Taylor Swift’s re-recording of her juggernaut album 1989 is having the biggest opening week of the year so far, outperforming the rest of the top 40 combined, according to the Official Charts Company.
Swift is on course to bag her 11th UK number one album with 1989 (Taylor’s Version), a new recording of her fifth album, which was originally released in 2014.
The record has notched up 148,000 chart units since its release on Friday, easily besting the previous title holder, Lewis Capaldi’s second LP Broken By Desire To Be Heavenly Sent, which accumulated more than 95,000 chart units during its first week on sale.
✨🫶 My name is Taylor and I was born in 1989 🫶✨https://t.co/klomIqGx38 pic.twitter.com/sWofWRjpvN
— Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) October 27, 2023
If Swift hits number one at the end of the week she will extend her record as the female solo artist with the most chart-topping albums this century.
The new 21-track offering marks the next stage of the US megastar’s ambitious re-record of her entire back catalogue to regain control of her masters.
1989 (Taylor’s Version) features hit songs including Blank Space, Bad Blood and Shake It Off, as well as never-before-released songs “from the vault” such as Say Don’t Go, Now That We Don’t Talk and Suburban Legends.
The release of the re-recorded album comes shortly after the launch of the concert film of her Eras Tour in cinemas, which has broken box office records.
What a truly mind blowing thing you’ve turned The Eras Tour Concert Film into. I’ve been watching videos of you guys in the theaters dancing and prancing and recreating choreography, creating inside jokes, casting spells, getting engaged, and just generally creating the exact… pic.twitter.com/shR5NC0led
— Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) October 19, 2023
OMD (Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark) are on the way to hit the number two spot with Bauhaus Staircase, according to the midweek charts, while The Rolling Stones will slip from the top spot to three with Hackney Diamonds.
Duran Duran are poised to enter the charts at number four with Danse Macabre while James Blunt looks set to take the fifth spot with his album Who We Used to Be.