Taylor Swift made the biggest album debut of her career with her new album The Life of a Showgirl.
Despite the album garnering mixed reviews, ranging from the not-so glamorous two stars to the showstopping five stars, the album sold 2.7 million copies within the first 24 hours and broke Spotify records within the first 24 hours of its release.
This already marks Swift’s biggest week of sales just after one day, and the second-largest sales week for any album since the company Luminate began tracking the data in 1991. It only trails behind Adele’s 2015 album 25, which sold 3.4 million copies in its first week.
The pop superstar also broke her own vinyl sales record set by her 2024 album, The Tortured Poets Department, with 1.2 million U.S. sales in a single week.
If the album takes the top spot in the Billboard 200 Albums chart, it will be her 15th to do so, putting her second only to the Beatles on the all-time list.
Spotify have also confirmed it to be the most-streamed album on the platform in a single day, with the opening track and leading single The Fate of Ohpelia becoming the most-streamed song in a single day on Spotify.
Alongside the album, Swift also released a 90-minute movie for cinema screening for her 12th album, which featured a music video for ‘The Fate of Ophelia’, behind-the-scenes footage from the music video and lyric videos and breakdowns for other songs on the album.
The Official Release Party of a Showgirl weekend event tallied an estimated US$33 million in the U.S., becoming the largest album debut event in cinema history. Internationally, the film earned US$13 million, bringing the estimated global box office to US$46 million for the weekend.
“On behalf of AMC Theatres and the entire theatrical exhibition industry, I extend our sincerest appreciation to the iconic Taylor Swift for bringing her brilliance and magic to movie theatres this weekend,” AMC’s CEO Adam Aron said in a statement Sunday.
Swift is no stranger to the big screen, with the filmed version of the Eras Tour concert generating more than US$261 million at the global box office, becoming the highest-grossing concert film of all time.
The album was released after her engagement to NFL player Travis Kelce, who proposed with a ring estimated to be worth around US$550,000 and buying back her stolen masters earlier this year.
According to Bloomberg’s Billionaire Index, Swift’s estimated net worth sits at US$2.1 billion.
