Taylor Swift‘s 1989 album continues to dominate the Billboard 200 charts. The album earned its eighth (non-consecutive) week at Number 1 on the charts. 1989 is Swift’s longest-running Number 1 album since her second release Fearless. The Fearless album topped the charts for thirteen non-consecutive weeks in 2008 and 2009. The album also managed to win the title for the best selling album of 2009; Fearless beat Susan Boyle‘s I Dreamed A Dream album by 113,000 copies.
This is not the first time Swift has secured the title for the best selling album of the year. 1989 surpassed Disney’s Frozen soundtrack for the best selling album of 2014. In the last week of December, Swift’s album edged Frozen by 130,000 sales. The soundtrack was the year-to-date top selling album of 2014, except for the final sales tracking week of the year. This battle for the top selling album of 2014, was the closest race to end the year since 2009.
Taylor Swift is the third recording artist to have the year’s best selling album twice. Nielsen Music didn’t start tracking album sales until 1991. Eminem and Adele are the other recording artists to have the top selling album of the year twice. Eminem‘s albums, The Eminem Show and Recovery, both won the crown in 2002 and 2010. Adele’s album, 21, finished first in 2011 and 2012. This is the fourth time Swift has had the year’s top selling album by a female artist. Before Taylor Swift, Mariah Carey was leading all female artists with three top selling albums of the year.
According to Nielsen Music, Swift’s 1989 album sold 244,000 copies in the week of January 4. 1989’s lead single, “Shake It Off,” has been nominated for 3 Grammy Awards. The nominations include Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best Pop Solo Performance. Late last year, Swift announced she will be heading on the road for The 1989 World Tour. The tour will begin in Japan on May 5, and it will conclude in December. The 1989 World Tour will also make stops in North America, Europe, and Australia.