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 a Republic labelmate; Carpenter is a frequent Eras Tour opener).
But there.
