Taylor Swift's folklore Broke So Many Billboard Records
Taylor Swift’s folklore Broke So Many “Billboard” Records
Part of it had to do with her surprise release strategy.
Taylor Swift's came-out-of-nowhere quarantine album, folklore, is being heralded as one of her best albums, ever, but in addition to that critical acclaim, she's earned plenty of accolades on the charts, too. Billboard reports that folklore managed to break a slew of records and achieve things that no other album has ever done before.
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folklore debuted at the very top of the Billboard 200 chart and the album's lead single, "cardigan," debuted at the top of the Hot 100 chart. Billboard notes that it's the first time any artist has ever managed to do it. Additionally, the track "The 1" charted at no. 4, which makes Taylor Swift, who once sang about Tim McGraw and teardrops on her guitar, the first artist to have two songs appear in the top four spots on the Hot 100. "Exile," Swift's track with Bon Iver, bowed at no. 6. That achievement gives Swift the honor of being the first person to debut three songs on the Hot 100's top six spots. The AV Club reports that a few artists managed to have three or even four tracks debut in the top 10, but never in the top six.
.@taylorswift13's "Cardigan" officially debuts at No. 1 on this week's #Hot100 chart.
This is the first time in history that an artist has debuted at No. 1 on both the #Hot100 and #Billboard200 in the same week.— billboard charts (@billboardcharts) August 3, 2020
The Hot 100 chart has been tracking tunes since 1958 and the Billboard 200 debuted in 1956, so Swift is racking up accolades that were, before her, nearly unimaginable. And because of streaming, it really was unimaginable. Unlike traditional releases, all of folklore's tracks were eligible to chart all at once, which explains how so many of the songs charted. Of course, Swift had an appropriate gif to celebrate the news.
https://t.co/frGE46P5vD pic.twitter.com/xz1AqHMWWN
— Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) August 3, 2020
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Just for fun, Billboard listed a few more metrics that seem to be tailor-made just for Swift: First woman to debut two songs in top five simultaneously; she's up to 28 career top 10s, putting her at no. 6 on that list (Drake tops that list with 40 songs in Billboard's Hot 100 top 10); she also had 16 tracks from folklore on the Hot 100, with "cardigan" at the top and "hoax" at no. 71. Swift also surpassed Nicki Minaj as the female artist with the most Hot 100 entries, ever.
