Pop and country artist Taylor Swift’s career is at an all-time high as she becomes the first musician to break the long-held chart record by The Beatles as the fastest run of three number one albums.
Swift released a re-recorded version of her previous album, Fearless. The new album is named Fearless (Taylor’s Version) and it topped the UK chart on Friday. This success was followed by that of the two previous albums, Folklore and Evermore.
The US singer scored her hat-trick in a total of just 259 days, beating the iconic band’s 54-year-old record of three chart-topping albums in 364 days.
Fearless (Taylor’s Version) is Swift’s third album to hit No 1 in the UK in the space of 259 days following Folklore on 31 July and Evermore on 18 December 2020 – breaking the Beatles’ longstanding record for the fastest accumulation of three No 1 albums. Between 1965-66, the British band topped the charts with Help!, Rubber Soul, and Revolver in the space of 364 days.
The new release is Swift’s seventh UK No 1 album and sold 21,145 units (combined physical and digital sales and streams) this week, compared with the original recording’s 545 (2.6% of the new edition). In the week prior to the release of Taylor’s Version, the original sold 634 units.
It is not just a feat for Taylor herself but for the music fraternity proving that hard work pays off in the end.
It’s been quite a record-breaking 2021 for Swift so far after she became the first female artist to win the album of the year three times at the Grammys.
The artist is currently in possession of seven number-one albums on this of the Atlantic. However, her latest album will carry a special significance forever. The re-recording of her old material has been part of an attempt to reclaim control of her music, following a high-profile dispute with her former record label and music mogul Scooter Braun.
In November last year, the re-recording of her old material has been part of an attempt to reclaim control of her music, following a high-profile dispute with her former record label and music mogul Scooter Braun.
The singer-songwriter was incensed that he would profit from her records, attributing the sale as an act of aggression that “stripped me of my life’s work”.
Braun has not commented on the matter since the original sale when he complained that Swift’s fans were targeting his family online.
Fearless, the first of the re-recorded records, which contains hits like Fifteen and Love Story, was last week described by BBC music reporter Mark Savage as “a perfect replica” of the 2008 original.
When Swift signed to Universal/Republic in 2019, the terms of her contract gave her ownership over her master recordings. She has released three original albums for the label: Lover, in 2019, and the folk-adjacent Folklore and Evermore.
Taylor Swift has proved yet again her creative and moralistic values through the entire ordeal.
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