Taylor Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department secures UK’s biggest opening week in seven years

Taylor Swift sees her superstar status soar to even greater heights today, as 11th studio album The Tortured Poets Department earns her an array of accolades. 

15 years after her debut UK chart appearance, Taylor proves she’s truly at the top of her game as she secures a 12th Number 1 on the Official Albums Chart.

New Official Charts Company data released today reveals Taylor has shifted a staggering 270,000 UK chart units in seven days – eclipsing her previous personal best of 204,000, when Midnights debuted atop the chart in 2022. But that’s just the start. 

The Tortured Poets Department surpasses Adele’s 30 to deliver biggest first week in seven years 

The Tortured Poets Department surpasses Adele’s 2021 release 30 to earn the UK’s biggest opening week in seven years. Taylor has 9,000 units on Adele’s first week figure, with 30 having managed 261,000 in seven days. 

The Tortured Poets Department now boasts the biggest opening week since Ed Sheeran’s 2017 blockbusting record ÷ (Divide), which logged 670,000 first-week UK chart units. 

Taylor matches Madonna’s all-time record 

With 12 Number 1 records now under her belt, Taylor Swift equals Madonna’s all-time UK Official Chart record; drawing level as the female artist with the most Number 1 albums in Official Albums Chart history. 

The Tortured Poets Department joins Red (2012), 1989 (2014), reputation (2017), Lover (2019), folklore (2020), evermore (2020), Fearless (Taylor’s Version) (2021), Red (Taylor’s Version) (2021), Midnights (2022) and Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) (2023) and 1989 (Taylor’s Version) in Taylor’s tally of consecutive chart-toppers. 

Taylor also draws level with Bruce Springsteen; with The Boss boasting 12 UK Number 1 LPs, too. 

Only four acts in chart history claim more UK chart-toppers: The Beatles (16), The Rolling Stones (14), Robbie Williams (14) and Elvis Presley (13). 

Taylor bags biggest opening week for an international act in 18 years 

In terms of international artists delivering huge releases in the UK, nobody has come as close to Scissor Sisters’ first-week figure of 288,000, achieved with their second studio album Ta-Dah! back in 2006. 

Taylor Swift outperforms The Beatles with the fastest accumulation of 12 Number 1 albums in Official Chart history 

No other artist has notched up 12 Number 1 albums in such a short space of time. Taylor Swift has done it in 11 years and 6 months, from Red in October 2012 to The Tortured Poets Department on 26 April 2024. This surpasses The Beatles who managed the feat in 14 years and 1 month between Please Please Me (May 1963) and The Beatles At Hollywood Bowl in June 1977. 

Taylor extends own record as the only artist to claim 12 Number 1 albums in the 21st century  

Taylor also extends her own record as the only artist to claim 12 Number 1 albums in the 21st century, all of which she has achieved consecutively; from her first UK Number 1 album 12 years ago, Red, in 2012, to The Tortured Poets Department in 2024. 

A third Official Chart Double for Taylor 

Soaring straight to the Official Singles Chart summit with Fortnight ft. Post Malone, Taylor also scores her third Official Chart Double. Previously, Taylor achieved the relatively rare feat with Midnights and its lead single Anti-Hero (2022) and 1989 (Taylor’s Version) and Is It Over Now? (Taylor’s Version) (2023). 

See every artist to score the Official Chart Double here.  

Fortnight becomes Taylor’s fourth Official Number 1 single in the UK, joining Look What You Made Me Do (2017), Anti-Hero (2022) and Is It Over Now? (Taylor’s Version) (2023). It also sees Post Malone bag his second UK chart-topper (and first in seven years), following 2017’s Rockstar with 21 Savage. 

Taylor further dominates this week’s Official Singles Chart, with title track The Tortured Poets Department (3) and Down Bad (4) making their Top 5 debuts. 

Recognising Taylor’s incredible achievements, Martin Talbot, Chief Executive, Official Charts Company says:  

“What a week for Taylor Swift! It is always fantastic news for the entire music sector to have an artist of Taylor’s calibre returning with new music – but the fact she has done so with such huge, record-breaking impact underlines again why we love music, and her, so much.  

“The list of her new records are almost too lengthy to list, suffice to say, this is truly Tay-Tay’s moment – and we are all here for it.” 

Official Chart Round-up 
 
Albums 

Pearl Jam secure their highest-charting UK album in 11 years on Dark Matter, debuting at Number 2, while British reggae group UB40’s 21st studio album UB45 enters at Number 5. Both LPs had vinyl variants exclusive to Record Store Day 2024, which took place last Saturday, April 20. 

Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours also saw the release of a brand-new picture disc exclusive to RSD, and therefore re-enters the Top 10 at Number 9. 

Bruce Springsteen’s Best Of Bruce Springsteen debuts at Number 15, gifting The Boss his 37th Top 40 album, Blur’s Parklife re-enters the Top 40 for the first time in 26 years (16), thanks to a re-issued 30th anniversary zoetrope vinyl exclusively for this year’s RSD event.  

Amy Winehouse’s Back to Black jumps back into the Top 20 for the first time since 2021 (17), while Pink Floyd’s magnum opus The Dark Side of the Moon blasts back into the Top 40 (21) following a new 50th anniversary collector's edition release, with crystal clear vinyl featuring a UV artwork print. 

Other Record Store Day exclusives impacting the Official Albums Chart today include; Orbital’s eponymous debut album reissued in a new 2LP variant (31), The 1975’s Live From Gorilla celebrating a decade of their influential self-titled debut album (32) and David Bowie’s Waiting In The Sky (Before the Starman Came to Earth) (39). 

Singles 

Queen of caffeine Sabrina Carpenter’s Espresso rises one to Number 5, becoming her first UK Top 5 single, the only track to rise inside this week’s Top 10 (and the most successful song about coffee in 24 years, since All Saints’ Black Coffee hit Number 1 in 2000).  

Continuing his upward trajectory, Mark Ambor’s Belong Together reaches another new peak this week, up one to Number 12. Will next week be the week the rising singer-songwriter finally breaks into the Top 10? 

Drake has courted controversy with the release of headline-grabbing diss track Push Ups, which debuts at Number 14, giving the Canadian superstar his 93rd (!) Top 40 single in the UK.  

US singer-songwriter Shaboozey earns his first career into the Official Singles Chart Top 40 with A Bar Song (Tipsy), up twenty-five to Number 16. The country artist has enjoyed a well-earned jump in recognition after being featured on Beyoncé’s chart-topping COWBOY CARTER.  

Rapper Lay Bankz’s Tell Ur Girlfriend jumps thirteen to Number 18, while Chappell Roan’s Good Luck, Babe! enjoys a rise of twelve to Number 21. 

And finally, Headie One’s Cry No More, a team-up with Stormzy and Tay Keith, debuts at Number 33. It becomes Headie’s 16th, Stormzy’s 31st and Tay Keith’s second UK Top 40 single.