Taylor Swift‘s “The Tortured Poets Department” has spent its first eight weeks at the top of the Billboard 200 album chart — a very good number that looks to get better. It may not vacate the top spot any time soon, between the album’s still-blockbuster streaming numbers, the issuing of variants as an insurance policy on the sales side, and the apparent lack of any competing superstar releases before mid-August.
So how long can she keep this streak going? And are there any records for consecutive weeks at No. 1 Swift is looking to break before “Tortured Poets” finally makes its inevitable dip to No. 2?
Variety has taken a look at Billboard chart history and identified a half-dozen records that she still stands to break if the album does not budge from its position as the summer marches on. Several of them look very achievable, if there aren’t any major stars that pop up with surprise releases in the next eight weeks.
Post Malone just announced he is putting out “F-1 Trillion” on Aug. 16, just a week ahead of Sabrina Carpenter issuing “Short n’ Sweet” on Aug. 23. These are the two albums on the schedule most likely to end Swift’s No. 1 streak. Chances are she is well aware of those dates and likely won’t be taking extraordinary measures to block their paths, since both artists are Swift’s friends and collaborators (Malone is a “Tortured Poets” featured artist, and Carpenter is a frequent Eras Tour opener; both artists are on labels distributed by Republic Records, which also distributes Swift’s releases). But there is plenty for Swift’s album to accomplish before those arrive.
Of course, Swift hasn’t talked about whether she has designs on breaking any records by maintaining her streak on top. It could just be that any week at No. 1 is a good week, just as her beau of record would probably think that every game that ends in a victory is a triumph, regardless of streaks or the post-season. But the issuing of so many physical and digital variants in the one week where she did face a serious threat in the U.S. — the week Billie Eilish’s latest came out — did make some chart-watchers wonder if she’s not just going for a lot of off-again, on-again weeks at No. 1 but a very long run of consecutive weeks.
So here are six milestones Swift could reach if she keeps it going:
