Taylor Swift’s highly anticipated re-recorded album Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) has made an explosive debut at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart. The album earned 716,000 equivalent album units in the US, with 507,000 in traditional album sales. This makes Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) the biggest week for any album in 2023, surpassing her own previous record set by her last studio album, Midnights, which debuted with 1.58 million units.
With this achievement, Swift has secured her 12th No. 1 album, surpassing Barbra Streisand and becoming the woman with the most No. 1 albums in Billboard history. Additionally, Swift has four albums in the top 10 simultaneously – Speak Now (Taylor’s Version), Midnights, Lover, and Folklore – making her the first living act since 1966 to achieve this feat. The only other artist to accomplish this was Prince, following his death in 2016.
The Billboard 200 chart ranks albums based on multi-metric consumption, including album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA), and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) marks Swift’s third successful re-recorded album, following Red (Taylor’s Version) and Fearless (Taylor’s Version), which both debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart.
Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) features new recordings of the original album’s 14 tracks, along with bonus cuts and previously unreleased “From the Vault” recordings. Swift announced the release of the album on May 5 and offered various formats for fans to purchase, including digital download, CD, cassette, and vinyl. The album was also available for streaming.
To celebrate the release of Speak Now (Taylor’s Version), Swift premiered the music video for the “From the Vault” track, “I Can See You,” during her Kansas City stop on The Eras Tour. The video features Taylor Lautner, Joey King, and Presley Cash, who starred in the original video for the song.
Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) has not only dominated the charts but has also broken records. It achieved the largest week for a country album since 2014, surpassing Red (Taylor’s Version)’s opening week. Furthermore, it garnered the second-largest sales week for a vinyl album since 1991.
With Speak Now (Taylor’s Version)’s incredible success, Swift has now achieved a No. 1 album in each of the last five calendar years. This accomplishment is unprecedented for a female artist, and she is only the third artist overall, after The Beatles, Jay-Z, and Drake, to accomplish this feat.
As Swift continues her impressive career, fans eagerly anticipate her next re-recorded album and the potential for even more chart-topping hits.