Taylor Swift’s “The Life of A Showgirl” is rewriting history, one record at a time.
Taylor Swift has officially rewritten the history books with her latest release, The Life of A Showgirl. The album earned the biggest first-week US sales debut of any album in history, moving an astonishing 4.002 million units and surpassing Adele’s 25, which sold 3.482 million in 2015. This monumental achievement makes Taylor the first soloist ever to earn 15 #1 albums on the Billboard 200, surpassing heavyweights like Drake and JAY-Z.
Vinyl collectors are also celebrating, as The Life of A Showgirl set the record for the biggest vinyl sales week in Nielsen history with 1.334 million copies sold. Taylor now owns eight of the top ten vinyl sales weeks in the modern era (since 1991), including every album in the top six. She even outpaced her own previous releases, beating The Tortured Poets Department and 1989 (Taylor’s Version).
Compared to her debut, Taylor’s first-week sales are 100 times larger—4 million units versus 40,000. She now sits firmly in second place for artists with the most #1 albums in Billboard 200 history, trailing only The Beatles with 19.
Looking at the all-time sales rankings, The Life of A Showgirl tops every list: 4.002 million units, followed by Adele’s 25 (3.482M), The Tortured Poets Department (2.61M), and 1989 (Taylor’s Version) (1.653M). With her continued mastery of vinyl and digital formats alike, the question remains: what record could Taylor possibly break next?
Biggest First-Week US Sales (Billboard 200)
| Rank | Album | First-Week Sales (US) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Life of A Showgirl | 4,002,000 |
| 2 | 25 | 3,482,000 |
| 3 | The Tortured Poets Department | 2,610,000 |
| 4 | 1989 (Taylor’s Version) | 1,653,000 |
| 5 | Midnights | 1,578,000 |
| 6 | Reputation | 1,238,000 |
| 7 | 25 | 1,193,000 |
| 8 | 25 | 1,162,000 |
| 9 | Views | 1,039,000 |
| 10 | Lover | 867,000 |
Biggest US Vinyl Sales Weeks (Modern Era, Since 1991)
| Rank | Album | Vinyl Sales (US) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Life of A Showgirl | 1,334,000 |
| 2 | The Tortured Poets Department | 859,000 |
| 3 | 1989 (Taylor’s Version) | 693,000 |
| 4 | Midnights | 575,000 |
| 5 | Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) | 268,000 |
| 6 | The Tortured Poets Department | 191,000 |
| 7 | Harry’s House | 182,000 |
| 8 | The Tortured Poets Department | 164,000 |
| 9 | Lover: Live From Paris | 161,000 |
| 10 | Man’s Best Friend | 160,000 |
Quincy is the creator of Ratings Game Music. He loves writing about music, taking long walks on beaches, and spaghetti that fights him back.
Discover more from RGM
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
