Taylor Swift’s ‘The Life of a Showgirl’ shatters records with 4 million first-week sales

That's show business for you! Taylor Swift has made music history once again, as her 12th studio album, "The Life of a Showgirl," sold 4.002 million equivalent album units — combining pure sales and streaming — in its first week in the United States, according to Luminate, the music industry's data and analytics company that has tracked sales since 1991.

This marks the biggest first week in modern music history, surpassing the record previously held by Adele's "25", which sold 3.378 million copies in 2015.

Released on October 3, "The Life of a Showgirl" achieved 3,479,500 pure album sales in its opening week and also made Swift the solo artist with the most No. 1 albums on the Billboard 200, with a total of 15 chart-toppers. She surpasses Drake and Jay-Z, who each have 14, and now trails only The Beatles (19).

Swift's streak of breaking records continued from day one — the album sold 2.7 million copies within the first 24 hours of release, beating her own first-week sales record in just one day. Her previous album, "The Tortured Poets Department" (2024), sold 2.61 million equivalent album units during its debut week.

Adding to her list of milestones, "The Life of a Showgirl" set a new benchmark for vinyl album sales, moving 1.2 million vinyl copies in a single day, eclipsing her earlier record of 859,000 vinyl sales set by "The Tortured Poets Department".

Part of Swift's success can be attributed to her marketing strategy — the album was released in multiple editions and collectible variants, including Target-exclusive CDs ("It's Frightening," "It's Rapturous," and "It's Beautiful") and a special vinyl edition titled "The Crowd Is Your King." Other variants included "The Tiny Bubble in Champagne Collection," "The Baby That's Show Business Collection," and "The Shiny Bug Collection," alongside a standard LP and cassette edition in "sweat and vanilla perfume Portofino orange vinyl."

The record-breaking announcement coincided with fresh news from Good Morning America, which confirmed that Swift is partnering with Disney for two new projects: a six-episode docuseries, "Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour — The End of an Era," premiering December 12, and a concert film titled "Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour — The Final Show," which includes the "Tortured Poets Department" segment from her three-and-a-half-hour Vancouver performance.

Swift's latest accomplishment solidifies her status not just as one of the most successful musicians of her generation, but as a cultural phenomenon redefining the modern music industry.