Emma McIntyre/TAS23/Getty Images for TAS rights management
Taylor Swift made historic Billboard 200 debut with The Department of Tortured Poetsthe ambitious collection of 31 songs that she apparently wrote, recorded and released as she prepared for and embarked on The Eras Tour (and, to quote track 13, she did it “with a broken heart”).
“What do you mean,” she wrote in her immediate reaction to the headline posted by Billboardwhich she republished on Sunday April 28.
As previously reported, Swift not only has the 14th No. 1 album of her career with TTPand the best-selling album of 2024 so far, year-to-date – but also the biggest streaming week ever, the second-biggest week for any album in terms of units earned , the third largest sales week of the modern era and the largest vinyl sales week of the modern era.
The Department of Tortured Poets launched with 2.61 million equivalent album units earned in the United States in its first week.
“I’m blown away,” Swift posted on her various social media platforms (X, formerly Twitter, Instagram and Facebook) on Sunday afternoon. “I am completely stunned by the love you have shown this album. 2.6 million ARE YOU REALLY SERIOUS?? Thank you for listening, spreading, and welcoming the tortured poets into your life. I feel completely overwhelmed.
“I was already so excited to go back on tour but you are doing THIS?? May 9th can’t come soon enough,” wrote Swift, who took the opportunity to upload some behind-the-scenes photos from the making of the album, including snaps with Post Malone and Florence Welch.
Of TTPOut of a total of 2.61 million, traditional album sales (purchases of digital download albums, CDs, vinyls and cassettes) represented 1.914 million, SEA units represented 683,000 (or 891.37 million official on-demand feeds) and TEA units accounted for 14,000. Get the full breakdown of the numbers and why this is a historic release for Swift, here.
Swift’s May 9 shoutout is about her return to touring after a two-month hiatus. Some believe she will work in at least some sort of Tortured poets era, tracing the evidence in a tour rehearsal clip set to “Fortnight” that Swift shared on Friday. (Looking at you, a ramp designed like the TTP logo and dancers practicing an unknown top hat and cane number.)
She will bring The Eras Tour to Paris for a series of four consecutive concerts at La Défense Arena from May 9-12 as she begins the European leg of her career journey, with Paramore opening the show.
Eras will also travel to Sweden, Portugal, Spain, the United Kingdom, Ireland, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Italy, Germany, Poland and Austria by the end of the summer. All of Swift’s upcoming tour dates are listed on her official website.
