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Taylor Swift’s ‘1989 (Taylor’s Version)’ Tops Billboard 200 for Fifth Week
Plus: Half of the top 10 albums are holiday titles.
Taylor Swift’s 1989 (Taylor’s Version) locks up a fifth nonconsecutive week atop the Billboard 200 albums chart (dated Jan. 6, 2024), as the set earned 98,000 equivalent album units in the U.S. in the week ending Dec. 28 (down 28%), according to Luminate. With a fifth week at No. 1, 1989 (Taylor’s Version) equals the total combined weeks at No. 1 of Swift’s three previous re-recorded albums. The Taylor’s Version editions of Fearless, Red and Speak Now notched two weeks, one week and two weeks on top, respectively.
In addition, Swift’s total weeks at No. 1 — across all 13 of her chart-topping releases — climbs to 68 weeks, surpassing Elvis Presley for the most weeks at No. 1 by a soloist. He logged 67 weeks at No. 1 across 10 chart-topping albums spanning 1956-2002. Only The Beatles have more weeks at No. 1, with an overall record 132 weeks on top, across 19 No. 1 albums in 1964-2001.
Swift’s first No. 1 album came with Fearless, which spent 11 weeks atop the list in late 2008 and early 2009. She followed it with the chart-toppers Speak Now (six weeks at No. 1, 2010-11); Red (seven, 2012-13); 1989 (2014-15); Reputation (four, 2017-18); Lover (one, 2019); Folklore (eight, 2020-21); Evermore (four, 2020-21); Fearless (Taylor’s Version) (two, 2021); Red (Taylor’s Version) (one, 2021); Midnights (six, 2022-23); Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) (two, 2023); and 1989 (Taylor’s Version) (five, 2023-24).
Also in the top 10 of the new Billboard 200, half of the region consists of holiday albums for the first time since a year ago this week, led by Michael Bublé’s former No. 1 Christmas, which rises 4-2.
The Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular albums of the week in the U.S. based on multi-metric consumption as measured in equivalent album units, compiled by Luminate. Units comprise album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). Each unit equals one album sale, or 10 individual tracks sold from an album, or 3,750 ad-supported or 1,250 paid/subscription on-demand official audio and video streams generated by songs from an album. The new Jan. 6, 2024-dated chart will be posted in full on Billboard‘s website on Jan. 3, one day later than normal due to the New Year’s Day holiday on Jan. 1. For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both X, formerly known as Twitter, and Instagram.
Of 1989 (Taylor’s Version)’s 98,000 equivalent album units earned in the week ending Dec. 28, album sales comprise 61,000 (down 36%), SEA units comprise 36,000 (down 10%, equaling 48.5 million on-demand official streams of the set’s songs) and TEA units comprise 1,000 (up 31%).
Bublé’s chart-topping Christmas climbs 4-2 with 78,000 equivalent album units earned (up 11%). It’s the highest rank for the title in two years, since it spent two weeks in a row at No. 2 on the Jan. 1 and 8, 2022-dated charts. Christmas was released in 2011 and spent five consecutive weeks at No. 1 in 2011-12.
Christmas is the first of five holiday titles in the top 10 of the Billboard 200, the most seasonal sets in the region in a year. The top 10 last hosted five holiday albums on the Jan. 7, 2023 ranking.
Nicki Minaj’s former No. 1 Pink Friday 2 dips 2-3 with 66,000 equivalent album units earned (down 35%), while Nat King Cole’s The Christmas Song hits a new peak, rising 8-4 with 64,000 units (up 15%). The album previously topped out at No. 5 a year ago, on the Jan. 7, 2023, chart. The set includes Cole’s classic title track, along with Billboard Holiday 100-charting favorites including “Deck the Halls,” “O Come All Ye Faithful,” “Joy to the World” and “Caroling, Caroling.”
Morgan Wallen’s chart-topping One Thing at a Time is a non-mover at No. 5 with 60,000 equivalent album units earned (down 7%), while Drake’s former No. 1 For All the Dogs is stationary at No. 6 with 57,000 units (down 10%).
The classic multi-artist holiday album A Christmas Gift for You From Phil Spector jumps 14-7 — a new peak — with 56,000 equivalent album units earned (up 17%). The album, first released in 1963, previously peaked at No. 8 a year ago (on the Jan. 7, 2023, chart). It first reached the top 10 on the Jan. 8, 2022, chart, when it stepped 11-10. The album, produced by Spector, includes familiar favorites heard during the holiday season that were initially recorded for the project. Among them are Holiday 100-charting hits including The Ronettes’ “Sleigh Ride” and Darlene Love’s “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” and “Winter Wonderland.”
Mariah Carey’s Merry Christmas jingles 10-8 with 56,000 equivalent album units (up 7%) and Swift’s Midnights falls 3-9 with 53,000 (down 29%).
Rounding out the top 10 of the new Billboard 200 is Pentatonix’s The Greatest Christmas Hits, which vaults 60-10, a new peak, with 51,000 equivalent album units earned (up 147%). The 31-song set is the vocal group’s latest release, and it includes 23 previously-released holiday favorites, along with eight new recordings.
The Greatest Christmas Hits marks Pentatonix’s 11th top 10-charting set, and its first since the group’s last compilation, 2019’s The Best of Pentatonix Christmas, peaked at No. 7 on the Dec. 28, 2019, chart.
Here’s a recap of Pentatonix’s 11 top 10-charting albums on the Billboard 200, six of which are holiday sets: PTXmas (No. 7, 2013); PTX: Vol. II (No. 10, 2013); PTX: Vol. III (No. 5, 2014); That’s Christmas to Me (No. 2, 2014); Pentatonix (No. 1, 2015); A Pentatonix Christmas (No. 1 for two weeks, 2017); PTX Vol. IV: Classics (No. 4); PTX Presents: Top Pop, Vol. 1 (No. 10, 2018); Christmas Is Here! (No. 7, 2018); The Best of Pentatonix Christmas (No. 7, 2019); and The Greatest Christmas Hits (No. 10, 2024).
As The Greatest Christmas Hits houses songs by Pentatonix that are on multiple albums by the act, SEA and TEA for those songs contribute to whichever Pentatonix album containing those songs sells the most in traditional album sales in a week. A song such as “Mary, Did You Know?” appears on three Pentatonix albums: the studio set That’s Christmas To Me, and the later-released compilations The Best of Pentatonix Christmas and The Greatest Christmas Hits. SEA and TEA for “Mary” is assigned on the chart to whichever of those three albums sells the most in a given week. In the tracking week ending Dec. 28, The Greatest Christmas Hits sold nearly 2,500 copies, more than any other Pentatonix album. Thus, Greatest is assigned all of the SEA and TEA on the chart for any songs it shares across other Pentatonix albums.
Source: billboard.com