Taylor Swift becomes 1st woman with 4 albums in Billboard top 10 simultaneously

Taylor Swift's quest to re-record her catalog continues to be a smashing success. 

Swift's re-recorded version of her 2010 album "Speak Now" has debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 albums chart, becoming the singer's fourth album to occupy the chart's current top 10. This makes her the first woman in history to have four albums in the top 10 at the same time, according to Billboard. In addition to "Speak Now (Taylor's Version)" Swift's albums "Midnights," "Lover," and "Folklore" are all in the top 10. 

According to Billboard, Swift is now the first living artist with four albums in the top 10 simultaneously since Herb Alpert in 1966. Prince also had five albums in the top 10 at the same time after his death in 2016. Swift has additionally surpassed Barbra Streisand for the record of most number one albums for a woman at 12. They were previously tied at 11. "Speak Now (Taylor's Version)" had the biggest week for any album in 2023, an especially impressive feat given it consists primarily of covers of her old music.

Swift has been re-recording her earlier albums since 2021 as part of an effort to gain control of their master recordings following a dispute with her former record label. She started with "Fearless (Taylor's Version)" in April 2021 followed by "Red (Taylor's Version)" in November 2021 and then "Speak Now (Taylor's Version)" in July 2023. All three of the re-released albums included previously unheard music "from the vault," and they each debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 chart. According to Billboard, though, "Speak Now (Taylor's Version)" had the biggest first week of the three. 

This comes as Swift is in the middle of her wildly popular Eras Tour, which has likely helped boost interest in her past music. The Eras Tour looks set to become the highest-grossing tour of all time and possibly the first in history to gross over $1 billion.