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WOW! Taylor Swift’s ‘The Tortured Poets Department’ just broke a record as her biggest album on the Billboard 200. Here’s how her others rank.

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Taylor Swift gave us fair warning in her newest album: “Try and come for my job.” Three months later, she’s still in her prime.

Released on April 19, “The Tortured Poets Department” has logged 12 consecutive weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, a career-best for Swift.

The uninterrupted reign of “Poets” is rare for a streaming-era release. It’s the first album ever by a female artist to spend its first 12 weeks atop the chart, surpassing a record previously held by Whitney Houston’s 1987 blockbuster “Whitney.” The all-time record for a consecutive streak among women is held by Carole King’s masterpiece “Tapestry,” which spent 15 weeks at No. 1 in 1971.

Swift is no stranger to chart success. Keep reading for a ranking of her 15 studio albums (including both originals and rerecords) based on their Billboard 200 performances.

9. “Taylor Swift”

Taylor Swift” was released on October 24, 2006. Big Machine
Billboard 200 peak: No. 5

Swift’s self-titled debut is the only studio album in her catalog that hasn’t reached No. 1 on the Billboard 200.

“Taylor Swift” debuted at No. 19 and scaled the chart for more than a year, peaking at No. 5 in 2008.

8 (tie). “Red (Taylor’s Version)”

The cover art for “Red (Taylor’s Version)” was photographed by Beth Garrabrant. Taylor Swift/UMG
Billboard 200 peak: No. 1 for one week

The extended tracklist for “Red (Taylor’s Version)” included the storied 10-minute version of “All Too Well,” a longtime fan-favorite song in Swift’s catalog.

“All Too Well (10 Minute Version)” was released alongside a short film directed by Swift and promoted by a convention-breaking performance on “Saturday Night Live.” It became the longest song to reach No. 1 in the history of the Hot 100.

7 (tie). “Fearless (Taylor’s Version)”

“Fearless (Taylor’s Version)” was released in 2021. Taylor Swift/UMG
Billboard 200 peak: No. 1 for two weeks

“Fearless” was the first rerecorded album that Swift ever released.

The “Taylor’s Version” series was inspired by the sale of Swift’s masters to Scooter Braun in 2019, which she described as her “worst case scenario” in a passionate open letter. Swift decided to remake and rerelease her first six albums in a bid to reclaim ownership of her life’s work. (Braun later sold Swift’s masters to a private-equity company.)

In addition to faithfully recreating each tracklist, Swift decided to add never-before-heard songs “from the vault” that were written during the album’s original creative process but cut from the final product.

“I’ve spoken a lot about why I’m remaking my first six albums, but the way I’ve chosen to do this will hopefully help illuminate where I’m coming from,” Swift explained. “Artists should own their own work for so many reasons, but the most screamingly obvious one is that the artist is the only one who really knows that body of work.”

“For example, only I know which songs I wrote that almost made the ‘Fearless’ album,” she continued. “Songs I absolutely adored, but were held back for different reasons.”

Many were skeptical that the “Taylor’s Version” project would be embraced by fans, let alone achieve commercial success.

Those skeptics were forced to eat their words when “Fearless (Taylor’s Version)” began to outpace the original on streaming platforms. According to Billboard, “Fearless (Taylor’s Version)” earned more equivalent album sales in its first week of release than “Fearless” earned over the entire next year.

7 (tie). “Speak Now (Taylor’s Version)”

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