The Taylor Swift Era: Why Billboard 200 Record Makes Her Unbeatable

Taylor Swift has proved herself a prowess of force with her record-breaking songs, concerts, and fanbase, smashing records and becoming the singer of the year 2023. However, the singer-songwriter seems to not be pulling breaks off her spree yet as she broke the record of legendary singer Elvis Presley. 

It is a huge accomplishment for a singer-songwriter to surpass the King of rock and roll, legendary singer Elvis Presley. Well, Swift did it by becoming the no.1 soloist to top the Billboard 200 holding the position for 68 weeks and counting. Presley had topped the chart for 67 weeks.

Taylor Swift Surpasses Elvis Presley's Record

The 34-year-old pop sensation Swift toppled the long-held record of a soloist clenching the position of No.1 artist on the Billboard 200 list. As 1989 (Taylor's version) once again became the topmost album on the Billboard 200 list for the 5th consecutive week, Swift was the only solo artist to stay on top of the list for so many weeks and set new records.

What's next? As with this achievement, Swift also became the overall second artist, right behind The Beatles to top the list as The Beatles were on top for 132 weeks. While that's a high bar to break, with Swift's consistent album releases and dedicated fanbase, who knows what the future holds? 

However, it is to be noted that The Beatles were a band that topped the chart for 132 weeks while Taylor Swift and Elvis Presley were soloists who did it on their own.

How Taylor Swift Managed To Top The Chart?

Swift's prompt decision to re-record all her 6 old albums and re-release them as Taylor's Version after the ongoing copyrights and licensing issues with her former talent manager Scooter Braun worked in her favour. Braun had acquired her old record label which led her to re-record all 6 albums stopping Braun from gaining from her master recordings financially. 

Fearless was Swift's No.1 album to top the Billboard 200 chart and remained No.1 for 11 weeks in 2008-2009, subsequently followed by Speak Now to the top for 6 weeks in 2010-2011. Red was the next that topped the chart for 7 weeks between 2012-2012, 1989 for 11 weeks in 2014-2015; Reputation for 4 weeks from 2017-2018 while Lover spent just one week at the top in 2019. Her Evermore spent again 4 weeks on top between 2020-2021 and Midnight once again topped the chart for 6 weeks between 2022-2023. 

Her re-recorded albums Fearless (Taylor's Version), Red (Taylor's Version), and Speak Now (Taylor's Version) again topped the chart for sevral weeks. However, 1989 (Taylor's version) remained on top of the charts for five weeks and might stay on top for longer weeks. 

More Significant Records Broken By Swift This Year

The Reputation artist also became the first living artist to chart five albums in the Top 10 list simultaneously which was only achieved by Prince in 2016 after his demise. 

In July, with Speak Now (Taylor's Version), Swift also broke the record of Barbra Streisand and became the first female artist with the most No.1 albums on the chart in history. 

The highest number of top albums record is still held by The Beatles with 19 albums topping the chart followed by Jay Z with 14 albums while Taylor Swift is ranked third with 13 albums topping the list. Swift and Presley are currently in a tie with most No.1s in a single year. This solidifies Taylor Swift's position as one of the most influential and commercially successful artists of her generation. It also highlights her ability to connect with people through her music across genres and demographics.