Taylor Swift has broken Elvis Presley's record for the most weeks at the top of the Billboard 200 albums chart by a solo artist. It set a new mark with a total of 68 weeks, as “1989 (Taylor Version)” reached the top of the chart for the fifth time in its final full tracking week of 2023.
Although Swift set a new singles record, the top mark among all artists is still held by The Beatles, whose albums spent 132 weeks atop the Billboard 200. Presley's 67 weeks now places him in second place among solo artists. Recording artists take third place among all acts.
“1989 (Taylor's Version)” tallied 98,000 album-equivalent units for the week ending December 28, which was roughly half and half of the peak holiday buying season, representing a 28 percent decline from the previous week, according to Luminate. And as reported by Billboard. Of the 98,000 units for the week, 61,000 were in full-album sales, boosted by an increase in last-minute Christmas gift purchases.
Michael Bublé's 2011 Christmas Album was in the top 10 on the albums chart behind leader Swift, rising two spots to number two; Nicki Minaj's song “Pink Friday” fell to third place; Nat King Cole's seasonal album at No. 4 (his historic peak to date); Morgan Wallen's 2023 blockbuster “One Thing at a Time” maintained fifth place; Drake, also holding steady at No. 6 with “For All the Dogs”; “A Christmas Gift to You from Phil Spector” at No. 7 (another historic peak); Mariah Carey's Christmas Album at No. 8; Swift’s 2022 release “Midnights” is at No. 9; and Pentatonix's “The Greatest Christmas Hits” at No. 10 (also the highest for this album to date).
