Taylor Swift comes back stronger than a ’90s trend. Her Midnights album from last October debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with what was the biggest first week for any album since 2015 at the time. Morgan Wallen’s One Thing At A Time has mirrored that record-breaking success by spending its first 12 weeks at No. 1, but Swift gets the last laugh — at least for this week.
Per Billboard, Midnights reclaimed the chart’s top spot (its sixth nonconsecutive No. 1 week) following Swift’s May 26 release of Midnights (Til Dawn Edition) housing a “Karma” remix with Ice Spice.
The publication contextualized the chart movement:
“Midnights earned 282,000 equivalent album units in the United States in the week ending June 1 (up 389%), according to Luminate — the second-largest week of 2023 for any album. Only the debut frame of Morgan Wallen’s One Thing At A Time posted a bigger week this year, when it launched at No. 1 with 501,000 (chart dated March 18).
Midnights debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 dated Nov. 5, 2022, and spent its first two weeks at No. 1. It then notched three further weeks at No. 1 on the charts dated Nov. 26-Dec. 10, 2022. The album has never left the top 10 in its 32 weeks on the chart.”
Swift is primed to notch another No. 1 album next month, as her Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) is due out on July 7. Generally speaking, Swift and Wallen are on divergent paths entering the summer. Swift is thriving on her The Eras Tour, which will next hit Detroit, Michigan next weekend. Swift recently added dates in Argentina, Brazil, and Mexico for later this year, bringing Sabrina Carpenter along as her opener. Meanwhile, Wallen is currently on vocal rest.
This week’s Billboard 200 also features Lil Durk’s Almost Healed debuting at No. 3, SZA’s former No. 1 album SOS at No. 4, Wallen’s Dangerous: The Double Album at No. 5, and Swift’s Lover at No. 6.
