21.12.2020 – L.dK Weekly

TAYLOR SWIFT DEBUTS AT NO.1 WITH EVERMORE; HOLDS NO.2 SPOT WITH FOLKLORE!

Taylor Swift makes history, becoming the first artist to hold the top two spots on the L.dK Top 50!

Premiering at No.1 this week: the surprise new release from Taylor Swift. evermore – the ninth studio album from Swift – bows as the singer’s fourth No.1 record on L.dK Weekly (and fifth Top Five). It is the 58th album to crown the Top 50.

evermore debuts with 226,000 in first week sales.

Four Rulers: Swift scores her fourth chart-topper and her fifth Top Five hit overall. She previously reached No.1 in 2017 with reputation and in 2019 with Lover, both leading for one week. folklore became Swift’s third No.1 when it debuted at the top in August – it would ultimately rule for a total of fifteen weeks!

Note: Swift’s 2014 iconic pop album 1989 peaked at No.5 in 2017.

With four chart-toppers under her belt, Swift has the second most number one records among all artists. She had previously been tied with Fleetwood Mac & Ariana Grande who have all risen to No.1 with three different albums. Now only Stevie Nicks can claim more No.1’s, with five to her name.

18 Weeks at No.1: As Taylor Swift leads the L.dK Weekly Top 50 for an eighteenth overall week, she draws even with Lady Gaga for the second most weeks atop the chart. Both artists lag behind Lana Del Rey, who has spent 28 terms in command.

226,000 units: evermore‘s opening week is the latest in supersized debuts from Taylor Swift. Sister album folklore bowed at No.1 in August selling 259,000 units; 2017’s reputation launched with even greater sales of 309,000 copies. Swift’s highest sales frame came in September 2019 when Lover debuted with 310,000 units sold.

6th Biggest Debut of 2020: 226,000 units marks the 6th biggest debut frame of 2020, and the largest since Miley Cyrus’s Plastic Hearts started with 251,000 sold.

1. Chromatica , Lady Gaga – 473,000 (8th June)
2. Future Nostalgia , Dua Lipa – 289,000 (6th April)
3. folklore , Taylor Swift – 259,000 (3rd August)
4. Plastic Hearts , Miley Cyrus – 251,000 (7th December)
5. After Hours , The Weeknd – 249,000 (30th March)
6. evermore , Taylor Swift – 226,000 (21st December)

12th Biggest Debut Ever: Only eleven albums have registered bigger opening week sales than evermore. It’s the thirteenth biggest sales week overall (MARINA’s Love + Fear moved 256,000 in its fourth week following a re-issue with new tracks).

1. Lust for Life , Lana Del Rey – 639,000 (29th July 2017)
2. Chromatica , Lady Gaga – 473,000
3. Melodrama , Lorde – 345,000 (24th June 2017)
4. Lover , Taylor Swift – 310,000 (2nd September 2019)
5. reputation , Taylor Swift – 309,000 (9th December 2017)
6. Future Nostalgia , Dua Lipa – 289,000
7. folklore , Taylor Swift – 259,000
8. *Love + Fear , MARINA – 256,000 (6th May 2019)
9. Plastic Hearts , Miley Cyrus – 251,000
10. After Hours , The Weeknd – 249,000
11. Blue Lips , Tove Lo – 243,000 (25th November 2017)
12. Meaning of Life , Kelly Clarkson – 237,000 (4th November 2017)
13. evermore , Taylor Swift – 226,000

More Swift: After leading the Top 50 for fifteen non-consecutive weeks, and becoming the longest-running No.1 hit of the year, Swift’s folklore holds at the No.2 spot on the latest chart update, shifting 104,000 units.

folklore has sold a staggering 2,127,000 copies since its release, including this week’s numbers. It becomes the fifth album in history to surpass 2.1 million in total sales. The record is Swift’s bestselling release.

History: With evermore celebrating a huge No.1 debut, and folklore bulleting at No.2, Taylor Swift becomes the first artist in history to hold the top two spots on the Weekly Top 50! The historic feat comes at the end of what was already an extremely impressive year for Swift: a year that saw her lodged at No.1 for fifteen weeks, and score one of the biggest selling records of all time!

As evermore debuts at No.1, Swift solidifies herself as a true L.dK juggernaut. It’s her fourth straight No.1 hit, and has big shoes to fill, coming hot on the heels of the incredible folklore. It remains to be seen whether evermore will be able to match its predecessor’s lengthy reign, but Swift certainly could not have hoped for a better opening week performance!

Lower down the Top Ten… Miley Cyrus’s Plastic Hearts drops from No.1 to No.3 after two weeks, dipping by 39 percent to 74,000 sold.

Ariana Grande’s Positions falls one spot to No.4: the three-week No.1 hit has now sold 603,000 copies, making it Grande’s latest album to achieve Multi-Platinum status: her fourth, in-fact. It joins Sweetener (6 x Platinum), thank u, next (4 x Platinum) and the live album K Bye for Now (2 x Platinum). Positions sold 52,000 copies in its latest tracking week (down 9 percent).

Rina Sawayama’s SAWAYAMA descends 4-5 in its second week selling 28,000 units (down 29 percent). The LP is now certified Silver for selling over 60,000 units.

Beyond the Top Five: Carole King’s A Beautiful Collection improves 7-6 with 24,000 units (up 9 percent) after spending a record-tying nine weeks in the No.2 spot earlier this year. The collection has now spent half a year (26 weeks) inside the Top Ten.

Fleetwood Mac’s No.1 smash Greatest Hits reverses course 5-7 with 23,000 sold (down 8 percent). The compilation album has now become the Mac’s second album to sell in excess of 1,000,000 copies, following the blockbuster, 6 x Platinum smash Rumours. Hits has moved 1,005,000 copies since its release.

Rising two places to No.8, Joji’s No.2-peaking Nectar moves another 20,000 units (on par with last week).

Rounding out the Top Ten, two of 2020’s chart mainstays return to the region: Harry Styles’ chart-leading Fine Line swings 12-9 (19,000 – up 5 percent) and Fiona Apple’s No.4 peaking Fetch the Bolt Cutters climbs 11-10 (17,000 – down 6 percent).

Industry Sales: Music sales this week are up 13.2% to 939,000 across all albums sold. 939,000 albums marks an increase of 34.3% when put next to the same week last year (699,000 sales).

Onto Next Week: With no new albums expected to impact the chart next week, Taylor Swift’s evermore should easily lead with over 100,000 in sales. Swift could even repeat her top-two domination!

Notable Moves in the Top 50:

No.11 – BE / BTS’s latest album debuted and peaked at No.3, and this week slides 6-11 in its fourth week, selling 16,000 copies. The album has sold 106,000 to date, becoming the second release from BTS to be certified Gold. The band’s Map of the Soul: 7 (down 42-45 on the latest list) is certified Platinum.

No.19 – Sweetener / Ariana Grande’s most successful release sinks 16-19 with 11,000 units. The album has now lived on the L.dK Top 50 for 100 weeks – Grande’s first to reach the milestone, and just the fourth album to ever do so.

No.24 – Violet Bent Backwards Over the Grass / Lana Del Rey’s spoken word poetry album Violet rose to No.3 in the Summer, living in the Top Ten for thirteen weeks. It slips 23-24 on the most recent tally with 10,000 sold. Violet is now certified 2 x Platinum with total sales of 601,000 units – it makes history as the first spoken word set to be certified Multi-Platinum! It is Del Rey’s fourth album to be certified Multi-Platinum following Norman Fucking Rockwell (11 x Platinum), Lust for Life (8 x Platinum) and Born to Die: Paradise Edition (2 x Platinum).

No.29 – Little Earthquakes / Tori Amos’s 1992 debut album is up 31-29 this week (8,000 units). The LP celebrates its 52nd week on the chart, marking an entire year on the list! Further down the list, Amos’s new EP Christmastide enters the Top 50 at No.47 selling 4,000 copies in its second week, after failing to chart the previous week.

No.48 – 25 / Adele’s juggernaut 25 moves 47-48 (3,000 copies). Just a week after being certified 5 x Platinum for 1,500,000 sales, 25 makes its 104th appearance on L.dK Weekly. It is one of only three albums to spend two years on the chart!

Top 50

1. [NEW] evermore – Taylor Swift (1)
2. [=] folklore – Taylor Swift (21)
3. [-2] Plastic Hearts – Miley Cyrus (3)
4. [-1] Positions – Ariana Grande (7)
5. [-1] SAWAYAMA – Rina Sawayama (2)
6. [+1] A Beautiful Collection – Carole King (26)
7. [-2] Greatest Hits – Fleetwood Mac (56)
8. [+2] Nectar – Joji (12)
9. [+3] Fine Line – Harry Styles (53)
10. [+1] Fetch the Bolt Cutters – Fiona Apple (35)
11. [-5] BE – BTS (4)
12. [+1] Norman Fucking Rockwell! – Lana Del Rey (68)
13. [-4] Future Nostalgia – Dua Lipa (38)
14. [+3] The Whole Story – Kate Bush (76)
15. [=] Timespace: the Best of Stevie Nicks – Stevie Nicks (54)
16. [+3] Diva – Annie Lennox (98)
17. [+3] What’s Your Pleasure? – Jessie Ware (25)
18. [-4] The Collection – Alanis Morissette (36)
19. [-3] Sweetener – Ariana Grande (100)
20. [+7] Rumours – Fleetwood Mac (105)
21. [+3] Bella Donna – Stevie Nicks (118)
22. [-4] Live in Concert: the 24 Karat Gold Tour – Stevie Nicks (7)
23. [+2] Album No.8 – Katie Melua (9)
24. [-1] Violet Bent Backwards Over the Grass – Lana Del Rey (21)
25. [+1] After Hours – The Weeknd (39)
26. [+2] Petals for Armor – Hayley Williams (32)
27. [+5] thank u, next – Ariana Grande (47)
28. [-6] Chromatica – Lady Gaga (29)
29. [+2] Little Earthquakes – Tori Amos (52)
30. [+6] Such Pretty Forks in the Road – Alanis Morissette (20)
31. [-1] Piano Sketches – Birdy (6)
32. [+2] 50 Words for Snow – Kate Bush (4)
33. [-12] DISCO – Kylie Minogue (6)
34. [+3] She’s so Unusual – Cyndi Lauper (80)
35. [+3] Glasshouse – Jessie Ware (92)
36. [-1] A Star is Born – Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper (93)
37. [-8] Infinite Things – Paloma Faith (5)
38. [-5] Ungodly Hour – Chloe x Halle (27)
39. [+4] Tusk – Fleetwood Mac (31)
40. [re] Hounds of Love – Kate Bush (48)
41. [+3] The Red Shoes – Kate Bush (57)
42. [-34] Wonder – Shawn Mendes (2)
43. [-3] Back to Black – Amy Wnehouse (82)
44. [-3] Medusa – Annie Lennox (72)
45. [-3] Map of the Soul: 7 – BTS (43)
46. [+3] Love Goes – Sam Smith (7)
47. [NEW] Christmastide – Tori Amos (1)
48. [-1] 25 – Adele (104)
49. [-1] WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO? – Billie Eilish (26)
50. [re] Tango in the Night – Fleetwood Mac (60)

Certifications: Silver (60,000), Gold (100,000), Platinum (300,000), Diamond (3,000,000)