Taylor Swift’s 1989 (Taylor’s Version) outsells original
The rerecording has accrued her highest-ever first-week album sales.
Taylor Swift just beat her own personal best with her 13th No. 1 album.
As every Swiftie knows, the singer-songwriter released 1989 (Taylor’s Version) on October 27, with the record debuting at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 200. According to Luminate, Swift’s re-recording of 1989 — which also features five new vault tracks — sold a whopping 1.653 million equivalent album units in the U.S. last week, which makes it the biggest opening sales week of her entire career. It’s also the biggest sales debut for any album since 2015, when Adele’s 25 sold 3.4 million units in the U.S.
Prior to the new release, Swift’s largest album debut was in 2014, when she released the original version of 1989, which moved 1.287 million units in the U.S. during its first week. One of her most beloved works, the album cemented Swift as a mainstream pop star thanks to hits like “Bad Blood” and “Shake It Off.”
1989 (Taylor’s Version) is now the fourth album Swift has rerecorded as part of a multi-year project to regain control of her catalog after her former label, Big Machine Records, sold the masters for her first six albums to Scooter Braun in 2019. So far, she’s re-recorded new versions of Fearless, Red, and Speak Now, the latter of which was released in July.