounds to No. 1 for a 13th frame. (Thirteen is also famously Swift’s lucky number.)
Tortured Poets earned 71,000 equivalent album units in the U.S. in the week ending Aug. 1 (down 3%), according to Luminate. That marks the smallest weekly sum for a No. 1 album since March 16-dated chart, when Morgan Wallen’s One Thing at a Time was tops with 68,000 units.
The last album to spend at least 13 weeks at No. 1 was One Thing at a Time, which logged 19 total nonconsecutive weeks at No. 1 between March 2023 and this March. The last album by a woman to spend at least 13 total weeks at No. 1 was Adele’s 21, which earned 24 nonconsecutive weeks on top in 2011-12.
With Poets — Swift’s longest-leading album — she adds her 82nd career week at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, extending her record among soloists. (Elvis Presley has the second-most among soloists, with 67.) The total encompasses her 14 No. 1 albums. (She’s tied with Jay-Z for the most No. 1s among soloists.)
Also on the latest Billboard 200, the sleepy top 10, where no albums debut in the region, sees Chappell Roan’s The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess hit a new peak, as it climbs 8-4, surpassing its previous high of No. 5.
The Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular albums of the week in the U.S. based on multi-metric consumption as measured in equivalent album units, compiled by Luminate. Units comprise album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). Each unit equals one album sale, or 10 individual tracks sold from an album, or 3,750 ad-supported or 1,250 paid/subscription on-demand official audio and video streams generated by songs from an album. The new Aug. 10, 2024-dated chart will be posted in full on Billboard‘s website on Aug. 6. For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both X, formerly known as Twitter, and Instagram.
Of The Tortured Poets Department’s 71,000 units earned in the week ending Aug. 1, SEA units comprise 59,000 (down 8%, equaling 77.73 million on-demand official streams of the deluxe album’s 31 songs), album sales comprise 12,000 (up 34%, aided by a stock replenishment of a deluxe CD edition of the album in Swift’s webstore) and TEA units comprise a negligible sum (down 23%).
Wallen’s One Thing at a Time rises 6-2 with 64,000 equivalent album units earned (down 1%, also returning to No. 1 on Top Streaming Albums for the first time since March) and Zach Bryan’s The Great American Bar Scene climbs 5-3 with 61,000 (down 14%).
Chappell Roan’s The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess reaches a new peak, jumping 8-4 with 53,000 equivalent album units (though down 1%). The set previously topped out at No. 5 on the July 13-dated list. Billie Eilish’s Hit Me Hard and Soft ascends 9-5 with nearly 53,000 units (down 2%) and Stray Kids’ ATE falls 1-6 in its second week with 52,000 units (down 78%; it’s also No. 1 on Top Album Sales for a second week).
Eminem’s chart-topping The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce) dips 3-7 with 49,000 equivalent album units earned (down 37%), Twisters: The Album falls 7-8 with 44,000 units (down 23%), Charli XCX’s Brat returns to the top 10, rising 14-9 with 40,000 units (up 10%), and Noah Kahan’s Stick Season is steady at No. 10 with 39,000 units (down 10%).
Luminate, the independent data provider to the Billboard charts, completes a thorough review of all data submissions used in compiling the weekly chart rankings. Luminate reviews and authenticates data. In partnership with Billboard, data deemed suspicious or unverifiable is removed, using established criteria, before final chart calculations are made and published.
Keith Caulfield
Billboard