Since Taylor Swift dropped her latest album, ‘The Tortured Poets Department,’ she’s dominated global music charts. Yet, her bid to make history hit a snag. Swift was on the verge of breaking the record for the longest consecutive weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 when Eminem swooped in with his latest release, ‘The Death of Slim Shady,’ knocking her off the top spot.
Eminem’s ‘The Death of Slim Shady’ (Coup de Grâce) stormed in at No. 1 on this week’s Billboard 200, halting Swift’s historic run. The album debuted with 281,000 equivalent units, driven largely by streaming numbers—clocking in at 220 million streams on Spotify and Apple Music in its first week alone. It also sold 114,000 copies digitally.
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Swift’s ‘The Tortured Poets Department,’ which had held the No. 1 spot since April, now shares the second-longest streak at the top spot from debut, tied with Morgan Wallen’s ‘One Thing at a Time.’ Despite falling short of setting a new record, Swift did achieve a personal milestone as the only woman to achieve this feat, surpassing Whitney Houston’s record with her 1987 album ‘Whitney,’ which spent its first 11 weeks at No. 1.
Had ‘The Tortured Poets Department’ held on for a thirteenth week, it would have surpassed Stevie Wonder’s ‘Songs in the Key of Life,’ which maintained the top spot for 13 weeks after its debut. While Swift couldn’t quite match Wonder’s achievement, her album remains a strong contender on the charts.
With Eminem now reigning atop the Billboard 200, ENHYPEN’s ‘ROMANCE: UNTOLD’ debuted at No. 2, marking their best career debut. Meanwhile, Swift faces competition from Stray Kids’ ‘ATE’ and BTS star Jimin’s ‘MUSE’ for reclaiming the coveted No. 1 spot.