How Taylor Swift Beat Kylie Minogue And Set Records for Fun

By now, you’re probably listened to Taylor Swift’s Midnights, or at least, a part of it.

If you’ve managed to stay away, congrats, you’re in the minority.

Swift’s tenth and latest studio album is a confirmed hit, the kind that comes around less often than Halley’s Comet.

Following its release last Friday (Oct. 28), TayTay’s latest LP has racked up numerous records around the globe, including Australia and on both sides of the Atlantic, none more eye-popping than her lockup of the U.S. singles chart.

For the first time in the Billboard Hot 100’s 64-plus-year history, all 10 spots belong to one lead artist, Taylor Swift, with all those tracks lifted from one album, Midnights.

“I am in shambles,” TayTay says of her perfect 10.

10 out of 10 of the Hot 100??? On my 10th album??? I AM IN SHAMBLES. https://t.co/q1n5Zc6pYA

— Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) October 31, 2022

But wait, there’s more.

In the U.S., the world’s leading recorded music market, Midnights rolled to 1.578 million chart sales for the largest first-week volume in her career. That’s second for any artist in the streaming era, behind only Adele’s third album 25, which accumulated a whopping 3.38 million after its release in 2015, Billboard reports.

It’s a similar story in Australia, where Midnights blasts to No. 1 and nine of its songs crowd the top 10 on the ARIA Chart — a new record — including the leader, “Anti-Hero.”

Midnights becomes the most-streamed album in a week in ARIA history, Universal Music Australia reports, and notches the biggest vinyl sales debut ever, with over 10,000 slabs of wax changing hands.

It’s the U.S. singer’s 10th No. 1, and her highest-selling album in Australia since 2017’s Reputation.

Though the U.K. charts compilers introduced criteria five years ago that prevent a singles chart blackout similar to those seen in the U.S. and Australia, Midnights nevertheless is a knockout.

And it nudges Australia’s very own princess of pop from a perch.

In the U.K., Midnights is Swift’s ninth No. 1, an effort that sees her pass Kylie Minogue for outright second place in the list of female artists with the most leaders (not to be totally outdone, Kylie’s Impossible Princess returns to the latest U.K. chart at No. 5, a new peak position, following its 25th anniversary reissue).

Kylie Minogue

The queen of that list is Madonna, with 12, and the all-time bosses are the Beatles, with 15.

Also, Taylor extends her lead as the female solo artist with the highest tally of U.K. No. 1 albums this century, and chalks up a chart double, as “Anti-Hero” simultaneously leads the U.K. singles chart, one of a maximum three Midnights tracks on the list, all of which open in the top 5.

According to data published by the Official Charts Company, Midnights clocks up 204,000 U.K. chart sales, more than double Swift’s previous best (90,300 units for 2014’s 1989), and the best tally for any recording since Adele’s 30 tallied 261,000 chart sales a year ago, in November 2021.

Based on midweek data from the OCC, Taylor could reign over the U.K. charts for some time yet. Midnights and “Anti-Hero” lead the respective midweek charts and are en route to a second week in charge.

All told, Midnights smashed 73 records as it debuted at No. 1 in 14 countries, according to Consequence of Sound. Read more here.