Taylor Swift shifts 270k units of ‘Tortured Poets Department’ to claim UK Number One and match Madonna’s chart record

Taylor Swift‘s ‘Tortured Poets Department’ has officially gone Number One in the UK, delivering the UK’s biggest opening week in seven years and matching Madonna‘s record.

• READ MORE: Taylor Swift – ‘The Tortured Poets Department’ review: a rare misstep

The singer released her eleventh studio album last Friday (April 19), which managed to break Spotify’s record for most-streamed album in a day with 300million streams.

Now, it’s been revealed that ‘The Tortured Poets Department’ sold 270,000 units to snag the Number One spot. It’s a huge step up from her 2022 album ‘Midnights‘, which sold just over 200,000 records in its first week.

The huge opening week for ‘Tortured Poets Department’ also sees Swift go toe-to-toe with Madonna for the female artist with the most Number One albums in Official Charts history. Currently, both Madge and Swift have 12 UK chart-toppers under their belt, tying with Bruce Springsteen.

So far, there’s only four artists with more Number One albums than Swift, Madonna, and Springsteen: The Beatles (16), The Rolling Stones (14), Robbie Williams (14) and Elvis Presley (13).

In our three-star review of ‘The Tortured Poets Department’, NME said of Swift’s album: “Swift seems to be in tireless pursuit for superstardom, yet the negative public opinion it can come with irks her, and it’s a tired theme now plaguing her discography and leaving little room for the poignant lyrical observations she excels at.

“It’s why the pitfalls that mire her 11th studio album are all the more disappointing — she’s proven time and time again she can do better. To a Melbourne audience of her Eras Tour, Swift said that ‘The Tortured Poets Department’ came from a “need” to write. It’s just that maybe we didn’t need to hear it.”

The pop star is due to begin the European and UK/Ireland leg of her huge career-spanning tour in Paris on May 9, and is due to play eight sold-out concerts in London with Paramore. There’s speculation that ‘Tortured Poets’ could appear on the setlist thanks to a clip of rehearsals being soundtracked by ‘Fortnight’, her collaborative single with Post Malone.

In a new interview, Florence Welch – who features on the ‘Tortured Poets’ song ‘Florida!!!’ – hinted that she could make a surprise appearance on stage in the capital.

In other news, The 1975 frontman Matty Healy’s mum Denise Welch has responded to a question about Taylor Swift’s ‘Tortured Poet’s Department’.

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